While some authors seek to reinvent themselves to challenge their readers’ expectations, others find joy in building their bibliography upon a brand—a trademark that identifies them from other authors within the same genre.
Freida McFadden opted for the latter approach. Her reward? A successful career littered with multiple best-selling books centered around her emblematic formula.
Psychological thrillers. Female protagonists. Unexpected plot twists.
Perhaps due to her background as a practicing physician specializing in brain injuries, her books are all about exploring the inner minds of their protagonists. The terror is always palpable yet entirely built on suspense, making readers question how much they can rely on the characters’ perceptions.
If this sounds appealing, let yourself be lured by the mystery—these are the best Freida McFadden books to begin your journey to the center of the mind.
The Housemaid
Although not the author’s debut book, The Housemaid is undoubtedly her most famous work to date.
Initially published in 2022, this twisted tale is a domestic thriller that follows the steps of Millie, an ex-convict who finds a job and shelter as a live-in housemaid in Nina and Andrew Winchester’s household. The wealthy and elegant family seems perfect at first glance, but the longer she looks, the more she notices the cracks—Nina’s cruelty, Andrew’s charm, and the mysterious warnings the gardener gives her.
The Housemaid is the first book in the eponymous trilogy, followed by The Housemaid’s Secret and the upcoming The Housemaid is Watching.
Want to Know a Secret?
What lies behind the perfect lives of a lifestyle content creator? The answer is simple: if she’s a character in a Freida McFadden book, then nothing good.
April Masterson rose to fame on YouTube through her channel “April’s Sweet Secrets”, where she uploads recipes and tutorials to achieve the perfect pastries. However, baking secrets are not the only ones she keeps.
Offline, she lives a seemingly idyllic life with her husband and child in a rich neighborhood. However, deep within, she has secrets—dangerous ones that could destroy her if they were to come to the surface. And they will.
Published in 2021, Want to Know a Secret? is a psychological thriller littered with unreliable narrations, unexpected twists, and plenty of suspense.
Never Lie
As newlyweds Tricia and Ethan embark to find the house of their dreams, a snowstorm catches them off-guard. Now trapped, the couple explores the old, dusty, and abandoned manor, hoping for entertainment.
Tricia finds more than she bargained for. She discovers a secret room filled with patient audio transcripts from Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist and the house’s previous owner, who went missing four years beforehand. Each tape grows darker, more horrifying, and threatens to unravel a web of lies and tangled truths.
A beloved yet controversial book, Never Lie has perhaps one of the most notorious plot twists in McFadden’s career.
Brain Damage
Of all Freida McFadden’s books, Brain Damage is the one that most perfectly displays her talents. It highlights her writing prowess and gives a starring role to her knowledge as a practicing physician with a brain injury specialty.
This mystery thriller follows Dr. Charly McKenna, a successful dermatologist whose life falls apart once she receives a bullet on the right side of her head. During her recovery process, she finds with despair that the memories of that fateful night are locked away in the damaged part of her brain.
Now, she has to navigate through the fragmented and scattered pieces of her mind to discover who shot her and what he’s after—before he can kill her once and for all.
The Locked Door
Nora Davis is a talented and accomplished surgeon with a deep, dark secret she refuses to share with anyone until it comes back and knocks on her door.
One of her patients has been found murdered. A young woman. The problem? The method, pattern, and brutality resemble that of a famous serial killer currently serving a life sentence: Nora’s father.
Someone is imitating her father’s crimes, knows who she is, and, worse of all, intends to frame her.
Published in 2021, The Locked Door explores the concept of nature vs. nurture as it explores the inner life of the daughter of a serial killer and how much she can stray away from the bloody inheritance he left behind.
The Perfect Son
The moment the police knock on her door, Erika Cass’ happy family illusion crumbles. A high school girl has gone missing, and two detectives suspect her oldest son, Liam, may have something to do with it.
Erika loves her son. He’s a good student, polite, and always pleasant. However, motherly affection can only go so far. It cannot shield her from the unnerving suspicion that something is off. There is something very, very wrong with Liam, and she has to decide whether or not she is willing to protect him from the consequences.
The Perfect Son initially feels like Freida McFadden’s book version of We Need to Talk About Kevin, yet it goes beyond your preconceived expectations to deliver a sharp insight into a mother’s deepest love, fears, and challenges.
The Wife Upstairs
The Wife Upstairs is another mystery thriller that follows the successful McFadden formula of intrigue, danger, and unpredictable plot twists. However, be mindful not to confuse it with the Rachel Hawkins book of the same name.
Victoria’s story begins as a romance and ends as a tragedy. After having it all—a great job, a loving husband, and a bright future—an accident renders her unable to care for herself and traps her in her own home. Victoria’s husband hires Sylvie to be her live-in caretaker, which leads her to unravel the secrets hidden in the marriage and the truth of what happened.
Often compared to Verity by Colleen Hoover, The Wife Upstairs borrows elements from Gothic literature to create a controversial yet intriguing tale.
The Thrilling Psychology of Freida McFadden’s Books
Freida McFadden has made a writing career out of exploring the average woman’s worries and struggles, transforming the baseline concept of these primal fears into fictional tales that twist and turn into something impossible to predict.
Her works are not for everyone. Her characters may be unrelatable or unlikeable for some, or they could perceive the scenarios as too outrageous. However, those who find themselves pulled in by her pages have one guarantee: her subsequent works will keep exploring the complex psyche of her protagonists in the same way they have enjoyed thus far.
If you’re interested in delving into the world of thrilling psychology or mystery novels, we recommend exploring our overviews on The Best Psychological Thriller Books, Best Stephen King Books, James Patterson’s Must-Read Books, and The Continuing Allure of Mystery Novels.
