‘If you love a good mystery thriller, Freida McFadden should be your new go-to author’

Jody Coffey

This author has revived my passion for reading

If you adore a good mystery thriller, or if you’re hoping to get back into reading and don’t know where to start, allow me to introduce you to Freida McFadden.

For me, I fell out of love with reading, and when that happens, it’s hard to imagine yourself lost in a paperback or engrossed in an audiobook ever again.

I was reading all the wrong books; consuming what I thought I should read over what I wanted to read and always giving up a few chapters in.

McFadden was recommended to me when I had all but given up hope on ever calling myself a reader, resigned to the idea that I just didn’t have the attention span for it anymore.

I was wrong.

This is an author who brought my love of reading back to life within four weeks.

After being pulled in by her Housemaid series last month, I went on to consume one of McFadden’s books a week.

If you told me last month that I would read four books in a month, I probably would have laughed given that this record beats my entire reading history for all of 2023.

McFadden has a gift for writing page-turners, concealing twists and turns within plots, building suspense, and creating characters with depth and darkness.

These four astounding books are all so different in their convoluted turns, conclusions, characters, and ominous plots, yet all come from the same gifted and twisted mind.

The Housemaid

The book changed my reading habits for good and finally got me to admit that I am a mystery thriller lover.

The plot of The Housemaid follows a woman named Millie Calloway, who is in desperate need of employment and is failing to catch a break.

When she finally gains employment with the Winchesters, a family who, on the surface, has everything; they are swimming in money, and have a gorgeous house, as well as leading luxurious lives.

Of course, nothing is ever so perfect, and what unravels during her employment and Millie’s character development makes it easy to see why this has become a series.

As someone who prides themselves on guessing the ending of mysteries, I had no clue who to suspect or what to expect the entire way through.

The Housemaid’s Secret

This book follows Millie in a new chapter of her life.

She still works as a housemaid but for a new family, in a new environment, and with a new attitude.

This is a clever and gripping read that I finished in two sittings. Once I opened it, I could not put it down.

The Housemaid’s Secret is just as stirring as its prequel, yet somehow darker, with an even more covert plot.

As I attached myself to new and old characters, my detective skills were still not up to scratch to predict how this one would end.

Once I hit the climax of the story, I audibly said ‘Oh my God’.

‘The Housemaid’s Secret’ sets Millie up perfectly for the next saga of the series, ‘The Housemaid Is Watching’, which is set for release in June.

Never Lie

Never Lie is a slow burner that is worth the wait.

What begins as a hopeful story following newlyweds, Tricia and Ethan, on their search for the house of their dreams quickly becomes sinister.

During one house visit to a remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a winter storm keeps them trapped with no hope of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

Tricia, in a bid to keep herself entertained, stumbles across the private recorded sessions of Dr Hale’s patients.

Together, you’ll hear the ramblings of multiple disturbed voices while reading Never Lie, never knowing who to suspect, who to trust, and what to take from them, or if they’re linked to Dr Hale’s disappearance.

The Coworker

The Coworker is my most recent read and it made McFadden’s success record, for me, four for four.

This book sees two women who work in the same office; the beautiful, popular, top sales rep, Natalie Farrell, and Dawn Schiff, the strange, particular, and awkward accountant.

Yes, an office is a mundane and unassuming location for a horrifying twist, but that doesn’t stop McFadden from turning into a hellscape.

One day, Dawn, who runs by a strict schedule and is never a minute late, doesn’t show up to work, leading Natalie to question her whereabouts and uncovering that Dawn was a target of someone close.

It’s not often that a book written using multiple emails can read so well and be so grippingly, but McFadden’s talent for writing says otherwise.