The Maid’s Secret

Prose’s wonderful third full-length adventure for Molly Gray, head maid of the Regency Grand Hotel (after The Mystery Guest), combines an art heist plot with a juicy love story full of class conflict and family drama. When the Regency Grand hosts a taping of the antiques TV show Hidden Treasures and offers staff a free appraisal session, Molly is shocked to discover that the gold-colored display egg owned by her late grandmother Flora is an authentic Fabergé worth millions. After the piece disappears from the hotel, however, Molly becomes the target of several threats and investigations. Answers come from Flora’s diary, which was kept safe by the hotel’s doorman—whom Molly recently learned is her grandfather—and is unlocked with a key entrusted to Molly before her grandmother’s death. Prose divides the tale between flashbacks to a young Flora’s budding romance with the doorman and the details of Molly’s investigation in the present. The perfectly timed reveals in each story line complement each other, and Prose seamlessly integrates the tones of 1950s melodrama and zany contemporary caper. Energetic and full of heart, this proves that Prose’s series deserves a long run. Agent: Madeleine Milburn, Madeleine Milburn Literary. (Apr.)