Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose Narrator: Lauren Ambrose
Series: Molly the Maid #3
Published by Penguin Audio on April 8, 2025
Genres: Mystery
Length: 11 hours, 3 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
A wedding. A heist. A secret.
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….
The Molly the Maid series is delightful as a character study. The mysteries and plot lines are not too complex. Some of the characters might be seen as cliche. But not Molly. Molly is unique and so hard-working and positive. I would recommend reading the series in order for the character development.
We get two stories in The Maid”s Secret. There are the current activities in Molly’s world. Then there is the story of her grandmother, Flora Gray.  I was much more interested in hearing the grandmother’s story.
In Molly’s current world, the hotel is hosting an episode of a tv show sort of like Antiques Roadshow. The staff is allowed to bring in items in the morning before the show to have them valued by the hosts. Molly brings in an item which turns out to be a treasure. She and Juan are also only about a month from their wedding. They are planning something very simple because they don’t have extra money. Their landlord also has decided he wants to upgrade the apartments and sell them as condos.
The story of Flora is heartbreaking and difficult. She starts out as the only child of wealthy parents who are entitled and selfish. Flora takes on their attitudes but she is very interested in going to university. Alas she get boy crazy right before exams for the wrong boy, but one which makes a business merger to her parent’s delight. But she quickly learns the wrong boy is really a wrong boy. She loves the right boy, but gets pregnant and leaves him so he can get go to university on his scholarship.
Past and present collide and we learn more about Molly’s treasures, and even her mother. Things started slow for me but as soon as we started Flora’s story I was eager to read. I was very worried for her. She did suffer some heartbreak but she managed well considering. Flora and Molly both find the most precious treasure.
Narration:
The narrator has continued throughout the series and I always appreciate that continuity. Her distinct voices for the characters feel very appropriate. I could tell exactly who each character was. Her performance was enjoyable and kept me in the story. I was able to listen comfortably at 1.7x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Nita Prose
Nita Prose is the author of THE MAID, which has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide and was published in over forty countries. A #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club pick, THE MAID won the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction and was an Edgar Award finalist. Her second novel, THE MYSTERY GUEST, publishes in November 2023 in North America (January 2024 in the UK). Prose lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is moderately clean.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 25-Audio
- 25-COYER
Looking forward to starting this series, too.
I think you will love them.
Great review. I love the narration and enjoy4d getting to know Molly’s grandmother.
Thank you. This time my favorite part was the story from Molly’s grandmother Flora.
I picked up the first book in paperback and hope to get to it over the summer!
I think you’ll love it. But the narration is great too.
Eventually, I’ll get to these. I liked how you said these have good series character development.
The characters are amazing. I think you’ll enjoy these.
I’m looking forward to this installment! Looks like things change for her quite a bit!
It’s always a character study in this series.
This sounds like a good series, I’ve seen these often. Glad you enjoyed it.
These are really good. I highly recommend them.
I ended up DNFing the first book and I think it was very much a not in the right mood issue. I need to try again. It seems like every review of each new book is better than the last. This sounds really good and I need to get try this series again!
I loved the first book. I have a variety of family on the spectrum so that made it of interest to me. Molly is a character I just love.