If The Housemaid kept you reading far later than you planned, you are probably looking for another thriller that can do the same thing.
Freida McFadden’s novel works because it combines several things particularly well:
- a seemingly ordinary home
- people hiding important secrets
- fast chapters
- shifting suspicions
- uncomfortable relationships
- twists that change how you understand earlier events
The good news is that The Housemaid is far from the only psychological thriller built around those ingredients.
The books below are not copies of McFadden’s story. Each brings something different to the table, but all of them share at least part of the reading experience that makes The Housemaid so addictive.
This guide stays spoiler-light, so you can choose your next book without having its biggest surprises ruined.
Quick Picks: What Should You Read After The Housemaid?
If you do not want to compare all 12 books, start here.
Best overall next read
Never Lie by Freida McFadden
It keeps McFadden’s fast pacing and twist-heavy style but gives you a completely different story involving newlyweds trapped at an isolated house that once belonged to a missing psychiatrist.
Best for domestic suspense
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
A picture-perfect marriage hides something far darker, making this one of the closest matches if the household tension was your favorite part of The Housemaid.
Best for manipulation and shifting perspectives
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
A carefully planned attempt to enter a wealthy couple’s life develops into something much more complicated than it first appears.
Best for assumptions that keep changing
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
This book actively encourages you to make assumptions about its characters, then challenges those assumptions as the story develops.
Best if you want a mystery-centered thriller
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
A psychotherapist becomes determined to understand why a woman stopped speaking after a shocking event involving her husband.
1. Never Lie by Freida McFadden
If what you really want is more Freida McFadden, this is the easiest recommendation.
Never Lie follows newlyweds Tricia and Ethan as they search for a new home. They visit a remote manor that once belonged to psychiatrist Adrienne Hale, who disappeared years earlier. A winter storm leaves the couple trapped inside the house, where the mystery surrounding its former owner becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
Why read it after The Housemaid?
You get many of the qualities McFadden readers already enjoy:
- short, fast-moving chapters
- an isolated house
- secrets hidden in ordinary spaces
- a central mystery
- constant suspicion
- major reveals
The setting is different enough that it does not feel like another version of The Housemaid.
But the reading experience is familiar.
If you finished The Housemaid and immediately thought:
I want another Freida McFadden thriller
start here.
Best for: readers who want the closest match in writing style.
2. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
Grace and Jack appear to have an enviable marriage.
He is successful and charming.
She seems equally impressive.
But people around them begin noticing small things that do not quite make sense.
Why is Grace almost never seen without Jack?
Why is she difficult to contact?
And why does one bedroom window have bars?
B.A. Paris builds the story around the contrast between how a home appears from the outside and what is actually happening behind its doors.
Why it feels like The Housemaid
Both books understand how effective a beautiful home can be as a thriller setting.
The house should represent safety.
Instead, it becomes part of the problem.
If the Winchester household was the part of The Housemaid you found most unsettling, this should be high on your list.
Best for: domestic suspense and hidden household secrets.
3. The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Amber Patterson wants a different life.
Daphne Parrish appears to already have it.
Daphne lives in an exclusive community with wealth, status, and a husband who helps create the image of a perfect life.
Amber decides she wants access to that world and begins carefully inserting herself into Daphne’s life.
But the situation becomes much more complicated than Amber expects.
Why Housemaid readers may like it
This recommendation is especially strong if you enjoyed:
- manipulation
- wealthy households
- characters with hidden motives
- shifting perspectives
- realizing that your first impression may have been wrong
Like The Housemaid, it plays with who appears powerful and who actually understands the situation.
Best for: readers who enjoy manipulation and perspective shifts.
4. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
This is a book where assumptions are part of the experience.
At first, you may think you understand the relationships between the characters.
The publisher even explicitly warns readers that they will make assumptions about a divorced woman, her former husband, and the person he plans to marry.
Then the story begins dismantling those assumptions.
Why it belongs on this list
One of The Housemaid’s strongest tricks is allowing you to form a confident opinion about someone before changing the context around that opinion.
The Wife Between Us works in a similar way.
You should go into it knowing as little as possible.
Best for: readers who like having their assumptions challenged.
5. The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose
Sarah Morgan is a highly successful defense attorney.
Her husband Adam’s career has not gone nearly as well.
Their marriage becomes the center of a murder investigation when a woman is found dead at the couple’s lake house and Adam becomes the primary suspect.
Sarah then faces the unusual situation of defending her own husband.
Why The Housemaid readers may enjoy it
It combines:
- marriage secrets
- suspicion
- a confined circle of possible explanations
- competing versions of events
- major revelations
The legal angle gives it a somewhat different identity from The Housemaid, while the relationship-based uncertainty keeps it firmly in the same reading neighborhood.
Best for: readers who want domestic suspense mixed with a murder mystery.
6. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Alicia Berenson appears to have a successful life until one night changes everything.
After a shocking incident involving her husband, Alicia stops speaking.
Psychotherapist Theo Faber becomes deeply interested in discovering why she refuses to explain what happened.
Why read it after The Housemaid?
The similarity is less about setting and more about the central question:
Do you actually understand the person at the center of the story?
The book builds around missing information and the reader’s desire to fill those gaps.
Like The Housemaid, it rewards readers who enjoy a thriller that changes how earlier events look once more information becomes available.
Best for: psychological mystery and a strong central puzzle.
7. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
Anne and Marco Conti appear to have a comfortable life.
Then one night changes everything.
After a crime occurs while they are at a dinner party next door, suspicion begins to spread and both of them discover that the other has been keeping secrets.
Why it works for Housemaid fans
Shari Lapena is particularly good at taking familiar domestic situations and turning them into engines for suspicion.
The story has:
- fast pacing
- family secrets
- multiple people hiding information
- constant changes in suspicion
- a strong page-turning structure
If your favorite part of The Housemaid was wondering who you could trust, this is an easy recommendation.
Best for: fast domestic suspense.
8. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Rachel takes the same train every day and becomes fascinated by the people and homes she watches from the window.
Then something she observes draws her into a mystery that becomes much more personal than she expected.
The Girl on the Train became a major bestseller and was later adapted into a film.
Why it fits this list
This is a strong choice if what you enjoy most is uncertainty.
The reader does not always have a complete picture.
Information arrives gradually.
And your understanding of different people changes as the story develops.
It is somewhat slower and moodier than The Housemaid, but the psychological uncertainty makes the connection clear.
Best for: readers who enjoy unreliable perspectives.
9. The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
Cass drives through the woods one night and sees a woman stopped in a car.
She does not stop.
Later, she learns that the woman has died.
Soon Cass begins receiving silent phone calls and starts questioning her own memory as small details in her life stop making sense.
Why The Housemaid readers may like it
The central experience is:
Something is wrong, but can the protagonist trust her own understanding of it?
That creates the same kind of psychological discomfort that makes domestic thrillers so effective.
You know something does not fit.
You just do not yet know what.
Best for: paranoia and psychological uncertainty.
10. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
Anna Fox rarely leaves her New York home.
Much of her connection to the outside world comes from watching her neighbors.
When a new family moves nearby, she becomes interested in their lives.
Then she witnesses something that appears deeply wrong.
The problem is that proving what she saw is not simple.
Why it belongs here
Like The Housemaid, this book makes the reader question appearances.
A family can look completely normal from one angle.
From another, everything changes.
It is more atmospheric than McFadden’s novel, but readers who like suspense built around homes, observation, and uncertainty should find plenty to enjoy.
Best for: atmospheric psychological suspense.
11. Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Adam and Amelia have been married for ten years.
They travel to the Scottish Highlands for an anniversary weekend in a remote location.
What should be an opportunity to reconnect gradually becomes something far more unsettling.
Both have secrets, and neither understands the full situation.
Why Housemaid fans should consider it
This book combines several strong thriller ingredients:
- isolated setting
- relationship secrets
- unreliable information
- escalating tension
- large twists
The remote environment also creates that same sense of being trapped inside a situation you no longer understand.
Best for: couples with secrets and isolated settings.
12. The Guest List by Lucy Foley
A glamorous wedding takes place on a remote island off the Irish coast.
The guests arrive carrying old grudges, rivalries, jealousies, and secrets.
Then someone dies.
A storm traps everyone on the island while the story gradually reveals why several guests may have had a reason for things to go wrong.
Why it makes the list
This is less similar to The Housemaid in structure, but it delivers the same pleasure of discovering that apparently ordinary people are hiding much more than you expected.
It also gives you:
- multiple suspects
- shifting perspectives
- secrets
- an isolated setting
- a strong final payoff
Best for: readers who want a larger cast and a classic mystery feel.
Choose Your Next Read Based on What You Loved About The Housemaid
You do not need to choose randomly.
Think about why you liked The Housemaid.
If you loved the wealthy household and hidden secrets
Read:
Behind Closed Doors
or:
The Last Mrs. Parrish
Both use apparently desirable lives as the surface hiding much darker realities.
If you loved the twists
Start with:
Never Lie
Then try:
The Wife Between Us
or:
Rock Paper Scissors
These are the books on this list I would choose when the main goal is being surprised.
If you loved wondering who to trust
Try:
The Couple Next Door
The Girl on the Train
or:
The Breakdown
All three make incomplete or uncertain information central to the reading experience.
If you loved the psychological mystery
Go with:
The Silent Patient
or:
The Woman in the Window
These lean further into psychological uncertainty and central mysteries.
If you want something with more suspects
Choose:
The Guest List
Instead of focusing mainly on one household, it gives you a group of characters with secrets and motives.
If you want another marriage-centered thriller
Try:
The Perfect Marriage
or:
Rock Paper Scissors
Both place relationship secrets at the center of a larger mystery.
Which Book Is Most Like The Housemaid?
If I had to choose only one:
Never Lie
It is the easiest transition because you stay with Freida McFadden’s writing style.
You get:
- similarly fast pacing
- short chapters
- an unsettling house
- a central mystery
- hidden information
- major twists
But the story is different enough that you are not simply reading another version of Millie’s experience.
My second choice would be:
Behind Closed Doors
This is the better recommendation if the domestic setting rather than McFadden’s specific writing style was what you loved most.
And my third would be:
The Last Mrs. Parrish
Especially if manipulation and shifting power between characters were the elements that kept you interested.
My 5 Best Books to Read After The Housemaid
If the list of 12 still feels like too much, start with these five:
1. Never Lie
Best overall next read
2. Behind Closed Doors
Best domestic suspense
3. The Last Mrs. Parrish
Best for manipulation
4. The Wife Between Us
Best for changing assumptions
5. The Silent Patient
Best psychological mystery
You could comfortably choose any one of these depending on what you want next.
Already Read The Housemaid Series?
If you have only read the first book, you do not necessarily need to leave Millie’s story yet.
The Housemaid series continues in this order:
- The Housemaid
- The Housemaid’s Secret
- The Housemaid’s Wedding
- The Housemaid Is Watching
For the complete sequence, read our:
Freida McFadden Books in Order: Complete Reading Guide
And if you are still deciding whether the first book is right for you, see:
The Housemaid Review: Is It Worth Reading?
Final Recommendation
If The Housemaid worked for you because it was fast, twisty, and easy to binge, start with Never Lie.
If the household secrets interested you most, choose Behind Closed Doors.
If manipulation was your favorite element, read The Last Mrs. Parrish.
If you want a bigger psychological puzzle, try The Silent Patient.
And if you simply want another thriller that keeps changing your assumptions, The Wife Between Us is a strong choice.
The important thing is not finding a book that copies The Housemaid.
It is finding one that recreates the reason you could not put it down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Never Lie by Freida McFadden is my first recommendation because it offers similarly fast pacing, psychological suspense, and major twists while telling a completely separate story.
For writing style, Never Lie is the closest match. For domestic suspense, Behind Closed Doors is one of the strongest alternatives.
Try Never Lie, The Wife Between Us, or Rock Paper Scissors. Each is built around revelations that change how you understand the story.
Behind Closed Doors, The Last Mrs. Parrish, and The Couple Next Door are particularly strong choices because each uses relationships, homes, and hidden personal lives as major parts of its suspense.
You do not have to. The first Housemaid novel gives you a complete enough experience to move into other thrillers, although continuing the series makes sense if you want more of Millie’s story.
