This guide to the Molly the Maid book series by Nita Prose explores dusting—and dusting for fingerprints! Neurodivergent hotel maid Molly’s eccentric social skills make it challenging, yet interesting, for her to exonerate herself from involvement in suspicious hotel deaths.
Here, you’ll unravel Molly’s apron strings and uncover what makes cozy mystery lovers “sweep up” books about Molly in this famous book series. So, grab your feather duster, and let’s get into the nooks and crannies!
Molly The Maid Book Series: Order of the Mystery Trilogy
Molly the Maid series consists of two novels and one novella by Nita Prose:
- The Maid (2022)
- The Mystery Guest (2023)
- The Mistletoe Mystery: A Maid Novella (October 1, 2024)
READING ORDER TIP: In order to avoid spoilers, the books in the Molly the Maid book series by Nita Prose should be read in order. The second book references what happened in the first book.
About Molly the Maid Series
- Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
- Genre: “cozy mystery”
- Setting: the Grand Regency Hotel
Themes Molly the Maid Explores
- family
- diversity
- inclusion
- class
- ethics
- perseverance
- friendship
- personal growth
These themes are explored through the main characters, whose names are bolded for you to track in the summaries and reviews below.
The Maid (Book 1 of 3)
- #1 New York Times bestseller
- Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller
- Good Morning America book club pick
- Winner of the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction, the Fingerprint Award for Debut Novel of the Year, the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and the Barry Award for Best First Mystery
- Finalist for the Edgar Award
- One of the best books of the year named by Reader’s Digest, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Glamour, Elle, PopSugar, Newsweek, Kirkus Reviews, and more
- Over one million copies sold
Summary (Without Spoilers)
In The Maid, Molly Gray is a young hotel maid at the boutique five-star Grand Regency Hotel. Despite her love for her job, she struggles with social skills like communication and interpretation, especially since her beloved Gran died. Being a maid helps her bring order to life.
Her life and career are upended when she enters the suite of a wealthy guest (and abusive husband), Charles Black, only to find him dead. In an attempt to be helpful to her co-worker crush, Rodney, and Black’s wife, Giselle (her friend), her unusual mannerisms lead her to become the lead suspect, under arrest for a whole host of charges, including murder.
Molly is smarter than her social skills imply. But, her only hope is that those around her will figure out what really happened to Mr. Black, including the doorman, Mr. Preston, and his lawyer daughter, Charlotte. The people in this quirky woman’s life must rally to support her.
Review
My Review: ★★★☆☆
Is it odd to call a murder mystery heartwarming? This Clue-like mystery was oddly light and charming, and it works really well for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
The twists also kept coming as Molly came of age in truly unprecedented ways. It left the reader wanting more about Molly’s background.
I didn’t love it as much as the general population of readers, as some of Molly’s choices require the reader to tread some morally grey waters. But, this is also what makes it a great book club pick. And, Molly is undeniably one-of-a-kind.
It’s well worth it for most readers.
The Mystery Guest (Book 2 of 3)
- National bestseller
- A best book of the year: PopSugar, Harper’s Bazaar, Chicago Public Library, CrimeReads, Bookreporter
- New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
Summary (Without Spoilers)
In The Mystery Guest, Molly the Maid is back. She’s the head maid and has a boyfriend, but… another guest is dead at the Regency Grand Hotel, where she works.
It just so happens that Molly gave the famous mystery author, J.D. Grimthorpe, tea before he dropped dead. So, once again, she becomes a suspect in his mysterious death.
But other suspects also emerge, including the hotel’s new maid, the author’s secretary, hotel guests, and even Mr. Preston, the doorman beloved to Molly.
As it turns out, there’s a lot lurking under the surface. Many, including Molly herself, share sordid pasts with the author. “Secrets never keep,” so all is revealed by the novel’s end.
Review
My Review: ★★★★☆
I read The Mystery Guest in 24 hours and enjoyed it far more than The Maid! The reader gets to learn much more about Molly’s, Gran’s, and Mr. Preston’s pasts. The secret life of a mysterious author is always especially intriguing to me as a book lover!
While, in The Maid, Molly was often compared to Eleanor from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, I actually found her to be more like Elizabeth Zott in Lessons in Chemistry in The Mystery Guest. She’s highly intelligent and literal to a fault. Since I love Zott, I also love Molly here.
While I had my suspicions about whodunnit (and was right), I still got to learn why. A lot of other aspects of Molly’s life came full circle in this mystery. I have no doubt that fans of The Maid will delight in it.
Of note, I read an advanced audiobook copy from Libro.fm, and I thought it was exceptionally narrated.
The Mistletoe Mystery: A Maid Novella (Book 3 of 3)
About The Mistletoe Mystery (Book 3 Release Date: October 1, 2024), from the publisher:
Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child, her gran went to great lengths to make the season merry and bright, full of cherished traditions. The first few Christmases without Gran were hard on Molly, but this year, her beloved boyfriend and fellow festive spirit, Juan Manuel, is intent on making the season Molly’s most joyful yet.
But when a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand Hotel raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most consequential—and personal—mystery yet. Molly has a bad feeling about things, and she starts to wonder: has she yet again mistaken a frog for a prince?
A heartwarming, magical story about the true spirit of the season, The Mistletoe Mystery reminds us that love is the greatest mystery of all.
About Author Nita Prose
about
Nita Prose is a long-time Canadian editor and recent author whose 2022 debut novel, The Maid, became a smash hit, selling over one million copies and winning a variety of awards.
Molly the Maid Movie Adaptation News
Little Women actress Florence Pugh is set to star in the movie adaptation of The Maid for Universal
Frequently Asked Questions
The killer in The Maid by Nita Prose was the first Mrs. Black — Mr. Black’s wife prior to Giselle. She entered the hotel room to find him drugged and violent, and she suffocated him with a pillow. Molly interacted with her and ultimately protected her because Molly found a kinship in this action “for the greater good.”
Yes. The Maid by Nita Prose has a sequel called The Mystery Guest. It follows another murder mystery in Molly the maid’s life, and it brings her past full circle with her present.
Yes. The Maid by Nita Prose is a series of two books and one novella about murder mysteries at the hotel where Molly the maid works. The second book is called The Mystery Guest and the third installation, a novella, is called The Mistletoe Mystery
Yes. In order to avoid spoilers, you should read The Maid by Nita Prose before the sequel, The Mystery Guest. The sequel book references what happened in the first book.
Yes. The Maid by Nita Prose is a murder mystery about a young, neurodivergent hotel maid who is on the autism spectrum. She becomes framed in the suspicious death of a guest due to her unusual social skills.
Conclusion
The Molly the Maid book series by Nita Prose contains two cozy mysteries about a neurodivergent hotel maid who finds herself at the center of the suspicious deaths of hotel guests. Readers worldwide fell in love with her eccentric charm and kept turning the pages full of plot twists at the same time.
To avoid spoilers, these books are best read in order:
- The Maid (2022)
- The Mystery Guest (2023)
- The Mistletoe Mystery: A Maid Novella (October 1, 2024)
