Can't Get Enough of The Housemaid? Try These Twisted Domestic Thrillers

by Laura Eckert, Digital Specialist

Planning to see The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden when it opens in theaters? If you haven't read it yet and want to before the movie opens, you can listen to the audiobook of The Housemaid from hoopla Digital with no waitlist.

If you just finished The Housemaid and are still reeling from those jaw-dropping twists, you're not alone. Freida McFadden's psychological thriller has captivated readers with its unsettling exploration of power dynamics, secrets lurking behind closed doors, and a protagonist whose true nature keeps you guessing until the very last page.

The good news? The world of domestic suspense is rich with similarly addictive reads that will keep you up way past your bedtime. Whether you're drawn to unreliable narrators, claustrophobic settings, or stories where the help knows far more than they should, we've curated a list of page-turners that capture the same delicious sense of dread and surprise that made The Housemaid so hard to put down.

Here are our top picks for readers who can't get enough of psychological games, domestic noir, and those delightfully dark twists.

Readalikes for The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Count My Lies by Sophie Stava

Book description: Sloane Caraway is a liar. Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting. So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park, she can’t help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot. With this lie and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island. But maybe Sloane isn’t the only one lying, and all that’s picture-perfect harbors a much more dangerous truth.

Check out Count My Lies.

The Last Days of Kira Mullan by Nicci French

Book description: Nancy North is ready to put her life back together. After suffering a psychotic break that ruined friendships, stalled her fledgling restaurant, and forced her to move out of her comfortable flat, she’ll do anything to get back to normal. She and her partner Felix—who has been a saint through her recent troubles—move into a new flat for a fresh start. On the first day in the new flat, she hears them again, the mysterious voices that triggered her first episode. Her fears are confirmed when the young woman in the downstairs flat, Kira, is found dead.

Check out The Last Days of Kira Mullan.

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewel

Book description: When charming Nick Radcliffe enters Nina's life, her daughter Ash grows suspicious, uncovering unsettling secrets that connect them to Martha, a florist with a husband who keeps disappearing, leading all three women toward a chilling truth they never expected.

Check out Don't Let Him In.

Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

Book description: In the aftermath of a shocking breakup, a woman's desperate quest for answers ignites a psychological inferno that will consume her past, present, and future in this hair-raising debut from an exciting new voice in suspense. She's been ghosted. But she won't be forgotten.

Check out Claire, Darling.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Book description: Harriet Westaway--better known as Hal--makes ends meet as a tarot reader, but she doesn't believe in the power of her trade. On a day that begins like any other, she receives a mysterious and unexpected letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person--but she also knows that she can use her cold-reading skills to potentially claim the money. Hal attends the funeral of the deceased and meets the family... but it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.

Check out The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay

Book description: Lying to her best friend about liking her wealthy, priggish husband, Jane discovers that one lie leads to another -- and to murder, in this chilling and seductive page turner about the toxic friendships between women, obsession, and the things we do for love.

Check out Seven Lies.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Book description: When beautiful Amy Dunne disappears from her Missouri home, it looks as if her husband Nick is to blame. But though he protests his innocence, it's clear that he's not being entirely truthful. Gone Girl is not only the story of a disappearance, but a truly frightening glimpse of a souring marriage.

Check out Gone Girl.

More Suggestions

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