“The Housemaid” is an engrossing psychological thriller Series by Freida McFadden that I heard of as a page-turner, and I wanted to give it a read myself to agree or negate the hype. The Series revolves around a woman who happens to be a cleaning lady. There are two books in the Series, and the 3rd one ( is scheduled to be released this year in June 2024
“The Housemaid” is suitable for readers aged above 18 years as it includes mental and physical abuse, drug activities, murder and torture. Even suicide and adult assault have also been mentioned. Although it is a series, books can be read standalone, too. That is one great thing about Series who serve as both. You can read the books in any order, and you will be able to pick the story right.
I found the book a fusion of thrill, spice, suspense, mystery and a bit scary. Of course, it was not too frightening that I had to turn my head again and again to see if Millie was standing behind me (Grinning)
The Housemaid Series Order:
- ·The Housemaid
- ·The Housemaid’s Secret
- ·The Housemaid is Watching
Main Characters:
- Millie Calloway: Employed as a housekeeper
- Nina Winchester: Wife of a businessman Andrew
- Andrew Winchester: A wealthy man who tortures his wife
- Enzo: A gardener
- Wendy: A cunning lady who has an affair with Russell
- Doughlas: Wendy’s husband
- Russell: Wendy’s boyfriend
- Marybeth: Russell’s wife
The Housemaid Reading Order with Publication Description:
The Housemaid:
Summary:
Nina and Andrew are a wealthy couple who hire Millie as a live-in housekeeper. Millie hides that she has been in prison for ten years for accidentally attacking someone who tried a rape attempt. Millie is given a room to live in, locked from outside only. With time, Andrew and Millie get closer and end up sleeping together. Andrew and Nina fight, and Andrew kicks her out of the house. Nina purposely hires Millie, a housekeeper who is young and beautiful, so that she can take her place and Nina can finally get rid of her toxic husband.
Andrew starts torturing Millie, and to save herself, she attacks with a pepper spray that she found lying in the room. Guess who placed it there? Yes, Nina did because she knew about Millie’s past criminal record and was hoping that Millie would kill Andrew. To give Andrew the taste of his medicine, Millie locks Andrew in the room and punishment.
One day, Nina comes to see Millie and sees her with Andrew’s dead body. Millie is tense that she will have to go to prison again, but Nina offers to take the murder on her as she always wanted to kill Andrew, but she couldn’t do it herself. The police arrives and they tell him this cooked story. Who do you think gets arrested? Actually, no one. Why? Because the police detective’s daughter was also tortured by Andrew. The policeman states in the report that Andrew’s death was an accident.
| Publisher | Grand Central Publishing |
| Publishing Date | First published April 26, 2022 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 325 Pages |
| Series | The Housemaid (#1) |
| Literary awards | Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Mystery & Thriller (2022) |
| ISBN | 978-1538742570 |
Later, Millie gives an interview for a cleaning job, and the woman mentions that Nina suggested her name. Millie found a bruise on the woman’s body and instantly understands the work she has to do. What type of work are you guessing? The cleaning one? Well, you got it wrong. She has to kill the woman’s violent husband.
The Housemaid’s Secret:
Summary:
Millie continues to do housekeeping jobs where she helps women get out of domestic violence and abusive relationships. Millie receives admission to a degree to adopt social work as a career. She gets hired by another couple, Douglas and Wendy. They don’t have children, and they live alone. Wendy is unwell, so she does not come out of the room.
Wendy discusses with Millie that she needs her help to get out of her relationship with Douglas. Douglas was trying to choke Wendy when Millie intervened, grabbed the gun and killed Douglas. Wendy asks Millie just to leave the house; she will handle the detectives by saying someone intruded and killed Douglas.
But Wendy changes her statement later and cooks up a story that Douglas and Millie were in a relationship first and then broke up; this is why Millie killed him. The picture of the honest Douglas is shared on TV in the news, and Millie discovers this is not the person she killed. He is someone else.
Wendy met Douglas 4 years back and married him. Two years later, Wendy meets Russell, who looks much better than Douglas. Wendy falls in Love with Russell and plans to leave Douglas. While all this is happening, Douglas knows that Wendy is cheating on her, so he warns her that if she continues this, the pre-nuptial agreement will get cancelled, and she will get nothing from his inheritance. Wendy now knows that she will get nothing if she leaves Douglas but will get everything if he dies; she starts planning to kill him.
| Publisher | Bookouture |
| Publishing Date | First published February 15, 2023 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 318 Pages |
| Series | The Housemaid (#2) |
| Literary awards | British Book Award Nominee for Audiobook: Fiction (2024) |
| ISBN-10 | 1837901317 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1837901319 |
This is when she heard from her friend about Millie and hired her. Wendy is a cunning lady and comes up with a new plan. She makes Millie think that Russell is Douglas and he is choking her. So, Millie opened bullets at Russell that were blank and not real. When Millie left that day, Wendy called honest Douglas and, killed him and framed Millie for this.
Wendy gets a call from the investigation office telling her that Douglas had installed a camera in the house and she has been caught killing him. Now, what happens with Russell and her wife Marybeth? There’s a surprise you should find out yourself.
Review:
I found this thriller series “Ah-mazing”. It chilled me to the bone with the mysterious yet gripping storyline. Millie’s character is strong, and she actively saves her life from Andrew using pepper spray. Had she not been courageous that day, Andrew would have taken her life. Millie tries to save her friend from being raped and saved her life. She set an example: “A friend in need is a friend indeed”.
Although it was good to see Millie helping other women get out of abusive marriages/relationships, I felt there were too many murders. Another take-home message was that Wendy had to taste the bitterness of “Greed is a curse”. Wendy had her eyes on Douglas’ wealth, and this was one of the reasons she killed him, only to know that she wouldn’t be getting any share in Douglas’ inheritance. Why? Because he was aware of her cheating and donated all his property to a charity. Wendy is left with nothing but only surprise and disappointment.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in the Series to discover how many murders Millie will commit in this book (Pun intended).
Note: If you love Verity by Colleen Hoover, you definitely love this amazing thriller.
Conclusion:
“The Housemaid” series is bound to keep you hooked in both books. No cliffhangers were making the story reach its epilogue. Thserieses has an exciting storyline where women are trying to get out of toxic relationships and get the help of their housekeeping, Millie. Millie is bold and does not think twice before killing someone who makes the life of any woman miserable. All the characters, including Nina, Wendy and Russell, are very clever and keenly make plans.
This Series was full of surprises and suspense, so I rate it 4.7 stars. This Series has definitely been added to my recommended Series to read. When are you planning to begin reading? Have a fun reading time!