The Maid

A maid in a hotel is almost invisible no one knows that better than Molly Gray, team that with someone who is over trusting and socially awkward. I would almost say on the autistic spectrum. Molly comes across as innocent and a tad naive. She is not quick to understand or notice trouble, let alone what to do in various different emotional circumstances. Her world has always been small. Raised by her gran as her mum was not around and absent from her life as her mother was with what they call a “bad egg”

Molly is befriended by one of the guest’s wife Giselle Black from room 401 who regularly gives her good tips. One of the phrases that Molly has latched onto from a course is returning the rooms to a “state of perfection”.

She takes her job very seriously and her gran has taught her well. When her Gran passes she is all alone, one fateful day she goes to clean room 401 and finds Mr Black Giselle’s husband deceased.

Before she knows it she has opened up a can of worms exposing some shady business going on in the hotel, the next thing is she finds herself being charged with more than one crime and being all alone in the world is there anyone who can be trusted to help her in her plight?…..

Molly’s character has some Eleanor Oliphant vibes from the book “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” without the murder but that book was much more endearing for me and it felt a bit more complete, this one although I enjoyed it felt like it needed a bit more at the end.

I love this audio book. I was hooked, Molly is such a great character… I won’t say anything more (don’t want to spoil) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.25⭐️
I had the audiobook version narrated by Lauren Ambrose who does a great job with the narration. Great distinctive voices for the characters, and emotive narration which helps the reader to totally engage.

This is a gentle cosy murder mystery with Molly is the main character. It’s told in a chatty, first person narrative which makes it easy to engage with.

Molly adores her job as a maid in a prestigious hotel. She is neurodiverse and conscientious to the point of obsession which is ideal for her job.
Molly’s gran is a lovely warm caring character who was left to raise Molly. Her gran has given her guidance on how to cope with situations over the years, only now her gran has died and Molly is now alone to navigate the world that she’s not fully prepared for.
Molly is a very endearing character, lonely and socially isolated, a little naive. She is very hard working and dedicated to her job. She is quirky, but I felt that her quirkiness is muted which stops her being an OTT parody.
Mr Preston is a lovely caring character too who takes Molly under his wing.
Juan is such a loveable character who has been drawn into illegal activity.

Molly is charged over the death of one of the VIP guests Mr Black.
She gets mixed up with a very shady character Rodney.
It tugged on my emotions when she describes how empty her fridge is, and how hungry she is. I was angry at the pettiness of her being reported for taking left over food off trays when it was only destined for the bin, as she had no money for food.

The book is well written, it really drew me in. It starts slowly, lacking a strong hook. I wondered if I would get into it. But once it grabbed me, it didn’t let go.
At a couple of places it had me in tears.
The ending was very drawn out for me.

I couldn’t help make comparisons with Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. Eleanor was more of a character study with a quirkier character. This is more plot driven as a murder mystery with amateur sleuths with a quirky central character. Eleanor grabbed my attention quicker, but I engaged less with the storyline. This one is my favourite of the 2.
Both have love interests.

This is a lovely feel good read which would have scored much higher if it wasn’t for the slow start and drawn out ending.