The Locked Door Review (Spoiler-Free): Freida McFadden, 4.5/5

The Locked Door is Freida McFadden's 2021 psychological thriller about a successful surgeon who has spent decades hiding who her father really was. This is a spoiler-free review: the setup, what worked for me, the content warnings, and who it suits. My rating: 4.5/5.

Quick verdict

  • Book: The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
  • Genre: Psychological thriller
  • My rating: 4.5/5
  • Best for: Thriller lovers, home-based (domestic) thrillers and family-suspects stories
  • In one line: It kept me on the verge, I suspected everyone from the start, and the twist was a total surprise.

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Prefer listening? The Locked Door is on Audible, narrated by Leslie Howard. Try Audible free for 30 days and use your free credit on it. New members only; the membership renews automatically unless you cancel.

Hand-drawn ink sketch of an open red door in a hallway for The Locked Door review

My sketch inspired by The Locked Door.

The Locked Door at a glance

AuthorFreida McFadden
First published1 June 2021 (Hollywood Upstairs Press); reissued in paperback by Poisoned Pen Press on 3 October 2023
Main characterNora Davis, a surgeon
SeriesStandalone novel
LengthAbout 320 pages (paperback; page counts vary a little by edition)
Pace (my take)Steady
Content warningsMurder (listed by the author); reader-reported: torture, graphic injury, a pet's death. See the section below.
My rating4.5/5

Facts per the author's page, the Penguin Random House India listing and Amazon's paperback listing.

What is The Locked Door about?

When Nora Davis was eleven, she was upstairs doing her homework while her father was killing women in the basement. Decades later, he is in prison for life, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows who her father was, and she intends to keep it that way.

Then one of her young patients is murdered, in the same horrific way her father used to kill. Somebody knows who Nora is, and somebody wants her to take the fall. She isn't like her father, but how do you prove that when the police start looking closer to home?

The Locked Door by Freida McFadden outline sketch

My outline sketch of The Locked Door.

What works: suspicion, Nora and the ending

  • The tension. This one kept me on the verge the whole way through.
  • The guessing game. I suspected everyone from the start, and I still never saw it coming.
  • Nora. I felt pity for Nora till the end.
  • The solitude. The book showed me how it feels to stay in solitude.

My favourite moment was when Nora met her dad, and his actions.

What some readers may find tough

The pace is steady rather than rapid, so if you want a non-stop, race-through read, know that going in. The book also touches on dark themes, so have a look at the content warnings below first.

Content warnings

The author's own content warning for this book lists murder. Other reader-compiled lists, such as the Trigger Warning Database, also mention torture, graphic blood and injury (including loss of a limb), hospitalisation, alcohol use and the death of a pet mouse. Readers on StoryGraph report further themes, so check before you start if you're sensitive to anything. Note that detailed content warnings can contain spoilers.

Who should read The Locked Door?

  • You're a thriller lover and enjoy psychological thrillers where you suspect everyone.
  • You enjoy a heroine with a dark family secret and a lonely, guarded life.
  • You want a standalone you can start without reading anything else first.
  • You like home-based (domestic) thrillers and stories where the suspects are all in the family.

Who should check first

  • If you're sensitive to murder, serial killers, torture or graphic injury, or to any of the other content warnings above, check them before you start.

My verdict

I gave The Locked Door 4.5/5. It kept me on the verge and I suspected everyone from the start, and the rating is 4.5 because the twist was a total surprise to me.

Did you guess the twist? Did you expect someone else to be the villain? What did you expect when Nora's dad said that you are the killer?

Similar reads on this blog

If you want more Freida McFadden, see my guide to Freida McFadden's books in order. For another twisty read I've reviewed, try my Only One Left by Riley Sager review.

Want to score your own reads? My thriller reading journal printable has a twist scorecard, suspect cards and a spoiler-free review page.

Follow me on Instagram @abi._.rambler and see my Linktree for every book I've read.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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