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Dear Debbie

Dear Debbie

SuspenseDomestic Thriller
Pages
336
Published
2026
Language
English

Synopsis

For years, Debbie Mullen has poured her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighbourly counsel. Through it she has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or abused by their husbands, and she has done her best to steer them right.

Lately, though, Debbie's own life is spiralling. She has just lost her job. Something strange is going on with her teenage daughters. And according to the tracking app she installed on his phone, her husband is keeping secrets.

Debbie is done being the bigger person. A biting, subversive thriller about what happens when women finally choose to take justice into their own hands — with killer results.

Prose complexity
1/10

Vibe

DarkTenseSatirical
RevengeUnreliable NarratorMorally GreyMultiple POVsVillain Protagonist

Genres

Suspense Domestic Thriller Psychological Thriller Thriller

About the author

F
Freida McFadden

Freida McFadden is the pen name of a practicing American physician who specializes in treating brain injury, and one of the best-selling psychological-thriller authors of her generation. She published under the pseudonym from her 2013 debut onward, keeping her identity hidden so her medical patients wouldn’t connect her to her fiction, and only revealed her real name publicly in April 2026. The name itself is a medical inside joke — “FREIDA” is the acronym for the American Medical Association’s...

Characters

Debbie MullenProtagonist

A suburban advice columnist whose warm public persona hides a sharper, darker mind.

Jesse HutchinsonAntagonist

A colleague of Cooper's who has an unexpected, unwelcome connection to Debbie's past.

Cooper MullenSupporting

Debbie’s husband.

Lexi MullenSupporting

Debbie's teenage daughter, caught in a tense standoff with her mother as the family's troubles mount.

Izzy MullenSupporting

Debbie's other teenage daughter, at the center of a crisis her mother moves to protect her from.

All characters in Dear Debbie

Frequently asked questions

  • What is "Dear Debbie" about?

    A beloved advice columnist with a hidden dark side takes justice into her own hands as her seemingly perfect life unravels.

  • When does it come out?

    It was published on January 27, 2026.

  • Who is Debbie?

    Debbie Mullen is a suburban housewife and newspaper advice columnist whose public persona masks a sharper, darker self.

  • What’s the tone?

    It is billed as a biting, subversive thriller with dark, satirical humor.

  • Is it a standalone?

    Yes, it is a standalone thriller.

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