#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • “A heartwarming mystery with a lovable oddball at its center” (Real Simple), this cozy whodunit introduces a one-of-a-kind heroine who will steal your heart.
“The reader comes to understand Molly’s worldview, and to sympathize with her longing to be accepted—a quest that gives The Maid real emotional heft.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) “Think Clue. Think page-turner.”—Glamour In development as a major motion picture produced by and starring Florence Pugh
Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by. Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection. But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late? A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.
Product details
ASIN : B091Y4KGFH
Publisher : Ballantine Books (January 4, 2022)
Publication date : January 4, 2022
This has to be one of my favourite books of all time. What an endearing, eccentric character at the centre of this locked-room mystery. I found it refreshing to inhabit Molly’s heart-warming world. A lowly nobody, invisible to the guests but 100% familiar to me. I used to be a maid myself in a large hotel, so I resonate with Molly and understand her pride in the uniform and her trolley. This book doesn’t leave a residue, it leaves a deep mark and I’m not sure I’ll find another quite like it.
Living by her gran’s moral code, Molly works at the Regency Grand Hotel. She doesn’t see her job as a daily grind, or something to pay the bills, she owns it, returning each room to a state of perfection. We meet Molly nine months after her gran’s death and her grief, although palpable, is kept in check by her sheer devotion to her duties. Unable to read social cues, some employees see her as an oddball while others see her as polite and respectful. She may be excluded by some, but others are there to protect her.
Giselle Black, a trophy socialite and regular guest at the hotel, befriends Molly. But her life isn’t as smooth as it seems. Her husband, Charles Black, a famous impresario who owns a quarter of the city, is not a nice man. Not if Giselle’s puffy red eyes are anything to go by. When Molly finds Mr Black dead in his bead, all hell breaks loose and she is at the mercy of the investigative team. Targeted as a suspect, she finds friends she never knew she had and embarks on finding out who could have committed this terrible crime.
From the start, I knew this book would be one to savour. Only putting it down for work, I was desperate to return to Molly’s world and the people that surround her. Caught in a web of deceit, she is an innocent who appears unable to defend herself. But Molly is surprisingly agile. The inner workings of her brain far exceed those of the fraudsters who are out to harm her.
The humour comes with her naiveté. It’s laugh out loud funny at times, partly due to her impeccable manners and the way she thinks through a situation, especially where romance is in the air. But Molly is far from perfect and that’s what I liked about her. She is believable. She is in all of us.
Thank you to author Nita Prose for making my week so entertaining. I loved Molly and somewhere, deep inside, I’d love to see a State of Perfection Series. Molly is a national treasure.
About the author:
Nita Prose is a longtime editor, serving many bestselling authors and their books. She lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is only moderately clean. Visit her at nitaprose.com or on Twitter: @NitaProse.
Other books by Nita Prose:

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