Freida McFadden

Freida McFadden

Freida McFadden was born on May 1st, 1980 and is currently 45 years old. Freida McFadden was born in New York City, NY, USA.

Freida McFadden has published 23 standalone novels, starting with Suicide Med / Dead Med in 2014. The most recently released novel was Dear Debbie, which was released in 2026.

Freida McFadden has also written The Housemaid series which has 4 books including The Housemaid and The Housemaid's Secret.

Freida primarily writes psychological thriller novels, although has written a few medical humour books as well. As well as writing her novels, Freida is a practising physican, and as per an article with Female First, is a brain injury trained physician. She is not a surgeon, but deals with patients with brain injuries. "Freida McFadden" is a pseudonym, and she grew up in Manhattan. Freida attended Harvard, initially planning to be a mathematician before pursuing medicine.

The name "Freida" is the acronym for the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database, which is where Freida got the pseudonym from, according to an article in The Sunday Times.

In the article with Female First, Freida noted that she wrote her first novel when she was just 11 years old. It was a thriller about a woman whose spouse was killed. It was never published and was written in a notebook.

Her favourite book series growing up was "The Baby-Sitter's Club" by Ann M. Martin. One of her favourite novels is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. She told Thrilling Reads that one big motivator in writing psychological thrillers was a novel by Shalini Boland. She would wake up in the middle of the night, thinking about the characters and having an emotional response to it and she wanted to recreate that passion.

As per an interview with Thrilling Reads, Freida has been hesitant to write sequels as she felt it gave away the ending of a book if there was a sequel. However with The Housemaid, the response to it from readers was overwhelming. She also felt she just wasn't ready to say goodbye to those characters, and thus continued the series.

The first book Freida wrote was motivated by her period working as an intern and in residence as a doctor. There was a senior resident who didn't treat her well, and this motivated her to self-publish her first novel. Her characters are sometimes based on people she knows in real life, or people we can all relate to having interacted with them in real life, like an "awful boss".

In terms of her writing routine, Freida says that the whole story of a book is generally in her head. She doesn't write an outline but instead lets the characters take her where they would like to be and that the characters speak to her. She does plan out the books however, as well as the twist to the book which she feels is one of the most important factors of her novels.

Freida McFadden: Awards & Accolades

McFadden's books have won multiple awards, The Housemaid won the International Thriller Writers Award, Best Original Paperback Novel, in 2023. The Housemaid's Secret won the Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller, in 2023.

The following novels by Freida McFadden were nominated for these awards:

• The Housemaid: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2022).
• The Coworker: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2023).
• The Housemaid's Secret: International Thriller Writers Award, Best Audio Book (2024). British Book Awards, Fiction Audiobook of the Year (2024).
• The Teacher: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2024).
• The Boyfriend: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2024).
• The Crash: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2025).
• The Tenant: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2025).
• The Intruder: Goodreads Awards, Best Mystery and Thriller (2025).

Freida McFadden: Lists & Other Mentions

• Do Not Disturb was a Richard & Judy Book Club 2025 Summer Pick.
• The Housemaid Is Watching was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2024.
• The Boyfriend was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2024 and a USA Today: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2024.
• The Tenant was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2025.
• The Intruder was a USA Today: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2025 and an Amazon US: Editors' Best Books of 2025 Selection in 2025.
• The Housemaid was a New York Times: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2026.
• Dear Debbie was a USA Today: #1 Fiction Best Seller in 2026.

Freida McFadden: TV/Movies Based on Books

In April 2023, it was announced that a movie adaptation of The Housemaid was in the works. It would be adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine for Lionsgate.

Related Authors

Fans of Freida McFadden also enjoy these authors:

1. Ruth Ware, author of the Lo Blacklock Series.
2. Alafair Burke, author of: The Wife.
3. B.A. Paris, author of: Behind Closed Doors.
4. Ashley Audrain, author of: The Push.
5. Shalini Boland, author of: The Family Holiday.
6. Harriet Tyce, author of: Blood Orange.
7. Daniel Hurst, author of: The Passenger.
8. Shari Lapena, author of: The Couple Next Door.
9. Linwood Barclay, author of the Promise Falls Series.
10. Jane Harper, author of the Aaron Falk Series.

Freida McFadden: F.A.Q