Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Maid

Many murder mysteries are helmed by a neurodivergent detective (Holmes, Poirot, Monk), but most of them rarely get into how their mind works and even fewer acknowledge the challenges faced by these characters' disability (their attention to detail is simply a superpower). The main character of the novel, Molly Gray, is neurodivergent but this does not make her a superhuman detective. Instead, the reader comes to realize how much Molly doesn't see or understand because of the way her mind works. It can be frustrating at times to watch as she trusts the wrong people and misunderstands situations that are very obvious to the rest of us. I've heard many people with neurodiversity discuss how they hate that their disability is oftentimes represented as a superpower rather than an actual disability (comedian Fern Brady has a whole stand-up about it). Overall, I found this aspect of the novel to be incredibly educational and led to increased empathy on my part.

The reason I don't give this book 5 stars is because of the ending. Prose fell into the classic murder mystery trope of keeping valuable information from the reader.

From the beginning our main character knows who killed Mr. Black (it isn't anyone ever put on our radar) but never tells anyone or discusses it in her own mind.

Before I got to the end of the novel, I thought I figured out the answer, which seemed very obvious from the beginning, but I was impressed by how the pieces had come together. Instead, like all other murder mystery authors before her, Prose decides to justify a left-field answer by withholding information from the reader, information that should be known to us since we are inside Molly's head.

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hannah_steven's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lex_l's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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averyprettyboy's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

just wow wow wow

this book was probably one of my absolute favorite reads this year. even before learning of it online, i had suspected that molly could be on the spectrum and also might have ocd, but it was great to see this representation even if it might have made her an “unreliable narrator” to some. i was captivated from the very start and throughly enjoyed this book until the very end.

i nearly sobbed when learning the final fate of molly’s gran, but i also understand why it was done. it was just heartbreaking to learn. i kind of suspected that rodney was involved in some nefarious dealings and that juan manuel may have been as well but was utterly shocked at how deep the pool of deceit went. and the ending??? wtaf i had no idea that the first mrs black would be the true killer, although i am glad that molly left her to peacefully live out her live, even if shes rich, rodney deserved jail time more than she did. im really pissed that we never learned where wilbur went and for whatever reason, i suspected him to be mr black 😭 it seemed like something he would do and with molly being a unreliable narrator and also not always putting the pieces together right away, i wondered if she even knew. but i guess as far as we know wilbur is not mr black. and i was really thankful of giselle for helping molly out, they really both deserve happiness and peace now. also juan manuel and molly getting together is something i wanted since he was first introduced so im super happy about that.

all in all, great read and would recommend to anyone.

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chondritesandchondrites's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The Maid is a difficult book to review. Like most mysteries, the first half of the book is set up and the second half is about revealing answers. Once I hit the midway point in this novel, I really started to enjoy it. It was fast paced, playful, and unexpected. I was incredibly invested, and had trouble putting the book down. At one point, I was crying while reading.

All this said, I nearly didn’t get to the mid point of this book. The first half I found slow and difficult to read. I felt, at times, that the author did not trust the reader as certain points were repeated with a heavy hand. Additionally, Molly’s social awkwardness plays a key role in this book, but it also feels over done to the point of caricature.

I’ve seen other readers speculating on whether Molly is autistic. There is no point in the book where Molly is identified as such, and that’s honestly a good thing. It would be a very poor representation of an autistic person.

As such— I give this book 3.5. While readers might have to weather the first half of the book, the second half is a great read and incredibly fun.

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