The Maid by Nita Prose

 

Twenty-five year old Molly is a bit at loose ends.  When Gran was alive, she knew exactly what to do all the time.  But since Gran died a few months ago, she feels adrift.  She knows what to do at her job at a five star hotel where she is a maid but after work she has no company and although the apartment is still a haven, she is falling behind on the rent.  Molly lives by rules and does everything with excessive detail. She sees the world very literally and is often considered strange or robotic by others.   She is perfect as a maid but has no real friends.

Then the day.  She enters the suite of the Blacks, who are often at the hotel.  She finds Mr. Black lying dead on the bed.  Mrs, Black, Giselle, had shown Molly some kindnesses and Molly believes they are friends.  She sees pills like the ones Giselle takes near the body and knows that Giselle was unhappy with her husband, who cheated on her and sometimes beat her.  When Molly reports the death, she is careful not to say anything to the police about her friend Giselle.

She has a couple of other people at the hotel she interacts with.  The doorman was an old friend of Gran's and he looks out for Molly as best he can.  She has a crush on the bartender and has befriended one of the dishwashers.  She finds an empty room each night for the dishwasher as a favor for the bartender.  When the police decide Molly is the perfect suspect, some of these individuals help her and others use her as a dupe.

This book garnered a ton of buzz.  It was a finalist for the Edgar Award and was recommended or chosen as a best book by various media outlets.  Molly is someone apparently on the spectrum and seeing the world through her eyes and how easily she is fooled is revelatory.  She assumes the best of everyone and is easily fooled due to her assumptions that everyone lives by the same morality and rules as she does.  Readers will worry about her and delight in the book's ending.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.