The Housemaid (Book 1)

Goodreads Choice Award –  Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2022)

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden is a fast-paced dark thriller full of secrets and deception.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

This book is part of My Fall 2023 Reading List.

My Overview

Millie, recently released from ten years in prison, is unemployed and living out of her car. When Nina Winchester offers to hire her as a housemaid, Millie can’t believe her luck. A job at the Winchester home will provide what she needs: money and a place to live at! From the beginning, there are plenty of red flags for Millie, including the gardener warning her of danger. Millie even knows she’ll have to sleep in a tiny attic room that only locks from the outside, but chooses to focus on the big picture … housing and employment. She’s even willing to put up with Nina’s unstable behavior and her daughter’s brattiness. Fortunately, Andrew Winchester (Nina’s husband) is kind to her.

The story is divided into three parts. Part 1 sets the scene at the Winchester home and introduces the main characters: Millie, Nina, and Andrew. I enjoyed the set-up of the plot, and Nina’s observations and humor. Part 2 begins with a big twist I didn’t expect. As the story unfolds it quickly becomes OTT and less believable. By Part 3, the story basically goes off the rails.

Overall, this is a high-paced thriller where no character can be trusted and suspension of disbelief is needed. Based on all the hype, I had high expectations for this book. Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver on the hype for me. The story is so crazy, though, that it makes this an unputdownable book. Even as I watched the story go off the rails, I couldn’t look away 🫣.

My Recommendation

Although I wasn’t thrilled (😉) by the story, I know that my opinion is part of a minority. Also, keep in mind this is my first book by this author. If you haven’t read this book yet, you should probably give it a try. I read the Kindle edition and tried the audiobook also; either is fine.

Have you read this book?