★★★★☆
In this cozy mystery, twenty-five-year-old Molly Gray is a hardworking maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, where she delights in coming to work, tidying dirty rooms, and being a model employee.
Disdainfully called “Molly the Maid” by her coworkers, Molly isn’t as adept at navigating relationships as she is at organizing her housekeeping cart and cleaning dirty hotel rooms. She struggles to understand social cues and facial expressions and applies rules her late Gran taught her – sometimes more adeptly than others – to manage social situations.
In this closed-room mystery, Molly soon becomes embroiled in a murder investigation involving a high-profile long-term guest. Her eccentric demeanor and trusting nature work against her, resulting in Molly becoming a person of interest in crime. As the mystery unfolds, Molly learns who she can and can not depend on.
Molly was an absolutely endearing main character. It was a joy to get to know her and her outlook on life and to see her grow as the story progressed. I appreciated that Molly found people who genuinely loved and respected her.
There are some inconsistencies in Molly’s behavior at different points in the book. At times, she seemed unable to comprehend human behavior yet a few minutes later in the same chapter, she would make a profound observation about people. However, I wasn’t bothered by these inconsistencies, in part because the narrator did such a fabulous job bringing Molly to life. Hearing Molly’s voice performed so expertly smoothed out what would have otherwise seemed like conflicting traits.
As enjoyable as the story was, the book went on longer than it should have. To me, the story arrived at a clear ending point and I was sure it was wrapping up, but I looked down and realized there was still an hour remaining.
Though the story went on a tad too long, The Maid was a fresh take on a classic murder mystery tale, with a quirky, memorable main character.
