The Maid is a fantastic engaging read that introduces the character Molly Gray, a young woman who is on the spectrum and finds herself caught up as the prime suspect in a murder investigation.

Molly, who is recovering from the death of her beloved Gran, the only caretaker she has in her life, struggles to make ends meet while working as a maid at the Regency Grand. She enjoys her job of returning rooms to their state of perfection.

While she occasionally has problems reading facial expressions, and understanding idioms, she is smart, caring, and intent on doing right. When Mr. Black, a bigwig VIP is discovered by Molly dead in his room, Molly finds herself trapped in a mystery as the death is soon to be revealed as murder.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as the police detective, Stark seems determined to prove that Molly is the culprit, and the evidence seems to be piling up against her.

As Molly struggles with who to trust and discovers all those she calls friends aren’t, the story races along, allowing the reader to see through Molly’s eyes and appreciate the wonderful and honest way in which she sees the world.

Prose delivers a captivating tale that keeps the pages turning as Molly navigates through murder, social cues, heartbreak and friendship. I loved the way she doled out her tale, and have already added the second book in the series to my To Be Read pile.

Filled with twists and reveals, some of which you can see coming, which is intentional, and some that leave you gobsmacked, though all the clues are there from the beginning to be sorted and laid out like the jigsaw puzzles that Molly loves so much.

It’s a fascinating read as the reader sees things two ways when reading the tale, we understand Molly and how she interprets things, but also how we would interpret them, but that can lead to the reader making mistakes as well in figuring out completely what is going on.

With nods to classic detectives like Columbo and authors like Agatha Christie, the story is an enjoyable mystery that has, at its heart, a wonderful character that shows us the best of what we can be and that politeness and kindness can mean the world.

The supporting characters that populate the Regency Grand help bring Molly’s world to vivid life, and I hope to get to see more of them in the future tales. As of this moment, there is a second novel, The Mystery Guest, a Christmas novella, The Mistletoe Mystery and a third novel coming, The Maid’s Secret.

I will be there for all of them, I can’t wait to spend more time with Molly and her true friends.