The Addictive Thriller Kindle Readers Are Obsessing Over Right Now

You know that feeling when the temperatures drop and you just want to wrap yourself with a blanket, get all cozy on your sofa, and get lost in the pages of a really good book? Well, if that's your seasonal mood, then you're definitely not alone. According to a survey by Cozy Scholar, out of 1,873 people questioned about their reading habits and preferences, 40.85% love to read during the winter.

Whether you really love steamy books that get your heart racing or are always on the lookout for romance books to snag for your Kindle, colder weather calls for reading. However, not everyone is a fan of rom-coms or feel-good books, and some are thrilled when they manage to get their hands on a good, addictive thriller. If you're searching for one such thriller that will keep you on edge with unexpected twists and turns, then we have just the one for you: Freida McFadden's "The Housemaid."

"The Housemaid" has amassed over 242,500 reviews so far on Amazon, with an average rating of 4.5 stars. Meanwhile, "The Housemaid" has more than 860,000 ratings on Goodreads, with an average of 4.3 stars. The book is hailed by reviewers as "a wild ride," "gripping from start to finish," and "a top-notch psychological thriller that will have you questioning your own sanity." So, what's all the fuss about?

Everyone has their secrets, including ex-convict Millie, who takes up a job as a housemaid for the wealthy Winchester family. Millie's responsible for looking after the Winchesters' daughter, cooking for everyone, and completing everyday cleaning to maintain their massive house. However, Millie's left out of communal time. For instance, while the family eats dinner, Millie retreats to her tiny bedroom in the attic, and it's not so much the size of her dwelling that bothers her (even though there are far larger rooms in the house they could have given her) but the fact that the bedroom door only locks from the outside. That, and the single window in the room that seems to be bolted, so there's no way to open it.

To make things even stranger, matriarch Nina Winchester seems to be deliberately messing with Millie's mind, purposely creating messes and lying about her daughter Cecilia, which puts Millie in an awkward position. The short of it: Nina's unpredictable, and her mood swings have Millie guessing and constantly walking on eggshells. Of course, she's also trying to guess why Andrew, Nina's wealthy and oh-so-attractive husband, seems so broken. Or why this seemingly perfect husband and family man puts up with his wife in the first place when he could do so much better than his obnoxious wife. Oh, and why the Italian gardener, Enzo, is trying to warn her about something. Questions abound, but the Winchesters don't know the half of Millie's story, either.

On January 4, 2024, Freida McFadden posted on her "Freida McFadden's McFans" Facebook page, which has over 40,000 members: "And somehow, weirdly, randomly, The Housemaid is #1 right now in the whole Kindle store. You know that confused feeling you get when you give a book to an ebook publisher, thinking maybe it'll help backlist sales a little, and somehow it's still at the top of the Amazon charts a year and a half later, and on the NYT bestseller list for 36 weeks?"

Indeed, the book took readers by storm. Published in 2022, "The Housemaid" was a huge success, prompting the continuation of the series with "The Housemaid's Secret" (published in February 2023) and the much-anticipated third book "The Housemaid is Watching" (available for pre-order on Amazon). McFadden even had fans guessing the color of the third book's cover (it's white, in case you were wondering).

And as "The Housemaid's Secret" won the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2023 in the Mystery & Thriller category, you might be inclined to read it before "The Housemaid." On this, McFadden posted in December 2023 on her Facebook fans page, "I tried my best to write Secret to minimize the number of spoilers to the first book. So, if you read them in the wrong order, the second book should still make sense, and the twists in the first should still be a surprise." Still, she noted that "you'll get a LOT more out of [the books] if you read in the correct order."