Readers Guide to The Housemaid's Secret

My Readers Guide to The Housemaid’s Secret has spoilers, the ending explained, and my questions answered. Let’s discuss this sequel to The Housemaid by Freida McFadden!

Copy of The Housemaid and The Housemaid's secret next to a gold key

Readers Guide to the Housemaid’s Secret

Table of Contents:

A brief, spoiler-free plot summary of The Housemaid’s Secret
My thoughts on the pros and cons of The Housemaid’s Secret
Was The Housemaid’s Secret the Best Mystery/Thriller of 2023?
The Housemaid vs The Housemaid Two vs Housemaid Three!
What Was the Ending of The Housemaid’s Secret: SPOILERS and Housemaid Book Two Ending Explained
Link to my Printable Recap for the Entire Housemaid Secret

The Housemaid’s Secret (The Housemaid Book Two) by Freida McFadden

Original photo of The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden. The book is on a table next to a plant.

Published on February 20, 2023 by Bookoture and Grand Central Publishing

You can read my review of The Housemaid – with protected spoilers – here!

Plot summary of The Housemaid’s Secret

Is Millie in the Housemaid Two? YES, Murderous maid Millie is BACK!

She’s living in New York City, studying social work and dating a guy named Brock. He’s a lawyer with a heart condition.

Millie is hired for a new part-time job cleaning the Upper West Side penthouse of the Garricks: Douglas and his wife, Wendy. Wendy is “sick” and spends most of the day shut in her bedroom.

Millie becomes concerned about Wendy’s wellbeing. Is this another Nina situation? Well, not exactly, but before long Millie is in another tricky situation!

Jen’s Quick Take on The Housemaid’s Secret

As with The Housemaid, The Housemaid’s Secret is VERY plot driven with a POV shift and a twist.

Pros of The Housemaid’s Secret:

A different and equally surprising twist

Cons of The Housemaid’s Secret:

Zero NYC atmosphere. At least in book one, Millie got to go to the theater
Felt a little repetitive of book one (more below)
Plot felt even more unlikely than book one (more below)

I discuss readers’ opinions of the general pros and cons of Freida McFadden books here!

Was The Housemaid’s Secret the Best Mystery Thriller of 2023?

The Housemaid’s Secret was not mentioned on most of the major “best of” lists I’ve seen. But I have faith in the readers of Goodreads, who voted it #1. And the book’s high Goodreads rating put it in the top of all the picks. So even if it wasn’t a great fit for me, if you like fast and twisty reads, give it a try.

The Housemaid vs. The Housemaid Two: Which Was Better?

Photo of copies of The Housemaid and The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden on a black background with a key.

I definitely preferred The Housemaid to The Housemaid Two!

I understand that in a sequel, you want to give readers what they want. But to me, The Housemaid Two felt like a remix of book one:

Dysfunctional rich couple
One member of the couple seems abusive
Millie makes up her mind as to what’s happening and meddles
There’s a twist
Enzo arrives to save the day

However, I did think that The Housemaid’s Secret was more original.

What was the Ending of The Housemaid’s Secret? SPOILERS AHEAD

Though Millie was afraid that Wendy was being abused by her husband Douglas, Millie got played by the wife yet again!

Wendy married the very rich Douglas but then fell in love with Russell, the husband of Douglas’s assistant.
Wendy wants to be with Russell but signed a pesky pre-up that would leave her with nothing. So Wendy hires the murderous Millie and pretends to be the victim of spousal abuse.

One night Millie walks in on Wendy looking badly beaten. Millie goes to get the gun that Wendy had conveniently shown her and shoots Douglas. A grateful Wendy says that she will take the blame. She’ll tell police she thought Douglas was a prowler.

But soon poor Millie finds herself accused of murder. Wendy is no Nina! Wendy double-crossed her!

Even worse, the guy Millie killed was not the guy she knew as Douglas. (This, to me, was the best twist of the book!)

Russell was pretending to be “Douglas” and the gun Millie used to shoot him was loaded with blanks. Later, Wendy shot the real Douglas and framed Millie for the crime.

Enzo shows up to save the day again, and helps Millie figure out what happened.

Meanwhile, Wendy and Russell are celebrating in a remote cabin. But … surprise! Douglas changed his will and left Wendy nothing. (I don’t think completely disinheriting a spouse is possible in New York State, but okay. There’s probably a loophole for spouses that trick someone into murdering you.)

The police call the remote cabin. They’re onto Wendy. And when she gets off the phone, Russell is dead!

Nope, Millie didn’t kill Russell, just Douglas by accident. MaryBeth, Russell’s cheated-on wife, killed him. Marybeth forces Wendy to write out a confession to killing Douglas and Russell, then reveals she has poisoned Wendy’s wine.

We learn that Millie gave Marybeth the drugs to poison Wendy, which I think were Brock’s heart medication. I knew that random boyfriend would come in handy!