I received an eARC from Netgalley.

I really loved this book and the main character, Molly. Molly is quirky and loveable. She seems to be on the spectrum and has some difficulty in social situations, taking everything very literally. She was raised by her grandmother who taught her how to be a maid and Molly works in a nice hotel. Her interactions with various characters are so charming.

Unfortunately Molly finds a dead body in the hotel and becomes a suspect, in part due to how she interacts with various people. Over time, the murder mystery gets solved and Molly learns who her true friends are. It's a beautiful, sweet story with some really great characters.

I really enjoyed this book and the characters. It was a heartwarming story of a woman who is quirky and doesn't feel like she belongs and how she just needed to find who she belongs with. She was happy with her place in the world, but was taken advantage of by unsavoury individuals. However, in the end, it was nice to see the underdog win. My only criticism is that I would have liked to see the storyline with Wilbur resolved, but that's just me looking to have everything work out for the main character and that's not how it would necessarily play out in the real world. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone looking for a feel good story that will also being a tear to your eyes!

If you care for this book, it will probably be because you like Molly. She’s the narrator, and she clearly has Asperger’s or is otherwise on the spectrum. She works as a maid at an upscale hotel, cleaning the rooms of those to whom she is pretty much invisible. Though she struggles to read other people accurately (their facial expressions, tone of voice), she loves her job and derives much pride and satisfaction from returning rooms “to a state of perfection.” She’s struggling with loneliness and has financial difficulties too since the death of her beloved grandmother months earlier, with whom she shared an apartment. One day, Molly enters the suite of a regular, and very well known, guest and discovers him dead. When it turns out he was murdered, the police fix their sights on her as the suspect. After all, she’s so odd, and her reactions are all wrong…

Pleasant entertainment, though Molly’s voice started to wear on me some by the end—just too limited in its stilted expression. And there are too many holes in the plot and implausibilities. (To name just a few examples, such an upscale hotel is unlikely to permit staff to use the main entrance but would insist they use the service entrance. And would a very successful lawyer be instantly available all day for at least a couple of days upon getting called upon to work for Molly?) But overall, it went down easy, and there was mild satisfaction in seeing friends rally to help get Molly out of her jam.

Canadian editor turned author Nita Prose has a hit on her hands The Maid will be on everyone’s to-read list this year. Her characters are likeable, the story is simple and kind of quirky, super enjoyable and a super fun read.

Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Highly unpopular opinion here. You know how sometimes you wonder if you're reading the same book as everybody else? This time I think it's more like everybody else will be wondering if I read the same book as they did!

Molly is a maid at the prestigious Regency Grand Hotel. She is extremely proud of the work she does and rightfully so. Although I don't think it's confirmed in the book - she's described as "charmingly eccentric" - Molly appears to be on the spectrum. Her grandmother, who had raised her, died recently and Molly is lonely without her and misses her a great deal. One day Molly discovers a wealthy regular guest dead and gets involved in the police investigation first as a witness and then as a potential suspect.

I was not impressed by how Molly was depicted. Her actions and reactions were inconsistent and her thoughts and dialogue seemed too contrived so that I felt the story was rather unrealistic. I didn't find much about the book amusing; if anything, I felt that Molly was being ridiculed and laughed at much of the time and I felt sorry for her. I was totally baffled by the epilogue. What was the point of dropping another character on us at that late stage, especially a character who played such a critical role. In spite of my personal reservations, I thought the book was well written for a debut and I'd read another book by this author as long as it didn't feature Molly.

My thanks to Penguin Random House Canada via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.

Available January 4, 2022

The Maid is a lovely, lovely read!! It is a heartwarming story of Molly, a young eccentric woman who works as a maid at an upscale hotel and gets caught up in a murder at the hotel. All of this happens just after the loss of Molly’s grandmother on whom Molly relied for guidance, advice and structure in her life.

I adored Molly - she was written so believably and was so endearing with her quirks and foibles. The story was interesting, well-told and perfectly paced, and the secondary characters were a great addition to shaping Molly’s story. This is a wonderful story to become lost in! I was sad to reach the end of the story and would love to see a sequel with Molly!!!

This book is out January 4, 2022 and I urge you to pick it up when it comes out!!!! A story with both a good plot, a mystery, and great, loveable characters - a definite hit for me! 5 glowing stars.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for this early reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book grabbed me right away & I knew I was in for a treat. Molly is fantastic character who’s descriptions of what is going on around her, paints an enthralling story. We jump right in & her attention to details leads to a very rich account of the world around her, which is right up my alley for what I enjoy reading. She’s awkward & sweet & doesn’t always understand social cues. But who she is helps her along the way to solving the mystery. It’s a little stressful at times, as she isn’t always treated the best by others but that made me flip the pages faster so I could get to the resolution. This was such a pleasant surprise for the end of the year & I can definitely recommend it. I hope to read more either about Molly or by the author.

Molly Gray is a 25-year-old who often misinterprets others' actions and struggles in social settings (most likely on the spectrum, but unconfirmed). Her grandmother died a few months ago and she's missing someone to help her navigate the world. Then she (in her job as a maid), finds a dead body *hold for dramatic music* and gets investigated by police. The book starts out slow (maybe the first 20-30% of the book) but after it's very fast-paced and a fun cozy mystery!

Enjoyed the book, though written from the perspective of a hotel maid who is eccentric, took a little getting used to it at first. The characters are memorable, though the plot is questionable and simplistic, especially when related to crime and motive. All in all, a good read!

Molly takes everything very literally, is comfortable in her routines and habits and doesn’t react to things in a way that is considered “normal”. As a result, Molly is seen as different and society doesn’t like different. But does being different make one a murderer?

This is a fast paced mystery novel told with some humour and hubris. Molly the maid finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time when she finds a dead body in one of her assigned rooms. She suddenly becomes a suspect and finds herself unsure who to trust. Further, she needs to figure out how to get people to really see her and not just see her as the “help”

This book is similar to Eleanor Oliphant, but it is way better in my opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada. for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quirky, fun, debut novel. Molly the maid is an introverted perfectionist, but does seem to fall for the wrong men. She is outstanding at her job. When she gets framed for murder, she must do her best to get to the bottom of things, and she gets help from some loveable characters. This was an outstanding murder mystery and I have to say, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed the main character in a novel so much. I sure hope I get to read more stories with Molly the maid in them.

4.5/5 stars rounded up

Thanks to net galley and publishers for the arc of this book.

The Maid was a tidy finish to my reading of 2021.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for my eARC for review! (Though I've already pre-ordered a physical copy. Yes, it's that good.)
To say this has been a highly-anticipated book is an understatement. But do understand, author Nita Prose's debut novel is worth all the praise.
Rules, protocols and etiquette - these are the cornerstones of Molly Grey's life.
She always knew she wanted to be a maid for a living, to return rooms to states of perfection. Being raised by her fellow maid Gran instilled the love of cleanliness and order into her very being.
When she happens upon the deceased form of Regency Grand Hotel guest Mr. Black while on duty, she becomes an unwitting player in a murder mystery.
Molly is an exceptional character - unique, neuro-atypical, charming and unlike anyone you've read before. I became fully invested in her story, through humour and heartbreak and feeling the need to keep her safe.
This cozy mystery is every bit as fun, readable and unforgettable as the hype made it out to be.
What a way to wrap up 2021's reading - absolutely recommended.
For release on Jan. 4.

Wow. The hype for this Canadian debut is truly well deserved! I defy anyone not to fall in love with Molly the maid! Molly works at a grand hotel and has trouble interpreting people's cues which often means people take advantage or make fun of her. I really loved how this book featured a variety of characters society typically overlooks (from the maid, to the doorman, to the undocumented migrant kitchen worker). This book made me cry and cheer as I got to know more about Molly's life, her close-knit relationship with her Gran and the way she came into her own as she gets involved in a murder investigation and teams up with new friends to help save the day. The pacing and twists in this story were superb and the ending, WOW. A movie adaptation is already in the works and I cannot wait. Nita Prose is a new author to watch out for - I can't wait to see what she does next. HIGHLY recommended! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!

It has been a really long time since I read a book in under a week! I loved this book! I loved the characters,I loved the settings and I loved the plot, Molly is such a different protagonist and the way she interacts with the world adds so much to the story. As a reader I just wanted everything to turn out for Molly and the only disappointment I had was that Wilbur never got busted.
One added bonus was that I didn’t realize this author is Canadian until the end of the book. Canadian authors are my fave!
Thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Random House Canada for the chance to read this book!

What a fantastic way to start the year!

Our main character, Molly Gray, works as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. She is navigating life on her own after the death of her gran and is not good at reading social cues. Molly discovers the dead body of one of the hotel's most prestigious guests which sets the stage for the most refreshing mystery I've read in a long time!

Everything in this novel was perfect to me: the characters, the plot pacing, the twists - I loved it all! I definitely recommend you put The Maid on your TBR!

I genuinely could not put this down! An amazing start to 2022!

Molly, the maid, lives her life observing the highest level of order and cleanliness, but her world is spun into chaos when she discovers the dead body of Mr. Black in suite 401 of the Regency Grand Hotel. As Molly’s routine life breaks down, will she be able to decipher who is a bad egg, or will her trust lead her astray?

Molly’s character is a celebration of neurodiversity, taking the order and method of Holmes and Poirot to a truly human level (with a little added spice and spunk of Annie Wilkes no less.)

Nita Prose’s debut is bound to be a smash hit, and I look forward to her future writing!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and Net Galley for the advanced reading copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada (Viking Books) for this ARC in exchange for my review.
This is the anticipated, debut novel from Canadian author, Nita Prose. I was captivated right from the first page with the main character, Molly. She was my favourite part of this book. Prose did a fantastic job truly embodying her character and quirks, evident to the reader throughout the entire story.
Molly is a kind-hearted young woman, who struggles with social norms, yet is passionate about cleaning and organization, making her a perfect maid. We follow her along as she finds the body of an affluent guest, and gets mixed up in the murder case.
Although I was easily able to figure out the "who-dun-it" very early in the book, I still enjoyed reading it, mainly because of Molly's character. I did find the ending to be a little elementary and a little too convenient, but I still enjoyed the story.
Prose has written an amazing debut novel that is perfect for this genre, I call "chick-lit thriller". I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style and characterization of Molly, her Gran, and their relationship.
I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to seeing how well it does!
Thank you so much Net Galley, Penguin Random House Canada (Viking Books), and to Nita Prose.

The Maid • Nita Prose ⭐️- 4.5
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This is the debut novel for Canadian author Nita Prose
I thought this book was awesome! I really enjoyed reading it and so far this year it has been my fastest read definitely could had read it in a day but I stretched it to 2 days.
I loved the narration of the book - solely from Molly’s perspective. Molly who is described as someone who lacks social skills and misinterprets the intentions of others, but it comes across that she might be autistic which adds an unique spin on her perspective. I also enjoyed some of the relationships explained and made throughout the book.
I was surprised by some of the revelations made at the end, making it a great read!

It loses a half star as I did find it a little slow near the beginning but it definitely picks up!
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Thank you to @NetGalley for gifting me an early copy in exchange for an honest review
#TheMaid

Molly Gray is twenty-five years old. She works as a maid at a hotel, and takes enormous pride in cleaning a room and returning it “to perfection”. She also doesn’t see the world in quite the way many of us do, and has a hard time understanding social interactions. Armed with several maxims from her now deceased grandmother, Molly does her best to cope with the late rent, duplicitous coworkers, and then a murder. And a police detective, who, not understanding Molly’s seemingly inexplicable and “not normal” reactions and accounts of the goings-on of 1) the murdered individual and his interactions with his family, and 2) with various hotel staff, erroneously believes Molly is responsible for all the nefarious actions happening at the hotel.
Thank goodness there are people in Molly’s corner, and show her she has friends who care about her, which is wonderful, considering how isolated and grief-stricken Molly still is after her grandmother’s death, and how easily and cruelly manipulated she is by some people around her.

Molly is definitely an unreliable narrator of the action surrounding her, as she really doesn’t always understand what people say or mean. She’s forthright and open in all of her dealings, and she really has no understanding of how underhanded a few of the people she likes can be. It makes for some difficult reading at times, as I wanted to protect Molly from people using and denigrating her. Which goes to show how much Nita Prose made me fall for Molly. And her small circle of friends and supporters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and its main character.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I had not read a mystery in a while, and I was unsure whether I would enjoy this genre or not. Once I got into this novel, I was definitely hooked.

Molly is a hotel maid who loves a clean orderly life, but once she finds a guest dead in their bed her life is drastically changed.

My favourite part about this novel was seeing/reading the whole story from the eyes and perspective of Molly. The way that she sees the world and processes both the actions and feelings of those around her make this story come beyond a regular "who-did-it" to a story where you are never really sure if there is a double meaning behind everything that is happening.

I did find the novel a little slow at the beginning but about 1/3 of the way in the story definitely picks up and I was hooked.

If you like a good clue-like story where you think you know the answers - but there are always a few twists and turns, this would be a great story for you.