The Maid by Nita Prose

3/5 Stars

"The Maid" by Nita Prose was a clever, quick and easy read. The protagonist, Molly Gray, is a thorough, quirky maid at the Regency Grand Hotel and takes obsessive pleasure in doing her job well. Molly the Maid as she’s come to be known is naïve, socially awkward and struggles tremendously with reading social cues which, as the reader learns, is integral to why the story of “The Maid” unfolds as it does.

One orderly, or not-so-orderly, day at the hotel, Molly’s life takes a drastic turn when she discovers a deceased guest in his room and this guest is a guest of well-known and high social status. The events following this discovery unfold in a mostly unpredictable way until a mostly happy ending. There is humor, shock, and everything in between in “The Maid.”

This novel contains a lot of background information about Molly’s life before her career as a maid and her tenure at the Regency Grand Hotel that the reader will want to pay attention to as it’s all relevant to the story. It really adds depth to the character of Molly. Nita Prose writes in a manner that’s easy to read and digest which leads to this novel being a quick read. However, I did feel like there were a couple of items left open in the end, and I found myself wanting to know more. Perhaps there is closure in the next book in this series, but I personally prefer not to be left hanging after the first book in a series.

Will I read the next book? I’m not sure yet. However, I think if you were a fan of “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine”, you’ll probably be a fan of “The Maid” as well.