Molly
is a hotel maid who seems to be on the autism spectrum. She misinterprets other people’s emotions and
sarcastic comments, and consequently she is a poor judge of character. A man whom she thinks of as a boyfriend
steals her nest egg, leaving her to struggle to make ends meet. She is, however, a model employee, very
focused on tidiness, at least until she discovers the dead body of Charles
Black, a wealthy and regular guest at the hotel. Molly’s social inadequacies, if you want to
call them that, make her a target for those who want to shift the blame to
someone ill-equipped to fight back. She
soon discovers that she has helpful resources that she did not even know about,
in addition to her own sharp memory and observations. Molly is a plucky heroine with a strong
ethical base, but she has no scruples about hiding the truth when she feels she
needs to protect someone. I would brand
this a cozy mystery—no sex, no gunfire, and no resemblance to reality. Still, I enjoyed trying to distinguish the good
eggs from the bad eggs, especially since Molly’s judgment is suspect.
