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The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1)

Nita Prose

Start date: November 7, 2022

Finish date: December 7, 2022

Discussion: Buddy Reads 2022

Why we're reading this: November Buddy Read
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What Members Thought

Mar 22, 2022 fleurette rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery

I'm a little disappointed. After the popularity of this book, I expected something spectacular.

It was not easy for me to connect with this story. And I'm not sure why. I don't think it was due to the main character's, Molly’s, social disability. Although I admit that her behavior sometimes really frustrated me, and I don't think that was the author's intention.

I think part of the problem is that it's a rather slow story. The dead body of Mr. Black, a regular guest of the hotel, are found in the I'm a little disappointed. After the popularity of this book, I expected something spectacular.

It was not easy for me to connect with this story. And I'm not sure why. I don't think it was due to the main character's, Molly’s, social disability. Although I admit that her behavior sometimes really frustrated me, and I don't think that was the author's intention.

I think part of the problem is that it's a rather slow story. The dead body of Mr. Black, a regular guest of the hotel, are found in the first chapters. But then, for the next few chapters, nothing really happens. After 30% of this book, the investigation is still not moving forward. In addition, everything else is slowed down by very extensive Molly’s flashbacks. Almost every chapter in this section of the book describes a scene in the past. Admittedly, it allows us to get to know Molly and her relationships with other characters better. But it also slows down the pace of this book very much. I had a hard time focusing on this story. I also believe that you could make an up-to-date plotline to explain the dependencies in Molly's world.

I feel like Molly's health condition serves only to make the main character a fool who completely does not understand what is happening and is unable to correctly assess people's behavior. I was sorry to read about how people gaslight her and use her limitations against her. That was another reason why it was difficult for me to read this story at times and I didn't want to go back to it.

The ending surprised me very pleasantly. Eventually, I found something really interesting in Molly. It is a pity that the author did not take the opportunity to show it for most of the book. There were too few intriguing moments in this book, too few twists. And above all, too little mystery and investigation. I was in the mood for mystery, but here we spend more time getting to know Molly and seeing the world through her eyes than trying to solve mystery. It's only in the last 25% that the story gains a little pace, it begins to unfold, and Molly becomes a truly multi-dimensional character. This last quarter saved this story for me.

The book was fine, but I expected much more. ...more

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Mar 10, 2023 Diana S rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, my-2023-reading-list, read-in-2023, 3500-2023, march-2023-tbr-list

After I read this book, I thought definitely ⭐⭐⭐⭐. But now after our book club discussion and the more I think about the story, it's now a 3.5⭐⭐⭐.
The hype that everyone gave it, didn't match What I thought it was going to be. Where was the WOW! ...more

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May 16, 2022 Susan rated it liked it

Shelves: series-im-reading

Nearly gave this book five stars, but had to drop to 3 because of the twist at the end.

SPOILER: Molly’s choice to say nothing about Mr. Black’s true killer was not only an unbelievable “gotcha” moment at the end, it also undermined the moral tone of the story. Molly may have felt she was supporting justice, but in reality she allowed the wrong person to be convicted of murder. Just because he is a bad person who committed crimes does not mean he should take the fall for a murder he didn’t commi Nearly gave this book five stars, but had to drop to 3 because of the twist at the end.

SPOILER: Molly’s choice to say nothing about Mr. Black’s true killer was not only an unbelievable “gotcha” moment at the end, it also undermined the moral tone of the story. Molly may have felt she was supporting justice, but in reality she allowed the wrong person to be convicted of murder. Just because he is a bad person who committed crimes does not mean he should take the fall for a murder he didn’t commit.

As a long-time mystery fan, I prefer protagonists who seek out actual truth, rather than - as Molly puts it - her personal version of truth which ”highlights and prioritizes my lens on the world.”

“Justice is like truth,” says Molly. “It is subjective. So many of those who deserve to be punished never receive their just deserts, and in the meantime, good people, decent people, are charged with the wrong crimes. It’s a flawed system - justice - a dirty, messy, imperfect system. But if the good people accept personal responsibility for exacting justice would we not have a better chance of cleaning the entire world, of holding the liars, the cheaters, the users, and the abusers to account?”

Molly’s views on truth and justice lead her to participate in her beloved grandmother’s choice for euthanasia, to hide key details about her friends from police, to protect a murderer because she felt the victim deserved to die, and to participate in the conviction of the wrong person for murder.

If justice is subjective, then every person gets to decide for themselves whether someone is guilty or not. The justice system may be flawed, but it’s the best we have and it’s far better than letting people decide the fate of others based on their own opinions about those people.

In the end, I felt much the same way at the end of this book that I did about Me Before You. I loved the characters, the writing was good, and the story held my attention. But the moral message was flawed and disappointing. ...more

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