Pun Salad

A sequel to Nita Prose's The Maid, which I read back in 2023 and liked quite a bit. (And if you are wondering if you should read that one before this one: yes, you should.)

Molly Gray narrates from her oddball perspective. She is, as the kids say, neurodivergent. But that didn't prevent her from becoming head maid at New York's swanky Regency Grand Hotel. (And she's also Sherlock-level observant, something that assists her role as amateur sleuth.)

All is going well until the hotel hosts famous mystery writer J.D. Grimthorpe, who has promised a stunning announcement for the press and his many fans. But (tsk!) before he announces anything, he sips some honey-laden tea, and immediately drops dead. Some important clues go missing in the resulting chaos. There's plenty of suspicious behavior, including from Lily, a maid-in-training who is also apparently "on the spectrum".

Also, it turns out (in one of those Dickensian coincidences) that Molly and Grimthorpe have a history: Molly's beloved grandmother was hired as a maid at the Grimthorpe mansion years ago, when Molly was a child. Thanks to a dispute with Molly's grade school, she accompanies Gran on the job, where she meets J.D.'s domineering wife, and notes the bizarre goings-on with the mercurial writer.

Could that have something to do with the present-day murder? Sure does.

So: it's a lot of fun, hilarious in spots, moving in others. Not remotely believable as a mystery, but that's OK.