Miss Freida McFadden’s books are taking up quite a bit of real estate on my shelves (in the best way), so it’s only right that she gets her own post. Here’s what I’ve read, ranked with my favorites at the top:

The Housemaid Series: The Housemaid, The Housemaid’s Secret, The Housemaid Is Watching, & The Housemaid’s Wedding
I went into this series knowing nothing except that everyone on Tiktok loved it, and I had so much fun reading this book. It was weird and went in several directions that I was not expecting, and definitely worth the hype if you like thrillers. All the books involve a locked room and tons of secrets, but I don’t want to say too much else to not give anything away, but this was a wild ride that I do recommend going on. The first two books in the series were absolutely amazing, but the third one I didn’t enjoy quiet as much as the first two. And I don’t really think the wedding short story was needed. But the first two books are ones that I highly HIGHLY recommend.

One By One
This felt to me like a modern-day version of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The premise is 6 friends who are going on a trip, have troubles on the way there, and each keep dying one by one each day. I definitely really liked it and absolutely flew through it, but because it reminded me so much of Agatha Christie’s book, I sorta predicted the ending because yes, they were very similar in some ways. Still a good, easy, quick read that I liked a lot.

Ward D
This was paced really well and the story led you in a direction that led me to completely miss the plot twist! Everything takes place in one overnight shift in a psych ward, with the main character as an apprehensive nursing student. There’s definitely some insensitive use of language around mental health in this book, which was really my only complaint. But if you can get past the main character calling the patients “crazy”, the story itself was actually really good and I basically flew through this in a day and a half.

Never Lie
Pretty classic thriller, and I really enjoyed this one. A young couple gets stranded in a blizzard while attending an open house and start to uncover the secrets of the previous owner who was a psychiatrist who was mysteriously murdered. The tapes really moved the story along and kept things quick paced, and I was happy with all the book’s twists. However, I found the ending to be a little anti-climatic and lackluster. Still a great read, but the ending needed something more.

The Teacher
Freida really knows how to do a thriller! I was so into this from the beginning to the very last page. My only critique is that the story revolves around teacher-student relationships that are wildly inappropriate, and that’s obviously super uncomfortable. But the plot unfolds perfectly in a way that only Freida can do, with the classic plot twists that you didn’t see coming. Content aside, really loved this one.

The Locked Door
I love the process of trying to figure out the puzzle that is a Freida McFadden book, and this one I couldn’t piece together in time! I had suspected a few different characters as the murderer, and didn’t suspect the actual plot twist. Felt like a standard thriller for sure, with secrets and twists and moral conundrums. But overall still, I really enjoyed it and flew my way through it for sure.

The Inmate
I know I have this one towards the bottom of the list, but I also don’t think all the internet hate that this book gets is warranted. That being said, the main character is very stupid and that’s the most frustrating part of this book. The story itself I thought unfolded in a way that made you think you had the ending figured out a few times, and it was somewhat predictable with only a small twist at the end that I thought really tied things together. I felt like I speed-read this because it was so easy to page through.

Thanks for reading! (Last Updated: April 2025)