Book Review: The Maid’s Secret from Nita Prose

A cozy mystery with heart, The Maid’s Secret follows Molly the Maid through a whirlwind of weddings, heirlooms, and one very bold art heist.

There’s something undeniably comforting about slipping back into the world of Molly the Maid, where vintage heirlooms, hotel gossip, and unexpected crimes collide in the most charming way. In The Maid’s Secret, the third installment of Nita Prose’s beloved cozy mystery book series, Molly finds herself at the center of yet another whirlwind, this time involving a priceless antique, a surprise inheritance, and her ever-present (and ever-mysterious) Gran. While it may not be the strongest in the series, this latest adventure still delivers plenty of intrigue, heartfelt moments, and the delightfully oddball cast we’ve all grown to love. Find out more about the book and why I gave it 3.25 our of 5 stars.

What is the book about?

Molly Gray’s life is about to change in ways she could never have imagined. As the esteemed Head Maid and recently promoted Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel, good things are just around the corner, including her marriage to her beloved fiancé, Juan Manuel, only two months away.

But Molly’s entire existence is upended when a film crew descends upon the hotel to shoot the hit reality TV show Hidden Treasures, starring popular art appraisers Brown and Beagle. On a whim, Molly brings in a shoebox containing a few of her gran’s old things for appraisal, and much to everyone’s surprise, one item turns out to be a rare and priceless treasure. Instantly, Molly is both a multi-millionaire and a media sensation—the world’s rags-to-riches darling—until the priceless piece vanishes from the hotel in the boldest, brashest antiquities heist in recent memory.

The key to the mystery lies in the past, in a long-forgotten diary written by Molly’s gran. For the first time ever, Molly learns about Gran’s true-to-life fairytale, a young girl to the manor born, the only child of a wealthy magnate. But when Gran falls head over heels in love with a young man her parents deem below her station, her life is thrown into turmoil. As fate would have it, the greatest love of Gran’s life is someone Molly knows quite well….

Together with her friends, Molly combs the past and the present to catch the thief before looming threats against her become real. [Goodreads.com]

My review

Molly is back in the third book (fourth if you count 2.5!) of the Molly the Maid series: The Maid’s Secret. Once again, Nita Prose delivers the cozy, quirky charm we’ve come to expect from our favorite crime-solving maid. This time around, Molly is juggling wedding planning, a hit reality show filming at the Regency Grand, and a high-stakes art heist tied to her late Gran’s mysterious past.

The real heart of the book is in the uncovering of Gran’s life. For a character that’s been gone since book one, she remains a big presence, and her diary adds significant depth to the story. The mystery is fun, the characters remain delightfully offbeat, and even if the plot leans a bit over-the-top, it’s always a joy to spend time in Molly’s world.

It is not my favorite book in the series, but it is still an enjoyable read. I’ll keep turning pages as long as Molly keeps solving crimes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Ballantine Books for an advanced reader’s copy; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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