I was very kindly given an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley and HarperCollins UK.

So, 'The Maid' is getting a lot of hype. Florence Pugh's already making a movie from it - it hasn't even come out yet. I heard it described once as 'Eleanor Oliphant Investigates a Murder', and I would say that's probably accurate.

I think the hype is somewhat deserved. If you read a lot of books about murders, you won't find anything particularly revolutionary in the plot. But the book's strong point is not the plot - but in the way its told. The first person, unreliable narrator allows the twists and turns to unfold slowly, to keep you guessing as to what certain conversations mean. I have no doubt it's going to make for an excellent film - especially if there's plenty invested into the visuals.

The novel feels very contained. Ironically, everything is clean, placed just so for just a reason. Never stepping much outside of the boundaries of its world, which seems to slip between locations. One of the things I disliked was how the characters seemed to exist in multiple places - they'd mention American cities and restaurants, but then use slang like 'tenner' and 'cuppa'. It was like the author was trying to give them voices that didn't fit and it really took me out of the narrative when it happened.

I can see this book earning even more hype as it gets closer to publication date. And even I - who detest most thrillers - enjoyed reading it, so I imagine it'll be a very popular January 2022 pick.

'The Maid' by Nita Prose will be published in the UK on January 20th 2022.