Review: The Maid

The Maid by Nita Prose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
I really enjoyed reading this book! It wasn't perfect, and I did have a couple of issues with it towards the end, but all in all this was the best book I have read in months.
In this book we follow Molly, who is a maid at an art nouveau boutique hotel. She thoroughly enjoys her job, because she thoroughly enjoys cleaning. Molly is not neurotypical, and is perhaps on the autism spectrum. Her grandmother recently died and Molly is facing serious financial issues, but her job is the place she feels safe and needed, despite knowing that not everyone at the hotel quite appreciates her attention to detail. The book opens on the day that Molly discovers a dead body in the room she is cleaning. She must figure out how to deal with this serious occurrence, maneuver police questioning, help her friends at the hotel, and keep doing her job to the best of her capabilities.
It was compelling to read about Molly and how she moves throughout her days. Learning about how she thinks, how she feels, and how she behaves was fascinating, in addition to how her particular way of thinking could be an advantage or a disadvantage. I was rooting for her through the whole book and couldn't wait to see how everything would end. The cast of secondary characters was well-developed even as they were seen through Molly's slightly different lens.
I know some reviewers have not liked the big "reveal" at the end and felt like it was cheating or something, but I caught on to the clue right when it happened at the beginning, so I knew something was going on and was very eager to see how it would all play out.
I did have just a few issues with this book towards the end. The actions of Gran at the very end really bothered me. I will try not to give away any spoilers here, but I really don't think Gran should have done what she did, in relation to Molly. As her "parent" essentially, and knowing how Molly was, I just was shocked that Gran would do what she did and leave Molly have to deal with that for the rest of her life, all alone. My other problem with the book wasn't really a problem so much as a personal preference. I think if the "Several Months Later" and the "Epilogue" had been combined, it would have packed a much bigger punch at the end and wrapped things up much better.  But that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.
I would recommend this book. It was a great, fun, different mystery.

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