how does andrew die in the housemaid book

Andrew dies in the original The Housemaid book when Millie locks him in the attic “punishment” room and leaves him there until he eventually dies of dehydration.

What happens to Andrew?

• Andrew imprisons Millie in the attic-like room and forces her to perform degrading “tasks” to earn her release, revealing his abusive nature.

• Millie manages to turn the tables, attacks him (using pepper spray that Nina had hidden), and locks Andrew in that same attic room.

• Instead of freeing him, she keeps him trapped there, torturing him psychologically until he is left without water and dies of thirst in the locked room.

How is this covered up?

• When Andrew’s body is discovered, Nina and Millie present his death as an unexplained incident, and the police do only a superficial investigation.

• A detective who already knows Andrew is abusive shows sympathy toward Nina and effectively lets the case “go away,” so Millie is not held accountable despite Andrew’s disturbing condition and missing teeth.

Book vs. movie (quick note)

• In Freida McFadden’s book , Andrew dies locked in the attic, from dehydration, after Millie refuses to release him.

• In the later film adaptation, his death is changed to a fall from a staircase landing, staged to look like an accident while he was changing a lightbulb.

TL;DR: In the book version of The Housemaid , Andrew does not get a quick or accidental death—he is locked in the attic room and dies slowly of dehydration after Millie reverses his own cruel game on him.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.