The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden

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The Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden – Twisty, Dark, and Full of Plot Holes

(Spoiler Warning! This review contains major spoilers.)

So… I’m a big fan of Freida McFadden, and I’ve read a good chunk of her thrillers (and plan to read them all eventually). But The Housemaid series? Honestly, not my favorite. I know The Housemaid is by far her most popular book, but I’ve always felt like it wasn’t one of her strongest. Still, I was hoping The Housemaid’s Secret would redeem the series for me.

It didn’t.

What’s the Setup?

In The Housemaid’s Secret, we’re back with Millie Calloway, now working full-time as a housemaid for wealthy families—usually ones with abusive husbands. Thanks to her actions in the first book (you know, the kind that involve “solving problems” permanently), she’s got a quiet reputation for helping women in bad situations.

At the beginning of the book, she’s working for Amber Degraw, taking care of the house and Amber’s baby, Olive. That is, until Olive starts calling Millie “Mama,” which sends Amber into a rage and gets Millie fired on the spot.

Millie’s New Gig… and Another Creepy Husband

With no money, no references, and a past criminal record (she killed a guy who tried to assault her friend), Millie is desperate for work. She posts an ad and is contacted by Douglas Garrick, the handsome, wealthy CEO of a company called Coinstock. He needs a live-in housemaid to care for his apartment and his supposedly sick wife, Wendy, who never leaves her bedroom.

At first, it seems like an easy gig—too easy, actually. The apartment is spotless, the meals Millie’s asked to cook are weirdly specific, and she never sees Wendy. Douglas claims she’s too ill to leave the bedroom. Douglas himself comes off as caring, even doting—but Millie starts suspecting there’s something darker going on.

She hears Wendy crying behind the door. The rules are strict. She begins to wonder if Wendy is being abused.

Millie’s Love Life & a Familiar Face Returns

While all this is going on, Millie’s dating a charming, successful lawyer named Brock, who’s clearly smitten and even asks her to move in. But Millie hasn’t told him about her past, and she’s terrified he’ll leave if he finds out. (Fair, but also… girl, just tell him.)

Meanwhile, Enzo, the gardener from book one (and Millie’s ex), is back from Italy. Except instead of saying hi like a normal person, he starts following her around in full stalker mode. (Plot hole alert: why not just call her and explain??)

Millie finally convinces Wendy to escape. Wendy finds a friend in Albany, and Millie rents a car, books her a motel room under her own name, and drives her there. Millie’s followed by Enzo, which is creepy, but he insists he just wanted to protect her.

Unfortunately, the plan fails. Douglas tracks Wendy down and brings her back. Wendy shows Millie a gun she found and says she’s done running. Millie tells her not to resort to violence.

But when Millie witnesses Douglas strangling Wendy, she snaps. She grabs the gun and shoots him. Wendy insists Millie leave and promises to cover it up, claiming she found Douglas dead when she got home.

And Then… It Gets WEIRD

Millie gets home and realizes she stood Brock up again. He’s still all in, which—come on. Where do they make men like this? (Another plot hole.)

The next day, the police come knocking. Turns out, Millie has been framed for murder. They think she was having an affair with Douglas and killed him when he tried to end it. She gets arrested, Brock acts as her lawyer, but things spiral when the police tell Brock about the affair theory. Millie is released due to lack of evidence.

Then she sees something on TV that changes everything: the man she killed wasn’t Douglas Garrick.

Enter: Wendy’s POV

The second half of the book is told from Wendy’s perspective—and here’s where things get twisty.

We find out Wendy was never sick. She was a gold digger who married Douglas for his money. She had an affair with Russell Simonds, a married man, and figured she could still cash out on her prenup (worth $10 million). But Douglas discovered the cheating and cut her off. (Plot hole: why didn’t she just divorce him before cheating, since the prenup had a cheating clause?)

Together, Wendy and Russell come up with a plan. Russell impersonates Douglas—Millie never met the real one—and Wendy lures Millie into a trap, providing a gun loaded with blanks. Millie thinks she kills Douglas, but really, she shoots Russell with a blank. (Plot hole: blanks can still be lethal at close range. Why would Russell agree to this??)

But plot twist: the apartment had hidden cameras. Douglas knew everything.

The Real Ending (and Final Twist)

Wendy knows she’s about to be arrested. She runs to Russell—but finds him dead, throat slashed. Then Russell’s wife, Marybeth, shows up. Marybeth forces Wendy to write a suicide note and reveals that the wine Wendy just drank was laced with digoxin, the same heart medication Douglas used. Wendy dies. The police write it off as a murder-suicide.

Meanwhile, Millie and Enzo reunite. And in one final twist, Brock shows up asking Millie if she’s seen his heart meds. Turns out, Millie is the one who told Marybeth everything—and gave her the digoxin. The real puppet master strikes again. The end.

Final Thoughts

Okay, real talk: I actually liked the story. It had tension, pacing, and a good dose of dark drama. But just like The Housemaid, it’s riddled with plot holes. A few too many things rely on readers suspending disbelief, especially when it comes to legal stuff, character decisions, and realistic consequences.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½ (3.5 out of 5)

  • 📚 If you liked: fast-paced domestic thrillers with big twists and morally gray heroines

  • 🤔 But be warned: logic takes a backseat, and there are some serious “wait, what?” moments

  • 🔪 Best character: Honestly? Marybeth. Cold, calculated, and efficient.

  • 💭 Would I read the next one? Yep. I’m still invested in Millie’s messed-up life, plot holes and all.

📚 If You Liked The Housemaid’s Secret, Try These Next…

  • The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani
    A chilling, literary take on the nanny-employer relationship with dark psychological tension and a shocking start. More subtle than The Housemaid, but deeply unsettling.

  • The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
    A cat-and-mouse thriller about a woman who inserts herself into a wealthy couple’s life—but nothing is as it seems. Deliciously manipulative characters and shifting POVs.

  • Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
    A woman who appears to have a perfect life is trapped in a terrifying marriage. Dark, fast-paced, and disturbing—very much in the vein of Freida McFadden’s domestic thrillers.

  • The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
    Twisty and smart, with clever misdirection. If you like guessing who's lying and why, this one’s for you.

  • The Help by Kathryn Stockett
    Very different in tone and genre—this is historical fiction—but it also centers around domestic workers and the power imbalances in wealthy households. Great for broader context.

  • An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher
    A twisty thriller with a complicated female lead, secrets, and psychological mind games—another pick for fans of morally gray characters


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