This book was voted the winner of the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards in the Mystery & Thriller category. These awards are voted on by readers and this book is already in the making to become a movie.
Molly Gray is a 25 year old maid for the upscale Regency Grand Hotel. As we are reading, we can tell that she is misunderstood and socially awkward. I would guess she is on the autism spectrum. She truly loves her job at the hotel and takes pride in her work. She is joyous upon beginning her workday from the feeling she gets when entering the hotel, to wearing her crisp clean maids uniform, to a stocked full maid trolley in the morning which she describes as "beautiful." Molly lived with her gran who has recently died from cancer. We often hear Molly recall advice her gran gave her throughout the book. Molly doesn't have friends and her gran was her only close family and friend.
One day, Molly finds the wealthy and infamous Mr. Black dead on his bed when she comes in to clean the penthouse suite. Mr. Black and his second wife Giselle are long time repeat guests at the Regency Grand Hotel. Giselle has always been generous to Molly and offered a friendship. She also tells Molly of her unhappy marriage, abuse, and cheating. Molly has kept this to herself the entire time.
We are trying to solve the mystery as Molly becomes the police's prime murder suspect. Molly has a hard time with figuring out cues and is naïve to events happening around her. For example: Rodney the head bartender wants to meet up and talk after work which she immediately thinks is a date and he has romantic feelings for her. She finds herself set-up as the main suspect as we try to discover who it could have murdered Mr. Black.
Juan Manuel is the dishwasher in the kitchen who is always talking of his family and sending money home to them. Molly doesn't question when Rodney tells her that Juan Manuel doesn't have anywhere to live and needs a new hotel key each night so he can sleep. Molly is to drop off his overnight bag and leave the room, give the new key to Rodney, and then clean the room again. She doesn't see this as suspicious or check the bag. She trusts the guys and wants to help Juan Manuel. She does not tell anyone at the hotel that she does this.
We start to unravel the connections between Mr. Black and Rodney, Giselle, and Juan Manuel. What they were up to at the hotel and how they used Molly to cover their tracks. I didn't realize until after the book that the author was inspired by the board game Clue. That also makes a little more sense as some of the characters names are similar to the classic game. I would say my favorite character in the book was Gran. She was very sweet and caring. She did her best to help Molly and her loved showed through-out the book. Molly was frustrating at times. With being so kind hearted, she was easily manipulated and I wanted to scream at times! I would recommend this book if you need a cozy mystery and want a fast, engaging and easy read.
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