This book is a good egg!

The Maid's Secret is the third book in the Molly the Maid series and did not disappoint!

An antiques show is filming at the Regency Grand and the staff are invited to bring in a few items to have appraised. Molly selects a few of her gran's keepsakes to be looked at and is shocked to find out a Faberge egg she possessed is worth millions. With her wedding on the horizon and her landlord announcing a renoviction, Molly agrees to sell the egg. However, the egg goes missing and Molly and her friends are faced with solving yet another mystery.

This installment is told in a slightly different format. Instead of Molly's perspective only, we are also taken back in time through diary entries from Gran. We finally learn just where Gran came from and how she came to be a maid raising a child on her own.  Her story had all the feels, and by the end of the book, I was literally sobbing!

Even with the passing of her gran, Molly is thriving in her work, relationship with Juan Manual, and friendships. She is still the quirky, proverb filled character we all love but in a slightly more mature way. I love the way the author continues to let Molly's character evolve while maintaining her simplicity and integrity. 

At this point, I will read anything Nita Prose writes and hope this series will continue. The Maid's Secret is an absolute page-turning gem that should not be missed. Like I said earlier, it's definitely a good egg!

**Received with thanks from Penguin Random House and the author.**

I had the privilege of previewing the Maid’s Secret and I am so glad that I did. If you have enjoyed the previous Maid books then this is a must read! This seems as though it is the last in The Maid series and Nita Prose has capped the series off in fine style. We learn so much of the back story of these coveted characters and there is of course some mystery and sleuthing that is required. I will miss reading about this quirky cast of characters but what they have taught me about life will stay with me for many years to come.

Thank you, Net Galley, Nita Prose and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to preview this title in exchange for my honest review.
The Maid’s Secret is expected to be released April 8, 2025.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

Charming, whimsical, and unforgettable!

Molly will always have a key to my heart.

Returning to the Regency Grand feels like stepping into a world where kindness, loyalty, and just the right amount of mischief hold everything together. And at the center of it all is Molly Gray, precise, endearing, and wonderfully herself, even when life throws her into yet another tangled mystery. This time, it’s not just a stolen artifact; it’s a whirlwind of long-buried secrets, hidden treasures, and a past that reaches out with a story of its own.

I loved watching Molly navigate the chaos with her signature earnestness, from reality TV crews to the surprising discoveries she brought with her from Gran’s treasures in her curio cabinet, carefully placed in a shoebox for appraisal. The glimpse into Gran’s past was just as enchanting as the present-day heist, weaving together love and intrigue into something far greater than a mystery. It became a celebration of resilience, deep connections, and a love that endures across generations.

One of my favourite parts was how the previous books and a certain item tied into this one. I always had a feeling about it. I also love how light and cozy these mysteries are. It’s fun to just sit back, enjoy, and have a good sense of where the story is headed. That said, I was a little surprised by Gran’s backstory. I wasn’t expecting it, but I really enjoyed it and thought it answered a lot of lingering questions. The dual timeline made this read even more suspenseful and interesting, adding an extra layer to Molly’s already delightful world.

And of course, no trip to the Regency Grand would be complete without the heartwarming friendships and delightful quirks that make this world such a joy to visit. Whether solving crimes, preparing for her upcoming wedding, or simply being the Molly we adore, she proves once again why she’s impossible not to root for. And that ending—I absolutely loved it. It was extremely satisfying, wrapping me in warmth and leaving me with the happiest of feelings. In the end, I felt it was deeply moving and touching.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy. I highly recommend picking this one up. It’s an absolute delight!

Molly the Maid is not only the star of this book, but is also a trending sensation when footage of her and her quirky ways gets online. And it's all thanks to the show that's currently being filmed at the Regency Grand.

Unfortunately the ship has sailed for Molly the maid. Felt like a historical romance novel instead of a mystery. The mystery component was very predictable and was disappointing

I must start by thanking both NetGalley as well as the publisher for me eARC in exchange for my honest review.
What sadly looks to be the end of the Molly Grey Trilogy, ties up the loose ends and provides a heart tugging conclusion. The best was left for last.

Thank you, NetGallery, for the ARC.

If The Maid's Secret is the last chapter in the Molly the Maid series, it's a lovely way to wrap things up. Prose does a great job weaving together Molly's story with her grandmother's, creating a heartfelt and engaging mystery. That said, the plot was a bit predictable, and the constant shifts between past and present made the first half drag. I struggled to get into it initially, but I'm glad I stuck with it—the ending made it worthwhile. If you're looking for your next cozy mystery, this one's worth picking up!

Read the book for 1.5 hours and just couldn't get into it. Wanted to give it a chance but not for me.

thank you NetGalley for the eARC
I really liked this installment and really loved the POVs we got! it's been a wild ride and I hope there is more!

With the TV show Hidden Treasures filming at the Regency Grand hotel, Molly Gray finds that one of her own hidden treasures has been pilfered from the set. Threats against her person are made, but Molly bravely soldiers on, facing her family's past and embracing her future.

This entry in the Molly the Maid series is a love letter to all the main characters who have graced the pages of the previous books. Finally, we, the readers, are granted access to the rich history that makes up Molly's heritage. And what a joyous ride it's been.

Initially, I was sad to realize that Molly is not the same person I grew to love in the first story. Then I realised that she has grown and matured in a very natural way into a lovely honourable woman and I celebrated her personal achievement. The best of this novel is the slight maturing of all the characters, which felt authentic.

The mystery shares the stage with Molly's grandmother's backstory. The novel did not suffer for this division, but rather found great profit as they dovetailed together perfectly. When all the shouting was over, I was overjoyed by the conclusion.

A sincere thank you to Nita Prose, Penguin Random House Canada, and Netgalley for the opportunity to view an Advance Reader's Copy.

- enjoyed this installment and was happy to hang out with molly and her entourage again
- book has 2 different POV's: molly's and her grand mothers, which i really appreciated
- i enjoyed learning more about molly's gran and her history/how she truly came to be
- it wasn't the most "mysterious" book, as i did guess a decent amount of what was going to happen, but enjoyed it nonetheless
- cute, cozy, friendly mystery

thank you NetGalley for the ARC

4/5

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Apr. 8, 2025
Molly returns in the third novel in Nita Prose’s “Molly the Maid” series. In “The Maid’s Secret” Molly has been promoted, working as the head of special events at her beloved Regency Grand Hotel and she is planning a wedding to her fiancé, Juan. But when the Regency Grand Hotel becomes the centre of an antiques television show, Molly is overwhelmed by the cameras, the crew and the couple who host the show. When she brings her own antique to the hosts for assessment Molly gets more than she bargained for- the ceramic egg given to her by her deceased grandmother is actually a Faberge, and is worth millions. But just as Molly is coming to terms with her windfall, the egg is stolen and, once again, the hotel is the centre of a police investigation.
Molly took the world by storm in Prose’s first novel in the series, “The Maid”, and she has continued to catch the attention of readers everywhere. I was a huge fan of Prose’s “The Maid” and have kept up with Molly and her friends ever since.
Molly’s plotline is juxtaposed with sections of her grandma’s journal, each story headlining opposite chapters. Readers grow to understand and love Molly’s grandmother even more as they hear her story through her own words and I loved that Prose made this a central part of “Secret”. Molly’s grandmother’s story is relevant to Molly’s current situation, making the ending come together seamlessly.
I fell in love with Molly right from the first pages of “The Maid”, and I wasn’t alone. I love how she has grown as a character and it is through Prose’s insightful character development that I connected with such a forthright and brave protagonist as Molly.
As neurodivergent protagonists become more and more present in literature of today, which I am happy to see, Molly will stand out among the rest. Prose’s plot line flows, her relatable characters will make readers laugh out loud and the trouble Molly gets in to along the way make “The Maid’s Secret” a lovable addition to this collection of novels. As I expected, I’m left begging for more.

I was unsure what this installment would be about because how many mysteries can one maid come across? This book was a wonderful way to wrap up the series and get a better glimpse at Molly's Gran. I was smiling everytime we uncovered the origin of Molly's catchphrases. The story was gripping and it was very well paced.

The one drawback for me, which was my problem with The Mistletoe Mystery, it was not very Molly like. The charm of Molly the maid for me was her awkwardness and inability to read social queues. This is what made her a great amateur sleuth and understand the connections others may have missed. This book did not have that, the heist and the secret were rather straight to the point.

Overall, a good read but Molly and her quirks are not a main character.

Rating: Half good half meh / 5

So...it's not the first time I'm saying this--in fact, I've been saying it for every book since after book 1...

...and I'm definitely NOT the first person to say this--in fact, a lot of people have been saying it since after book 1...

...But I really DON'T think that Molly the Maid should be a series. Molly has, indeed, overstayed her welcome; and the author has, indeed, lost track of originality or good ideas to progress things further, indicating that maybe they shouldn't be progressed in the first place.

*shrugs* That's the gist of it, anyway.
______________

To explain my rating in a bit more detail, I'll make things easy as pie: the Molly parts were the good parts; and the Gran parts were entirely skippable--which I'm unashamed to say I DID do.

Ahem.

The plot here is set up pretty well, for what it's worth: a famous antique duo are coming to the Regency Hotel, and it just so happens that everyone wants to have some old trinkets appraised to see if they're worth anything. At Juan Manuel's insistence, Molly also brings along this old egg that she likes and that she received as a gift, only to discover that it is, of course, a Faberge egg--because...yeah, that's about the only type of egg where the word 'valuable' even remotely applies!

This not only makes Molly super rich if she chooses to auction it off, but it also puts Molly in the spotlight and now all of a sudden "everyone wants a piece of Molly". Her insistence that "I'm just a maid!" has no bearing on the situation, of course. Ahem.

Anyways, while I did find the amount of fame and enthusiasm that Molly received to be a little overdone, I did like how she stayed true to her self and her character, with not wanting to quit her job, not automatically thinking that she can afford everything she wants, etc. If anything, the fame and attention is wearying to both her and Juan Manuel as their lives are intruded upon more and more, to the point that actually auctioning the thing off is a relief.

But then, wouldn't you know it? At the 50% mark we finally get the mystery element of the story as the egg is stolen right before the auction can be concluded, which leaves yet another mystery to solve for Molly & Co.

_______

Now, in itself, this plot did feel unoriginal, in that the whole "priceless artifact is stolen from a glass case in a museum/auction" has been done many times before; but then, I guess that where the author wanted to make up for it was in the whole back-and-forth in switching chapters between Molly and her Gran for narration. Except that...I just didn't care about Gran's past or her chapters at all. It does all connect at the end, to give it fair credit, but that really doesn't meant that it makes me care to read through her entire past in any way. I think that the point was to see some parallels between her and Molly but...I don't know, it just didn't feel enough to bother about.

And, that in a nutshell is kind of how I feel about this book: that it doesn't have enough to bother about, all things considered. It's not that Molly doesn't have enough charm as a character on her own; but that charm in itself isn't enough to keep a series going, and by this point I just kind of have raised eyebrows and...well, disappointed hopes in terms of anything really bringing out the same reaction it did in me as for the first book.

Apologies.

The third time's the charm for Molly Gray, our favourite meticulous maid-turned-manager at the Regency Grand Hotel. When she thinks she's got it all figured out—a dream job, dreamy fiancé, and a chance to shine during a TV show taping—someone decides to crash her party with an art heist that puts her squarely in the crosshairs.

This isn't just another day of perfectly pressed linens and polished silver. With Hidden Treasures cameras rolling and her wedding to Juan Manuel on the horizon, Molly's carefully ordered world suddenly spins into chaos. Someone's stolen more than just art—they've taken her sense of security and are not done yet. As she digs deeper into the theft, Molly uncovers secrets that threaten everything she's built.

Prose hasn't lost her touch for blending cozy mystery with genuine heart. She weaves a tale that's part heist thriller, part love story, and all Molly. Our protagonist has come a long way from her early days with the vacuum cleaner, but she hasn't lost that endearing mix of literal-mindedness and unexpected wisdom that made us fall for her in the first place.

With its clever plot twists and emotional depth, The Maid's Secret proves that some things really do get better with each installment. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to Molly's world, this book promises to be as satisfying as a perfectly made bed—with a few surprises tucked between the sheets.

<b>The Maid delights with the Secrets of Gran</b>
<i>A review of the NetGalley Kindle ARC (downloaded January 27, 2025) of the upcoming Penguin Random House Canada hardcover/ebook/audiobook (April 8, 2025).</i>

This latest in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/370889-molly-the-maid">Molly the Maid</a> series from Canadian author Nita Prose does have a current heist mystery. The heart of it though is the backstory of Molly Gray's grandmother which we read in excerpts between chapters of the present day adventure. The scenes between the elder and younger maids were always my favourites in the earlier books, particularly with Gran passing on her common sense words of wisdom to Molly.

I actually found myself more engrossed by Gran's story, little of which had previously been revealed to us, aside from her past relationship with the Regency Grand Hotel's retired doorman. We now learn that she had actually been born into wealth and that reduced family circumstances led her to become a maid in later life. Discussing more about that would be a spoiler.

The present day case finds Molly preparing for her upcoming wedding with boyfriend Juan, when they discover that one of Gran's family heirlooms may in fact be a historical rare and immensely valuable treasure. As an "antiques roadshow" type of TV show is filming at Molly's hotel, the item is put up for valuation and then auction, but it is then stolen in front of everyone's eyes!

As always, Molly has to solve the case while she also uncovers the secrets of Gran's past. The two plot threads come together satisfactorily in the end. This was yet another winner from Nita Prose and Molly fans are sure to enjoy it.

My thanks to the author, the publisher Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this preview ARC, in exchange for which I provide this honest review.

<b>Trivia and Link</b>
There does not appear to be any further progress on the film adaptation of the first book in the series <i>The Maid</i> (2022), but Florence Pugh is still attached to produce and star in it. Look for future updates at IMDb <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13704116/reference/">here</a>.

I have been invested with Molly right from the beginning but it seems we are at the end of this series.

A Heartfelt, engaging, and charming mystery. We come full circle in this story. Lots of twists and I felt Molly's feelings and her growth in this book.I couldn't have asked for a better ending. If you have followed Molly since the beginning, you do not want to miss reading the conclusion of Molly the Maid.

A very huge thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for sharing this highly anticipated sequel's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

All my thoughts and opinions are my own and isn't influenced by anyone else

4/5 stars! I couldn’t put this book down and finished reading it in one day. The Maid’s Secret is the third book in the Molly the Maid series. I have read all three books so far in the series and this one did not disappoint. I am looking for to the next book in the series. The Maid’s Secret is releasing April 8, 2025. Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada, Netgalley and Nita Prose for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

The Maid's Secret was an utter delight to read. I've followed all the series, including the previous novella, The Mistletoe Mystery, which I found to be a disappointment, and rated that last as two stars. So, I was surprised to be asked for an early reader review for Prose's latest work. Luckily, this book rises high above the novella, and even surpasses, in my estimation, the last novel, which I found as an improvement on The Maid. Prose's writing has strengthened through the three novels, this time providing two very distinct voices in Molly and Gran. The tension was sustained and full of "just right" hints, and evolved into a fully satisfying read, packed with fun and heartwarming moments. It is hard to balance these elements in this kind of tale, so that it doesn't result in too saccharine a story. Prose succeeds with this very enjoyable genre novel.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful and satisfying end to the Molly the maid series!! This book has a story within a story as we get to learn about Molly's gran's life growing up in the 1950s through letters she leaves for Molly in a journal that arrives after her death.

Full of lots of great life truisms and puns, cameos from all our favorite characters including a few new ones and a puzzling mystery involving the fabrege egg and a heartwarming wedding finale that just might bring a tear to reader's eyes.

Fans are sure to finish satisfied but I for one will be sad to say goodbye to Molly, Juan and the rest of the gang. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and physical copy in exchange for my honest review!