THE MAID......AN UNLIKELY DETECTIVE ACHIEVES A STATE OF PERFECTION...

 The Maid by Nita Prose (2022)

Molly, you had me at hello........

            Let me state right out that I'm head over heels in love with Molly the Maid, the indomitable and oddly enough adorable young woman who narrates her own story here.

            I don't think I've ever used the word delightful in describing a book I've discussed or reviewed but  it seems like that's the perfect adjective to describe Nita Prose's "The Maid"

           While the book might be easily categorized as comic cozy mystery, after a few chapters, I began to thoroughly enjoy it as kind of a modern day fairy-tale fable.  

             Molly, a super efficient maid at a plush luxury hotel, is almost like a Brothers Grimm Princess........she's clearly on the autism spectrum (possibly Asperger's Syndrome) and incapable of processing sarcasm, irony or similar subtleties in her everyday interactions with people.  Her guile-free, sometimes awkwardly direct way of communicating had led to a life where she's subjected to abuse, insults and mockery from those who misunderstand her and can't comprehend that her mind's wired differently..

              At the hotel, she's cruelly duped  by the shifty, criminal barman whom she's nursed a crush on and finds herself falsely charged with drug dealing and the murder of the hotel's most prestige guest, a corporate bigwig.  (You won't know whether to laugh or wince or do both as Molly's straight-ahead behavior confounds and exasperates police detectives, lawyers and judges as she tumbles into the criminal justice system..)

              Take heart,, though, there's a group of 'good eggs' (as Molly would refer to them) who rally 'round her as her own Scooby-Doo gang and help her put things right.....

             I found Molly and her story far more interesting than the murder mystery itself....which does wrap up with a deft, neat twist. Once her trials and tribulations reach a peak halfway through the book, the second half becomes a lengthy, but nevertheless smile-inducing journey that makes for one of most satisfying, pleasurable reads I've had all year.  

              You may laugh out loud more than few times and you may have to hold back a tear or two in Molly's backstory of being raised in decency, good manners, and devotion to obsessive cleanliness by her beloved late grandmother. 

               Molly announces to the hotel guests, "I'm here to return your room to a state of perfection.".  I think that's what NIta Prose has done with Molly's story.....told it to a 5 star state of perfection. (*****)