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Books like The Housemaid

For another live-in employee entering an unfamiliar household, start with The Turn of the Key. Choose Behind Closed Doors for secrets inside a marriage, or The Silent Patient for a therapist's search for an explanation. Each offers a different connection to The Housemaid.

Marvin Smit · Owner & editor

Updated · Our approach

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Use the setting and central relationship to choose the kind of suspense you want next.

Suggested books compared by setting, central relationship and what to choose each one for
BookSettingCentral relationshipChoose it for
The Turn of the KeyRuth WareA smart home in the Scottish HighlandsLive-in nanny and the family employing herAn outsider working inside a private household
Behind Closed DoorsB. A. ParisAn enviable home with a carefully maintained public imageA married couple: Jack and GraceThe gap between a marriage's appearance and private life
The Silent PatientAlex MichaelidesA secure psychiatric unit in North LondonAn artist and the psychotherapist treating herAn investigation into a person's unexplained silence
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware, paperback cover
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01 · An uneasy atmosphere

The Turn of the Key

by Ruth Ware

Why this connection?
Of these three suggestions, this shares the clearest starting situation: a woman accepts a live-in job with a family. Rowan's well-paid nanny position puts her inside a home where she has to work out whom to trust.
What is different?
Ware places the job in a Scottish smart home, where cameras and malfunctioning technology become part of the unease. Choose it for the unfamiliar-household setup with surveillance added to the mix.
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Behind Closed Doors by B. A. Paris, paperback cover
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02 · Secrets at home

Behind Closed Doors

by B. A. Paris

Why this connection?
Jack and Grace's polished public life makes the small inconsistencies matter: why is Grace so hard to reach on her own? Try this if the contrast between a beautiful home and its private life was what interested you.
What is different?
The focus is the marriage itself. You are following a couple's life together, rather than a new employee trying to understand her employers. That makes this the more direct choice for tension within a relationship.
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The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, paperback cover
Paperback cover · Amazon paid link

03 · A puzzle to unravel

The Silent Patient

by Alex Michaelides

Why this connection?
Alicia, a painter, stops speaking after her husband's violent death. Theo, a psychotherapist, wants to understand why. Consider this if you want another story in which a person's unspoken history drives the central question.
What is different?
This moves away from household employment and into psychiatric treatment. The main connection is the search for an explanation, so choose it when you want a change of setting rather than another housemaid or nanny story.
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