The Maid by Nita Prose (Molly the Maid #1) * * *

The Maid by Nita Prose was my first read of the year written in this millennium. I listened to it as an audiobook, and I can recommend it, as Lauren Ambrose does an excellent job, giving Molly a distinct, consistent voice that carries the listener through even the slower sections.

The story follows Molly Gray, a hotel maid who is clearly neurodivergent. While autism is never named outright, it is strongly implied. The novel is framed as a mystery, but in practice, it is much more a portrait of Molly’s life than a conventional whodunnit. Roughly eighty percent of the book is spent inside her routines, her memories of being raised by her grandmother, and her often painfully literal way of navigating the world.

That “painfully” is doing a lot of work here.

As a neurodivergent reader myself, I struggled with how Molly is portrayed. Her naivety goes beyond social awkwardness and drifts into something that feels infantilising. She is in her twenties, yet often written as if she has the comprehension and life awareness of someone much younger. While some of this can be explained by neurodivergence, a great deal of it seems rooted in her extremely sheltered upbringing. That distinction matters. Being neurodivergent does not mean having no understanding of the world, and the book sometimes blurs that line in ways that made me deeply uncomfortable.

This discomfort is compounded by how little agency Molly is given. She repeatedly gets into trouble not because she takes risks or makes complex mistakes, but because she is kept naïve by the narrative itself. By the end of the novel, she does not so much grow as she finds another person to help her navigate life. A support system is important, yes—but growth is too often replaced here with substitution. The core issue is never truly addressed.

The mystery element is similarly muted. Molly does not actively investigate, look for clues, or try to solve anything. The crime exists alongside her daily life rather than driving the story forward. There is a twist at the end—one that retroactively reframes earlier events—but I am still unsure whether it fully works. Sitting with it afterwards, some of Molly’s actions feel stranger rather than clearer. It is an interesting idea, but not one I’m convinced integrates cleanly with the rest of the narrative.

I also found myself distracted by the hotel setting. Having worked in hotels in the UK, some details rang false: the terminology, the lack of service elevators in a supposedly upscale property, the unrealistic amount of time Molly spends in guest rooms. These are small things, but they add up, and they suggest an author writing a hotel from the outside rather than from experience.

I gave it three stars, because despite all this, I didn’t dislike the book. Molly is, in many ways, a compelling character. Her love of order, routine, and clarity is relatable; her lack of acceptance at the start of the story is painfully familiar. The audiobook experience is genuinely strong. And I am curious about where her life goes next.

I won’t be continuing the series right now. With multiple reading challenges underway, I’m not eager to commit to a trilogy. But I haven’t closed the door entirely.

The Maid is not a bad book. But for a story centred on difference, independence, and perception, it shows little character growth and everything works out for our protagonist a little bit too neatly at the end.