'THE MAID'......A QUIRKY HOUSEKEEPER ACHIEVES A STATE OF PERFECTION.....

 The Maid by Nita Prose (2021) Molly, you had us at hello........

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

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

           While the book might be easily categorized as a comic cozy mystery, after a few chapters, we 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, 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.....

             We 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.".  We think that's what NIta Prose accomplished with Molly's story.....told it to a 5 star (*****) state of perfection, making it our very first FIND OF FINDS for 2022. 

              Any avid reader who wants to kick off the new year with some real cheer (and God knows, it looks like we'll all need some), put this at the very top of your 'must read' list.......