Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.

Over the holidays last year, I was burned out from the pandemic and my reading life was in a rare slump. On a particularly exhausting morning, an envelope arrived at the door from my Canadian publisher and inside was a bound manuscript of The Maid, a debut from a fellow Toronto writer that I’d heard a lot about. I made a cup of tea, put on Netflix for the kids (again), and thought I’d try my best to make it through at least a chapter or two…

Hours later, kids running wild, I’d been completely swept into the life of Molly the Maid, an eccentric and dedicated employee at the luxurious Regency Grand Hotel, who is coping with the loss of her beloved Gran as she quietly goes about her routine—until she discovers a prestigious guest dead in his hotel room and becomes the easy target of everyone’s suspicion. “The truth is,” Molly tells us, “I often have trouble with social situations; it’s as though everyone is playing an elaborate game with complex rules they all know, but I’m always playing for the first time.”

Delightful, charming, endearing, quirky, uplifting—all of these words describe the spirit of this novel and our dear protagonist Molly, one of the most memorable and original characters I’ve read in years. In part, this is a whodunnit cozy mystery, and yes, that’s one good reason to turn the pages. But what makes The Maid so special is the heartbreak and complexity beneath that. This novel will make you examine why we overlook and underappreciate the people we do, what it means for someone to truly feel seen in this world, and how far we’d go for the ones we love. What a treat you have ahead to be opening the doors to the Regency Grand Hotel for the very first time…