The Housemaid's Secret (The Housemaid #2) by Freida McFadden
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 25th February 2023
Published: 20th February 2023
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
“Don’t go in the guest bedroom.” A shadow falls on Douglas Garrick’s face as he touches the door with his fingertips. “My wife… she’s very ill.” As he continues showing me their incredible penthouse apartment, I have a terrible feeling about the woman behind closed doors. But I can’t risk losing this job—not if I want to keep my darkest secret safe…
It’s hard to find an employer who doesn’t ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want.
It’s almost perfect. But I still haven’t met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I’m sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I’m doing laundry. And one day I can’t help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything…
That’s when I make a promise. After all, I’ve done this before. I can protect Mrs Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe.
Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It’s simply a question of how far I’m willing to go…
This absolutely explosive and shockingly twisty sequel to international bestseller The Housemaid will keep you racing through the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl will be totally hooked! This book can also be enjoyed as a standalone.
MY THOUGHTS:
The perfect home has one rule...don’t look behind closed doors...
So I was totally blown away by the first book "The Housemaid" and, being one of my reading highlights of the year, I was excited to discover that a sequel was coming...ready to blow our minds once again! But how could it possibly outdo the first one? They never can...or can they? So what did I think of THE HOUSEMAID'S SECRET? Did it live up to the hype? Was it even better than the first? Let's just say that if you thought the first one good then be prepared for another addictive page-turning read.
Millie Calloway is back once again as the housemaid. In the years since she left the Winchesters (in the previous book...and yes, I needed a recap), she and former landscape gardener for the couple, Enzo, have kept themselves busy helping women leave abusive or unsafe marriages...for the greater good. But then Enzo returned to Italy and his dying mother, who then kept lingering, leaving both frustrated and angered Millie moving on with her life.
Putting her old life behind her, Millie is taking college classes part time to become a social worker to help women in a more "legal" and traditional way. She is also dating successful lawyer Brock (Broccoli...lol) who loves her but Millie just can't seem to let herself be with him. She isn't sure why...maybe it's because he doesn't know everything there is to know about her...and if he did then maybe he wouldn't love her anymore and she would lose him. And Millie doesn't want to lose him. Brock is comfortable. Brock is safe. Brock is what she needs in her life...doesn't she?
Despite her now comfortable life with Brock, Millie still needs her own space...meaning she still has her own apartment and therefore she needs work to pay for it. Recently fired from her housemaid/babysitting job because the spoilt little rich girl's 9 month old toddler daughter spent so much time in Millie's company, because her own mother spent most of her time palming her off to her, that the poor little tyke thought Millie WAS her mother and thus threw her arms towards her declaring "Mama!" right in front of her own mother who was less than pleased. Convinced that Millie had told her little princess that she was "mama", the woman fired Millie who thus found herself jobless.
And then she receives a call from wealthy tech genius, Douglas Garrick. He is looking for a housemaid to cook, clean and do some basic laundry for them a couple of times a week int heir penthouse apartment for an eye-watering hourly rate that Millie cannot pass up. He has only one rule. Not to enter the guest room or bother his ill wife.
But when Millie hears Wendy Garrick crying in the guest room, she can't help but want to do something. She knows Wendy is ill and needs her rest but Millie is curious as to why she is so upset. She knocks. The crying stops. But Millie won't be swayed. She soon convinces Wendy to open the door. And what she sees changes everything...
Where to begin...? So Freida McFadden shocked me with "The Housemaid" with twist after twist but not so much with this one. I think maybe because having read the first one, or because I'm a seasoned psychological thriller reader, I've come to expect the unexpected and go where others fear to tread. I know what to look for, what to overlook and what to pick up along the way. There are clues peppered throughout if you see them and file them away for future reference. There is one little tidbit that is only there by a passing mention, so seemingly insignificant, that if not noticed you wouldn't even know it was there. It's things like that that can change an entire course of a story.
I didn't know what to expect when I started THE HOUSEMAID'S SECRET but I soon began to follow the trail of breadcrumbs and piece it all together long before anyone else did. I didn't see it all come together at once by any means. But little by little I did work it all out. There was one aspect I didn't foresee and that was a nice little surprise but the little twist at the end was already a given in my mind. But none of that ruined the thrill of the chase for me and I still thoroughly enjoyed this next chapter of Millie's life. I just found some of her decisions were a little irritating...but then what would I do in her situation? Maybe the same - who knows? OK, so some of the story was a little far-fetched but then so was the first book and it was still shockingly brilliant. And hey, it's fiction...that's what it is.
On the whole, I really enjoyed THE HOUSEMAID'S SECRET but I don't think it packed that same punch or had that same shocking impact as the first one. And it is incredibly difficult to replicate the brilliance of a book into another. McFadden certainly came close...but I couldn't be hoodwinked this time and therefore couldn't be shocked. I was still thoroughly enthralled in the story and it was just as addictive and compelling as the first...but it lacked that impact and was less disturbing that "The Housemaid". I think that's where the impact really lay. Because that one truly was dark and disturbing...almost like an episode of "Criminal Minds". And this one just didn't have that.
But do not fear, THE HOUSEMAID'S SECRET is still an addictive and thrilling fast paced thrill-ride from start to finish and will certainly entertain thriller fans far and wide, if not keep them guessing.
I would like to thank #FreidaMcFadden, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheHousemaidsSecret in exchange for an honest review.
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