By now, you all know I LOVE Freida McFadden's stories. However, The Housemaid is Watching missed the mark for me. Keep reading to find out why. From this point on, The Housemaid is Watching review will contain spoilers. So if you haven't read it yet and you want to, come back later, or scroll to the bottom to read my thoughts.
Summary of The Housemaid is Watching
The third installment in The Housemaid series begins with Millie and Enzo buying a new home. They have been married for quite some time and have two children, Nico and Ada. The neighborhood seems quiet, but their neighbors are strange. Especially Jonathan and Suzette Lowell, who have an easy view of Millie and Enzo's home.
Enzo is still a gardener, and looking for clients, begins working in the Lowell's yard. Millie is almost immediately suspicious because of how much time Enzo spends there. However, he swears nothing is happening and tells Millie not to worry. The Lowell's have a maid, Martha, who they send to Millie and Enzo's home to help Millie clean. Millie is social worker now, and struggles with maintaining her some (couldn't we all use some help sometimes?), so Enzo pays Martha as a gift to Millie. However, the relationship quickly sours when Millie catches Martha stealing some jewelry. Millie fires her, but Martha blackmails her into staying quiet because she knows Millie's past.
Their kids are generally well-behaved, but Nico causes an issue when his ball goes through the window of the Lowell home. To pay off the window repair, Nico spends some time there working on chores. After a few days, he gets sent home. But his behavior changes and he's caught lying about where he's been.
Millie is still very suspicious of Enzo and Suzette, and struggles staying quiet. Everything comes to a head when Jonathan Lowell is found dead in his home. Enzo is blamed initially and is the prime suspect. other things come to light: Enzo bought a gun and spent the night in a hotel with someone. It turns out that he was trying to help Martha escape her abusive husband, Jed. It's also how she knew about Millie's past. Martha wanted her to help but was too scared to ask ( plot twist one).
The police have enough to take Enzo into custody when they find his knife with Jonathan's blood on it. Plot twist two: Ada stabbed Jonathan after finding out he was abusing Nico. She went to their home to confront him, but Jonathan tried to trap her under the stairs. She stabbed him to escape, however it wasn't enough to kill him. So who did? Martha (plot twist three). Martha doesn't get caught though. Suzette takes the blame after Millie and Ramirez (officer from The Housemaid), blackmail into it. She knew Jonathan had murdered another child, but did nothing about it. Suzette was able to claim she killed him because she was afraid he would harm another child. Millie, Enzo, and their children get the ending they deserve.
Alycia's Review of The Housemaid is Watching
Cecilia made an appearance as an attorney. She was the child from The Housemaid. That reunion was nice, even though the circumstances weren't the best for Millie and Enzo. I enjoyed getting to see where Millie ended up after her previous lifestyle.
Honestly, the story felt a little boring. While I finished it in one sitting, I struggled to keep reading. The storyline felt forced and wasn't very original. Unlike her previous books, I was able to guess all three plot twists. Mayne it's because I'm used to her writing style, but The Housemaid Is Watching is the least enjoyable book I've read from Freida. Overall, I'd give this one a 3/5 stars. Freida's next book, The Boyfriend releases in October, and I hope that one is better. What did you think? Let me know in the comments!
-- xx Alycia
