Let’s be honest. If you’re here, you’ve done it again. You opened a Freida McFadden book at 10pm “just to see how it starts”, and now it’s 2am, the twist has wrecked you, and you’re lying in the dark wondering if you can ever trust anyone again. Including your husband. Especially your husband.
Good news: you’re not alone, and you don’t have to sit there waiting for her next one. If you loved The Housemaid, Never Lie, Dear Debbie or The Witch, these books like Freida McFadden have the same short chapters, the same “just one more” pull and the same jaw-on-the-floor endings. They’re all psychological thrillers, and all but one are out now on Kindle. (The other is a pre-order. Yes, it’s worth it.)
Why are Freida McFadden books so addictive?
Science hasn’t fully explained it yet, but we have a theory. Chapters so short you tell yourself one more won’t hurt. Narrators who lie to your face. Lovely houses with horrible secrets. And a twist that makes you want to throw the book across the room, then immediately buy another one.
Every book below follows the same rules. Consider yourself warned.
5 books like Freida McFadden to read next
01If you loved The Housemaid
Little Apples Grow
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Millie taught us one thing: never take a live-in job in a big house with a family that has secrets. Rosie Hart did not get the memo.
Rosie moves in to care for Vi Driscoll, the dying matriarch of a feared East End crime family, in a crumbling old house that backs onto the cemetery in Highgate. Rosie says she’s there to help. She isn’t. And the Driscolls have buried a great many things over the years.
Perfect if you love: live-in secretsrevengecreepy old houses
Side effects: a sudden suspicion of anyone who offers to make you a cup of tea.
02If you loved Never Lie
Don’t Lie Back
You can always trust your therapist. Can’t you?
Never Lie had secret therapy tapes hidden in a snowbound mansion. Don’t Lie Back has something worse: a therapist realising the monster her client is describing might be asleep in her own bed.
Nicole has built a career helping women walk away from men who control them, and she has the perfect husband to show for it. Then a new client starts describing her partner, and he sounds an awful lot like Luke.
Perfect if you love: therapists with secretscontrolling menmarriages that aren’t what they seem
Side effects: you will never answer “and how does that make you feel?” honestly again.
03If you loved Dear Debbie
My Name Is Not Evie Marsh
Her name was the first lie.
If you cheered when Debbie finally snapped, meet the woman who walked straight into the enemy’s office with a fake name and a very long memory.
She has a new name, a new look and a job inside the company run by the man who ruined her family. All she has to do is stay hidden long enough to bring him down. Revenge was the plan. Nobody planned for what she’d find out along the way.
Perfect if you love: women getting evenfake identitiesmen getting exactly what they deserve
Side effects: a strong urge to change your name and get a job at your ex’s company. Please don’t.
04If you loved The Divorce
One of Us Dies on Saturday
Two texts. One weekend away.
Think your marriage has communication problems? Lauren and Mark have both just been told the other one is planning to kill them. On Saturday. They’ve booked a weekend away.
Lauren gets a text from a number she doesn’t recognise saying her husband is going to kill her on Saturday. At the same moment, Mark gets one saying his wife is going to kill him. Both of them have something to hide, and the clock is already ticking.
Perfect if you love: marriages on a knife edgecountdownsnot knowing who to trust
Side effects: you will look at your other half differently. Possibly from across the room.
05If you want an ending you’ll never get over
The Ghosted Wife
Till death do us part.
Ever feel invisible at home? Nobody notices your new haircut, and the kids only speak to you when they want a lift? Maria knows the feeling. Taken to the absolute extreme.
Maria’s husband walks past her as if she isn’t there. Her children don’t answer when she speaks. Night after night, she watches the family she loves carry on without her. Something in that house doesn’t add up, and the very last line will stay with you for a long time.
Perfect if you love: jaw-dropping twistshaunting family secretsendings you’ll want to talk about
Side effects: you’ll read the last line, scream, and go straight back to page one.
Want McFadden twists with London gangsters?
If you love a Freida McFadden twist but think it could do with more East End gangsters, start with Who Killed Lenny Gunn? A dying matriarch gathers the whole family together. Whoever finds her husband’s killer inherits the Gunn empire. And somebody in that room already knows exactly who did it. Then carry on with I Am Queenie Gunn and Carol Gunn Returns.
Fancy something grittier? Read our list of the best new psychological thrillers out now for Martina Cole fans.
Waiting for the next Freida McFadden?
Her next thriller, The Sleepwalker, is due in March 2027. That’s months of staring at the wall. Don’t do that. Read these instead, and keep an eye on her official website for news.
Your questions answered
What books are like Freida McFadden?
If you loved The Housemaid, try Little Apples Grow. If you loved Never Lie, try Don’t Lie Back. If you loved Dear Debbie, try My Name Is Not Evie Marsh.
What should I read after The Housemaid?
Little Apples Grow: a live-in job, a dangerous family and a house full of buried secrets. It’s out on 1 December and you can pre-order it now.
When is the next Freida McFadden book out?
Her next thriller, The Sleepwalker, is due in March 2027. Check her official website for the latest dates.
Are these books on Kindle?
Yes. Every book on this list is out now on Kindle apart from Little Apples Grow, which is out on 1 December 2026 and available to pre-order now.