Prose’s debut proves a tidy whodunit

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This article was published 15/01/2022 (1722 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Early in this first novel by Toronto books editor Nita Prose, 25-year-old Molly Gray tells how much she likes her job at a five-star boutique hotel called the Regency Grand. “Every day of work is a joy to me. I was born to do this job. I love cleaning, I love my maid’s trolley, and I love my uniform.”

What a treat it is, in these depressing pandemic times, to meet a main character who is not only upbeat about her work but also articulate in expressing herself. Since Molly narrates the whole novel, The Maid is enjoyable throughout — it even has a surprise ending.

Molly attributes her optimism and her positive ways of handling potential setbacks to her grandmother. As Molly has told Giselle Black, a regular hotel guest and second wife of wealthy businessman Charles Black, “[Gran] believed in the three E’s — Etiquette, Elocution, and Erudition. She taught me a lot. Everything, in fact.” Gran has recently died; having lived with her since she was a baby, Molly misses her dearly.

Many of Gran’s words have become platitudes, but Molly gives them new life; she often invokes them to help her handle difficult situations. Examples: “If you’re going to do something, do it right.” “When all else fails, tidy up.”

The novel takes place mostly over five days and consists of many flashbacks. One deals with Wilbur, the only boyfriend Molly has had. She found the “physical parts” of their dates to be “quite pleasant,” and Gran liked him, but the relationship ended when Wilbur stole money from both Molly and Gran. Molly still sees potential in other men; one of those is the Regency Grand head bartender, Rodney Stiles.

Molly likes most of the people she works with. Besides Rodney, there’s Mr. Preston, the doorman; Mr. Snow, the hotel manager; Juan Manuel, a kitchen worker; and the two other maids on Molly’s shift, Sunshine and Sunitha. She does not like her supervisor, Cheryl, who is “slovenly and lazy. She cheats and cuts corners.”

At the outset, The Maid quickly turns into a whodunit. Such novels are expected to present a dead body in the first chapter, and, sure enough, in Chapter One, Molly finds Charles Black dead in his bed. Black, a rather gruff fellow but a generous tipper, seems to be sleeping, but she soon determines otherwise.

On to the scene comes Detective Stark, “a police officer, a female. She’s large, imposing, with broad, athletic shoulders. There’s something about her eyes that I do not like. I’m used to people looking past me, around me, but this officer, she looks right at me — dare I say through me? — in a deeply unsettling manner.”

Stark’s questions at the police station are even more unnerving, especially those asking Molly about how well she knows Giselle Black. Molly has lately been feeling that she is becoming a good friend of Giselle, but she worries about telling that to Stark. What would Gran recommend?

It’s a Monday when this all takes place, and Stark seems assured that Molly is not a suspect. But by Wednesday, Molly is “a person of interest,” and by Thursday she is arrested. Time for her good friend Mr. Preston to involve his bright lawyer daughter, Charlotte.

Author Prose accelerates the pace yet offers intriguing distractions along the way. Molly becomes more and more likable; reading The Maid you want to cry out, “She can clean my room anytime!”

Dave Williamson is the Winnipeg author of six novels and four CBC television plays.