The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden

The Housemaid #2

Rating: ★★★★★

Dates Read: 2/21/23 - 2/21/23

    In need of a job and desperate to protect her darkest secret, our protagonist seizes the opportunity to work as a cleaner for the Garrick family. Their lavish penthouse offers a chance for a fresh start, but Mrs. Garrick remains a mystery, confined to the guest bedroom due to a severe illness. As she tends to her duties, the protagonist becomes increasingly suspicious of the Garricks and the woman behind closed doors. Spotting blood on Mrs. Garrick's nightgowns and hearing her cries, she can't resist peeking inside the guest bedroom.

    What she discovers changes everything, prompting her to make a promise to protect Mrs. Garrick and seek retribution against Douglas Garrick for his wrongdoings. With her own secrets to safeguard, she contemplates how far she's willing to go to uphold her pledge.

    This sequel doesn't exactly continue from the end of the first novel, but provides enough of context to help us bridge to the events of this book. Though this can work as a standalone, I recommend you read the series in order, because Millie’s personality is much better explored in the first book. I was very happy to get right back into what is going on with the main protagonist Millie since the ending to “The Housemaid” was pretty wild. Millie is awesome and I truly loved all the New York vibes in this novel.

    Besides that, all the little references to the first book in this series were also brilliantly done. I’d recommend reading the first one and then jumping right into this one to see what I mean. McFadden is a great storyteller that delivers some incredible suspense, mystery, tension, and my goodness, her plot twists are on a whole other level. She’s fantastic when it comes to them and they will literally have your jaw on the floor with how crazy they are once revealed. That’s exactly what happened to me and I still can’t believe them.

    This sequel delivers in ways only McFadden can conjure as it’s another incredible psychological thriller of a read. I love how all of her books are so fast-paced and addictive, you simply can’t put them down even if you tried. Her writing is so seamless that this novel was a genuine page-turner, especially when you get to the second half towards a crazy ending I never saw coming. Seriously, I’m still completely blown away by the ending.

    I’d highly recommend to anyone that wants a wild psychological thriller with crazy plot twists, mystery, and an incredible reading experience. McFadden is truly making a name for herself and I look forward to reading every single thing she’s written and all her future novels.