“The Maid” by Nita Prose

The main character of this charming, delightful mystery is Molly, a young woman working as a maid in a prominent hotel, whose compulsiveness about cleaning means she seriously loves her work, but since she is also a person who also takes things literally, misreads body language, misunderstands social cues, and has led a sheltered life, Molly is very much alone.  When Molly finds a hotel patron dead, she misinterprets much of what is happening, ends up as the main suspect in a murder, and eventually finds help where she least expects it.   4 Stars

“The Personal Librarian” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

This well-written fictional account is based on a remarkable woman, Belle de Costa Greene, an African-American woman in the early 1900s who passed as a white woman in order to support her family and was hired to enlarge and catalogue the extraordinary art and rare books of Mr. J.P. Morgan.  The novel drags a bit in places but is nonetheless interesting as it details Belle’s relationships with both her family and J.P Morgan, and describes how she used her vast knowledge and shrewd negotiation to become one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, helping to create a world-class reference library, and becoming a fixture in New York City society, all while her racial identity was a secret that could destroy everything.   4 Stars  

“The Push” by Ashley Audrain

This disquieting psychological thriller uses painful images of childbirth, breastfeeding, and childrearing, along with depictions of cyclical child abuse to tell the stories of three generations of dysfunctional mothers, while using the old nature/nurture controversy to focus on Blythe, whose suspicions about her daughter’s inherent evil and heinous acts, causes the disintegration of her marriage and family, pushes her to the edge of insanity, and causes her to take desperate action. Although the book is well written and others found it to be a gripping and riveting thriller, I anticipated the obvious ending long before it occurred, found the constant childbirth and breastfeeding images tedious, and the descriptions of abuse distressing, and overall, I couldn’t help being reminded of “The Bad Seed”, a classic 1956 movie I always disliked. 3 Stars (If you like psychological dramas, you might like it)