The Maid

Nita Prose’s debut novel The Maid (Ballantine Books, 2022) is a cozy detective mystery. It is an international bestseller, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, and received the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction. The Maid is currently in development as a film starring Florence Pugh. Nita Prose is a longtime editor, serving many bestselling authors and their books. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

This guide refers to the 2022 Kindle edition of The Maid.

Plot Summary

Twenty-five-year-old Molly Gray is a little odd and out of step with the world, but she loves her job as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. One Monday, Molly walks into Mr. and Mrs. Black’s suite and finds Mr. Black dead. Molly phones the front desk for help then glances in the mirror. She sees the presumed murderer behind her and passes out.

The narrative flashes back to earlier that day. Molly greeted Mr. Preston the doorman and asked after his daughter Charlotte—a high-powered lawyer—then she went to the kitchen to see Juan Manuel, the dishwasher. She gave him a key card for Room 308. He is homeless, and Molly’s friend Rodney, the barman, lets him sleep in unused rooms.