The Housemaid Series by Frieda McFadden: Worth the Hype?

Posted On October 6, 2024

Hi Readers! I read three books of The Housemaid series by Frieda McFadden more than a month ago, but never got around to reviewing them. I bought them all together on a whim, as usual. But, I read them all in a week after I bought them. Was it because they were amazing or was it because they were thrillers is another question altogether. Find out, will you?

~~THE HOUSEMAID~~

When I started reading The Housemaid, it felt awfully similar to another thriller I had read – The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. Just that put me off because I didn’t like the book much. But, given how much of a believer I am, I gave it a chance. The main character is an ex-con Wilhelmina ‘Millie’ Calloway, who’s living in her car and desperately needs a job, which is how she becomes the housemaid for a rich family.

The family is twisted, to put it nicely. Nina Winchester is unpredictable, possessive and very unstable. Her husband Andrew is considering and polite towards Millie, in a very adulterous way. And their daughter Cecelia is on another level of how odd a child can be. I felt that the story was well written, a housemaid with nothing to lose pushing herself to stay in a toxic job with toxic people living in a tiny room in the attic. In addition, a suspicious gardener Enzo who might be an angel or a devil.

I think whenever there’s a rich family in mystery novels, it’s fun to read the characters the way they are written and guessing what deep dark secrets they could be harbouring based on their outward appearance and manner. This is why, I knew who the villain would be and I really did underestimate Millie too. By the end of the novel, I was impressed and also scared of Millie, which was a nice touch. I rated The Housemaid at 3/5 stars.

~~THE HOUSEMAID’S SECRET~~

The Housemaid’s Secret is the second book in the series, set about 5 to 7 years after the first one. Being absolutely honest, it felt like this book was written by a different amateur writer. Some phrases were cringey and they were repeated over 50 times throughout the book!

Millie is now again working for a rich family. The husband Douglas Garrick hires her because his wife Wendy Garrick is unwell and mostly just stays in her bedroom all the time. Seeing Wendy in that state, Millie’s very humane urge to save women abused by their husbands kicks in. I won’t be able to share more of the story because they’d all be spoilers.

I felt that the story in this book was the best of the three, but because of the writing, it fell short by a big gap. I have rated The Housemaid’s Secret at 2/5 stars.

~~THE HOUSEMAID IS WATCHING~~

The third book in the series made a comeback of sorts. This one’s again set several years after the last one, where Millie is happily married and has two kids, Nico and Ada. Now, if you have read too many thrillers, I think you can guess why this was the background. There is only one reason why there are kids in thrillers, and that’s because they accidentally shoot guns or the like. So, you can imagine the story.

But, even aside from that, I liked the setting of the book. Millie is finally a homeowner, has a good job doing social work and has finally escaped her dark past. I wasn’t much of a fan of the new characters, like the neighbours. But, all in all, it was a fun read. I have rated The Housemaid is Watching at 3/5 stars.

Until next time,