The Maid's Secret

The Maid’s Secret, published in 2025, is a cozy mystery written by Simon & Schuster Canada vice president and editorial director Nita Pronovost under the pen name Nita Prose. The book is part of Prose’s Molly the Maid series and continues the adventures of protagonist Molly Gray, a maid at the high-end Regency Grand Hotel. In The Maid’s Secret, Molly submits some of her sentimental treasures for appraisal by a national television show focused on antiques, an innocent act that plunges her into a new sea of intrigue. Molly must uncover the secrets of her own family’s past in order to discover who is targeting her in the present. The secrets she learns highlight The Impact of Class and Privilege and The Repercussions of Family Secrets and remind Molly once again of The Value of Love. 

This study guide refers to the Ballantine Books 2025 hardcover first edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of gender discrimination, sexual violence and harassment, child abuse, pregnancy termination, child death, and death.

Plot Summary

Molly Gray is the head maid and special events coordinator at the Regency Grand Hotel. Hidden Treasures, a television show about identifying secretly valuable items, is filming an episode there, and at the urging of her fiancé, Juan Manuel, Molly brings a gold egg to be evaluated. She thinks it has only sentimental value—it was given to her by the gardener at a large estate after the estate’s owner, J. G. Grimthorpe, died. However, the show’s hosts, spouses Baxley Brown and Thomas Beagle, identify it as a Fabergé egg and pronounce it worth millions of dollars. Molly is so shocked that she faints.

After the egg is evaluated, Molly receives a flurry of attention from the public, reporters, and co-workers. One of the maids, Cheryl, actually takes her picture and posts it online. In addition, her landlord announces that he is converting her apartment into a condo and expects her to buy it at a huge price. 

Molly’s beloved gran, Flora, died several years earlier and left her a diary explaining their family’s history, asking a friend to give it to Molly when she is ready. The diary reveals that Flora grew up in a very wealthy family. Because her parents, Reginald and Audrey Gray, believed that her only use was to be married off into another wealthy family, Flora depended on her nursemaid, Margaret Mead, and the butler, William Preston, for emotional support.

In the diary, Flora reveals that she wants to go to college. On her first day at the college prep classes, however, she discovers that the all-boys environment is hostile. She is relieved when the nasty comments turn from her to John Preston, the butler William’s son, who is there on a scholarship.

In the present, Beagle and Brown tell Molly that their research suggests she owns the egg. They urge her to auction it off, saying that it might earn her as much as $15 million. A week later, during the auction, the golden egg vanishes from its display case. Detective Stark arrives to investigate and discovers that the hotel’s central vacuum system was involved in the crime. In the vacuum’s collection canister, Stark finds a note threatening Molly with death if she looks for the egg.

In her diary, Flora explains the disdain she feels for John Preston as she fights her attraction to him with cruel mockery and criticism. When a man named Magnus Braun threatens to take over her father’s business, a desperate Reginald invites Braun to Gray Manor. Flora catches Braun’s eye, and he decides to bring his wife and son Algernon to the Grays’ upcoming Workers’ Ball, where he plans to introduce Flora to Algernon. Mrs. Mead explains to Flora that her parents want her to marry Algernon to save their family’s fortune. 

Remembering that John was very kind to her when they were children, Flora makes up with him and agrees to save him a dance at the ball. When they dance, Flora finds herself very attracted to him. Then Algernon arrives, and she is dazzled by his slick appearance and his self-assurance. Later, Flora sees Mrs. Mead comforting a young woman she doesn’t know, and later, Mrs. Mead tells Flora to be careful with Algernon. When John tries to tell Flora the same thing, she decides he is just jealous and agrees to go on a date with Algernon.

In the present, Molly’s life is almost back to normal after the egg’s theft. However, walking home alone one night, she is accosted by her long-absent mother, Maggie, who claims that she is in danger. She also asks Molly for money, leading Molly to mistrust her warning. Later, John Preston, her grandfather and former doorman at the hotel, gives Molly Flora’s diary, explaining that Flora told him to give it to Molly when the time was right.

In Flora’s diary, Mrs. Mead tells Audrey and Reginald that Algernon was accused of assaulting a young woman at his college, but they refuse to believe her. They shower Flora with affection for the first time in her life before her date with Algernon. Mrs. Mead, Uncle Willy, and John follow her and Algernon to the drive-in theater. When Algernon becomes sexually aggressive with Flora, Mrs. Mead knocks on the car window to interrupt.

Flora blames herself for Algernon’s actions and continues seeing him. When he proposes, the Brauns give Flora a Fabergé egg instead of a ring to seal the engagement, negotiated by Reginald in addition to a merger with Braun’s company. Although he has no paperwork to prove their ownership, he assures Flora that it is hers even if Algernon backs out of the marriage.

In the present, Molly stays home from work the day after her encounter with Maggie, but Mr. Snow calls to tell her that the Fabergé egg was discovered in Molly’s maid cart, along with a note saying that if she does not sell the egg, she will die.

In Flora’s diary, during a visit to the Grays’ estate, Algernon searches Reginald’s office for reasons unknown to Flora. He also hints that he and his father actually stole the Fabergé egg. Later in the day, tragedy strikes: Mrs. Mead rushes into the woods during the men’s hunting excursion and is fatally shot. Flora is devastated. The police believe it is an accident and blame John, but he and William insist that the fatal shot came from Algernon’s gun.

After Mrs. Mead’s funeral, Flora learns that Mrs. Mead ran into the woods because she wanted to tell John and William that one of the housemaids, Penelope, worked for the baron who once owned the Fabergé egg. Algernon stole the egg and threatened Penelope to ensure her silence. Penelope believes he shot Mrs. Mead on purpose. Flora decides to end her engagement. She confesses that she is in love with John, and they have sex.

In the present, Stark and Molly interview Brown and Beagle; while there, Molly sees a portrait of Baron Beagle, Beagle’s recently deceased grandfather. That night, she finally reads Flora’s diary, which not only helps her understand her grandmother but also gives her the information to solve the case.

In Flora’s diary, she reports that her parents are furious when she breaks her engagement to Algernon. Magnus Braun immediately dissolves the merger with Reginald’s firm. Flora hides the Fabergé egg from both families. She discovers that she is pregnant, and John proposes to her, but her mother convinces her to go to a birth house, where the baby’s existence can be hidden by a discreet adoption. Flora agrees to this plan so that John can still go to college.

After Flora witnesses a young mother and her baby die from a lack of medical care at the birth house, she runs away. When she returns to Gray Manor, however, she discovers that her parents have vanished. Desperate and alone, Flora takes a job as a maid from the new owners. They sell the Fabergé egg for her but only give her a few thousand dollars. She uses this money to get an apartment and when her daughter is born, Flora names her Margaret, after Mrs. Mead.

In the present, Molly explains to Stark, John, Juan, and Angela that Beagle’s grandfather is likely the Fabergé egg’s first owner, and Brown is likely Algernon Braun’s child. Brown’s father, Algernon, and grandfather Magnus stole the egg from Beagle, and the Bees are somehow involved in the egg’s current theft and return. 

They decide to pretend to sell the egg at a fake auction and record Brown and Beagle’s subsequent conversation. After the fake auction, Beagle confesses to Brown that he stole the egg to prevent its provenance from coming to light and ruining their firm’s reputation. He returned it after finding a bill of sale proving his grandfather’s ownership, planning to eventually claim the egg and sell it again. Brown is furious, and Stark arrests Thomas Beagle.

Flora’s diary concludes with a quick summary of her life after Maggie’s birth. She continues to work as a maid at various homes, and eventually, John Preston re-enters her life. He didn’t go to college and is working as a hotel bellhop. He is married to a woman called Mary, with whom Flora becomes good friends. Flora and John’s daughter Maggie eventually drops out of their lives and leaves behind her own daughter Molly, whom John and Flora love. When Molly is old enough to work, John gets her a maid position at the hotel, and when Flora is diagnosed with cancer, he tells her he will take care of Molly for the rest of his life.

Molly and Juan’s wedding takes place at the Regency Grand. As a wedding gift, Thomas Brown gives her $500,000 from the egg’s sale as an apology for the way his father and grandfather treated Flora. Molly and Juan decide to purchase their apartment with the money.