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The Housemaid's Secret

Pages
311
Published
2023
Language
English

Synopsis

Still rebuilding her life with a felony record behind her, Millie Calloway takes a housekeeping job for the wealthy Garricks in a luxurious Manhattan apartment. She’s hired by Douglas Garrick, a soft-spoken tech executive, to keep the home and quietly look after his wife, Wendy, who is said to be unwell and rarely leaves a locked bedroom. But Millie soon glimpses bruises and other signs that something is badly wrong behind that door, and the instinct that has always gotten her into trouble — to protect a woman she believes is being hurt — takes hold. As she edges closer to intervening, she learns the situation is nothing like the rescue she imagined, and that the people in this household are each playing a longer game than she can see. The second book in the series turns Millie’s moral compass into the very thing that’s manipulated, building to another sharp reversal.

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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

Wilhelmina "Millie" CallowayProtagonist

The felon-turned-housekeeper whose instinct to protect a vulnerable woman drives the story.

All characters in The Housemaid's Secret

Frequently asked questions

  • Where does "The Housemaid’s Secret" fall in the series?

    It is book 2, continuing Millie Calloway’s story directly from the first novel.

  • What’s the setup?

    Millie is hired by CEO Douglas Garrick to keep house and quietly help his "ill" wife, Wendy, in a luxury Manhattan apartment.

  • Did it win awards?

    Yes. It won the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Mystery & Thriller.

  • What’s the central conflict?

    Millie suspects Wendy is being abused and resolves to intervene — but the situation is not the simple rescue it first appears.

  • Do I need to read book 1 first?

    It’s recommended. The book continues Millie’s arc and references events from The Housemaid.

  • Where is it set?

    Primarily in New York City, in a Manhattan apartment.

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