If you’ve spent any time on BookTok or scrolled through the Kindle best-seller charts lately, you’ve seen those giant, staring eyes on the covers. Freida McFadden’s psychological thrillers have basically taken over the world. Specifically, her Housemaid trilogy. It’s the kind of series where you finish one book at 2:00 AM and immediately start the next one because the cliffhanger—or the sheer audacity of the plot twist—just won’t let you sleep.
Most people just grab whatever copy is at the airport or on the "Most Popular" shelf. Bad move. To get the full, unhinged experience of Millie Calloway’s life, you really need to read the housemaid series in order.
Trust me. If you jump into book three without knowing what happened in that attic or that guest house in the previous installments, the emotional payoff just isn't there. You’ll be confused. You'll miss the subtle callbacks to Millie’s "interesting" past.
Starting at the Beginning: The Housemaid
This is where the obsession starts. Released in 2022, The Housemaid introduces us to Millie. She’s desperate. She’s got a criminal record she’s trying to hide, and she’s living out of her car. So, when Nina Winchester offers her a job as a live-in maid in a massive, beautiful house, Millie thinks her luck has finally changed.
It hasn't.
The Winchesters are, to put it lightly, a mess. Nina is erratic. She purposely messes up the house just to watch Millie clean it. She treats Millie like dirt one day and her best friend the next. And then there’s Andrew. The handsome, suffering husband who seems like a saint trapped in a marriage with a madwoman.
But here’s the thing about Freida McFadden—nothing is what it seems. Honestly, if you think you’ve guessed the twist in the first hundred pages, you’re probably wrong. Or you’ve guessed one of the four twists. The book plays with your perceptions of victimhood and villainy. By the time you reach the final page, your view of Millie—and what she’s capable of—will have shifted completely. It’s a fast read. Short chapters. Total "just one more" energy.
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Moving to Book Two: The Housemaid’s Secret
Once you’ve recovered from the first book, you move straight into The Housemaid’s Secret. This one came out in early 2023. Millie is still struggling, still working as a maid, but she’s older and maybe a little more cynical. She’s also developed a bit of a "Dexter" vibe—she likes to help people who are in bad situations, specifically women being mistreated by powerful men.
She takes a job with Douglas Garrick. He’s a wealthy tech guy living in a fancy penthouse. The catch? His wife, Wendy, is supposedly very ill and confined to a guest room. Millie is told never to disturb her.
Naturally, Millie disturbs her.
What makes this second installment of the housemaid series in order so compelling is how it builds on Millie’s character growth. We see her trying to be "good," but she’s constantly pulled back into chaos. The dynamic between Millie and her new employer feels like a retread of the first book at first, but then McFadden flips the script entirely. It deals with some darker themes regarding domestic abuse and the lengths people go to for survival. It’s arguably more suspenseful than the first because you’re waiting for Millie’s past to catch up with her.
The Finale: The Housemaid Is Watching
The third book, The Housemaid Is Watching (2024), takes a bit of a time jump. It feels different. Millie is now married. She has kids. She’s no longer the maid; she’s the homeowner. She moves her family into a "quiet" neighborhood, hoping to leave the drama of her twenties behind.
But neighbors are weird.
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This book focuses heavily on the paranoia of suburbia. You’ve got the strange neighbor across the street who watches them through binoculars and the overly friendly woman next door. Millie is convinced someone knows who she really is.
A lot of readers have debated this one. Some feel it’s a bit slower than the first two, but honestly, the stakes feel higher because Millie has something to lose now. Her kids. Her husband, Enzo. The tension isn't just about "will she get caught?" but "will her family survive her secrets?" It wraps up the trilogy by showing the long-term consequences of the choices she made in the earlier books. Reading them in sequence is the only way to appreciate the shift from Millie being the "help" to Millie being the one under scrutiny.
Why Order Actually Matters for Your Brain
Look, you could read these as standalones. McFadden writes them well enough that you won't be totally lost. But you’ll lose the nuance. Millie Calloway is a complex protagonist. She isn't a traditional hero. She’s a survivor with a very flexible moral compass.
Watching her evolve from a homeless ex-con to a suburban mom is the whole point of the series. If you read the third book first, you lose the shock of finding out what she did to end up in prison in the first place. You lose the weight of her trauma.
Behind the Scenes: The Freida McFadden Phenomenon
Freida McFadden isn't just a writer; she’s a practicing physician specializing in brain injury. That probably explains why she’s so good at messing with yours. She started self-publishing and blew up through word of mouth.
There’s a specific formula she uses:
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- The Unreliable Narrator: You can't trust anyone. Not even Millie.
- The "Mid-Point Shift": Right when you think the story is going left, it goes off a cliff to the right.
- Domestic Noir: It’s all about the horrors hiding behind white picket fences and expensive crown molding.
Critics sometimes point out that her plots require a massive "suspension of disbelief." And yeah, they do. Some of the coincidences are wild. Some of the character decisions are borderline nonsensical if you look at them logically. But that’s not why we read these. We read them for the adrenaline. It’s popcorn fiction at its absolute best.
Common Misconceptions About the Series
One thing people get wrong all the time: they think there are more books in this specific series. Freida has written dozens of thrillers—The Teacher, The Ward, The Inmate—and they all have similar-looking covers. It’s easy to get confused.
But as of now, the "Housemaid" saga is a trilogy.
Don't go looking for "The Housemaid's Revenge" or whatever fake titles are floating around on scammy sites. Stick to the core three. Also, don't expect a movie yet. While the film rights for the first book were snatched up by Lionsgate (with Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried attached to star!), it’s still in development. Reading the books now means you can be that person who says "the book was better" when the movie finally hits theaters.
How to Tackle Your Reading List
If you’re planning to binge these, here is the exact roadmap:
- The Housemaid (2022): Meet Millie, enter the Winchester house, prepare for the attic twist.
- The Housemaid's Secret (2023): Millie moves to the city, deals with a "sick" wife in a penthouse, and gets her hands dirty again.
- The Housemaid Is Watching (2024): The time jump. Suburbia, kids, and the paranoia of a woman who knows where the bodies are buried.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Read
If you’ve decided to dive into the housemaid series in order, here’s how to make the most of it:
- Avoid the Spoilers: Seriously, do not Google character names. Even the "People Also Ask" section on Google will ruin the twists for you.
- Check Kindle Unlimited: Most of Freida's books are often available on KU, which is a lifesaver if you're a fast reader.
- Note the Dates: Pay attention to the timeline in book three. It helps to keep a mental note of how many years have passed since the events of book one to understand Millie's mindset.
- Read the Epilogues: McFadden is famous for "one last twist" in the final three pages. Never close the book until you’ve read the very last word of the epilogue.
Once you finish this trilogy, you’ll likely be hooked. From there, you can branch out into her standalone novels like The Coworker or Never Lie. They carry the same DNA—fast-paced, slightly crazy, and impossible to put down.
Grab the first book, clear your schedule for the evening, and maybe double-check that your front door is locked. You're going to need it.