Grace and her husband Arthur adopted Penny when she was found, as a little girl, abandoned in a nearby park.  Years later, Penny is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (sometimes referred to as "multiple personalities").  Grace is stunned one night when she there is a knock on her door and she is told 16-year-old Penny has been arrested for brutally murdering her birth mother. The evidence against her is staggering. Penny is sent to a psychiatry hospital, as she awaits trial, where she is treated by Dr. Mitchell McHugh.  As Grace fights to prove her daughter's innocence, Mitch works relentlessly to unravel the truth.  

What I Liked:  

It's always fun to read a thriller that keeps me guessing.  I had several possible scenarios running through my head as I read this. There were also a handful of characters I kept giving the side eye as I tried to piece together how they could possibly be involved in the grand reveal. And that twist!  🙌  I love a great twist, and the timing and setting involved in this one was fantastic. 

What Wasn't for Me:  

I felt like the characters were kind of written as clichés, so they never had that believability factor for me. The mystery at the heart of this book was super compelling, but not being able to connect with the characters prevented me from being as invested as I'd like to have been.  Additionally, I'm typically okay with suspending disbelief, but I must admit that certain plot points were a bit over the top for me.  

All in all, in was a compelling suspense - just one I didn't connect with as much as I would have liked. If you enjoy a twisty psychological thriller, this is one to keep in mind. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.  The Perfect Daughter is set to release on April 20th.

My rating ⭐⭐⭐💫

Holy whiplash! This mystery had me swerving left and right as I tried to figure out what was going to happen. My English teacher background still didn't prepare me for the surprise ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this Advanced Copy to review.
Penny was found abandoned at a park at the age of four. She was happily adopted by a woman who found her and adored her. However as years crept by her adopted mother noticed changes in Penny, drastic personality changes and she was taken to a doctor and diagnosed with DID (Dissasociative Idintity Disorder). She had multiple personalities that had different names and were accused of murdering her biological mother. Did she murder her mother while under one of her Dissasociative states? If so could she use that in her defense?
I enjoyed the read as it kept my interest even though I'm not sold on multiple personalities as described in this book. However it was a good read.
I give it 3.5 stars.

Published: April 20, 2021
St. Martin’s Press
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
384 pages

D.J. Palmer is the author of numerous critically acclaimed suspense novels, including Delirious and Desperate. After receiving his master’s degree from Boston University, he spent a decade as an e-commerce pioneer before turning his attention to writing. He lives with his wife and two children in New Hampshire

“You play stupid games; you win stupid prizes.”

Grace is a loving, passionate, intelligent, and fierce mom. She would do anything for her children. Though, Grace had no idea just how far she would have to go to keep her daughter from being sent to prison for murder.

Holy buckets. This book takes off right away. Like lazy waves lapping the salty seashore, the build-up intensified slowly until the pressure erupts and leaves you stunned.

I enjoyed the characters in this book. They are so well developed, and all have such intense mannerisms and things that make them tick. This is clearly a very profoundly researched novel, and I feel like D.J. Palmer did justice with his handling of DID.

The twist in this book is so absolutely unexpected and will take your breath away. I did not see it coming. The build-up is so well done that you find yourself looking every which way- except the right way.

With a deeply complicated scenario and a mother’s unconditional love, this legal/medical thriller is an excellent read. I could not get through it fast enough—the twists, the turns, the epic plot twists- absolutely incredible.

Penny was found abandoned in a park as a little girl. She was taken in and adopted by Grace and her family. Through the years there were Issues with Penny and she was diagnosed as having a split personality. Grace never dreamed Penny would be accused of a brutal murder. Penny has no memory of the murder. The story addresses drug abuse and mental illness. There is a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. Thank you to netgalley for an advanced readers copy.

A laudable effort of bringing a mental health issue and addiction into a single book. The characters with all their flaws and goodness are a big asset to this heavy theme. The initial part of the book is quite slow with quite a lot of repetitions, but gets rectified in the final third. The suspense was awesome. Superb.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author D.J. Palmer and the publisher St.Martins press for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about a young girl who is found abandoned in a park as a child, unable to answer any questions as to where she came from or what happened to her. She is then adopted by the family who found her that day in the park. Fast forward years later where you find out she has been diagnosed with DID (multiple personalities) and is facing murder charges, the murder victim being her biological mother. Her adopted mother is sure of her innocence and works together with her daughter’s psychologist to try to get bits and pieces of the whole story out of each one of her alters (multiple personalities) in order to try to prove her innocence.

The writing in this book was very well done, it flowed well, characters were well developed and interesting and it kept you wanting/needing to keep reading to know who was guilty.

I would rate this book 3.5/4 out of 5, some parts were a bit slow at times and I probably could have done without the backstory of the psychologist but I get the need of it to explain his deep interest in this case.

I would like to read more by this author and suggest this to anyone who enjoys psychological mysteries/thrillers.

This book checked all of the boxes for me!!!! Here we find the ultimate unreliable narrator in Penny, a young woman with DID (dissociative identity disorder). I was a little worried about how the author would incorporate a troubling, severe mental disorder into a mystery/thriller. I needn’t have worried. The author, having done exhaustive research, presented the disease in an empathetic and genuine way, showing how it is often mistreated, misunderstood and even ignored.

What a fascinating book! Not only was it a page turner, but it was my favorite mix - a riveting story combined with real learning from the writers extensive research. The characters were rendered colorfully, you could feel their emotions as they worked toward understanding Penny’s potentially multiple personalities in their attempts to save her from a murder charge. The story kept getting deeper and windier as the book progressed, cementing your attention and focus to make sure you don’t miss a thing. You know you’re reading a good book when thoughts of the characters and storyline invade your non-reading thoughts, I couldn’t wait to get back to it!

I really wanted to love this book, but I had some issues with it.

I think my main problem is that the story rested hard on a big reveal--one that likely would not be not be a reveal to anyone who's familiar with other books/movies about DID. While I appreciated this book's nuanced take on DID disorder, it cannot escape the shadow of other stories about the condition which all seem to have a common trope--that at the end of the story the person with DID reveals something particularly awful that happened during their childhood that ultimately caused their reality to fracture.

**SPOLIERS**

In this story, we're lead to believe that every time Penny disassociates, that's she's flashing back to the scene of the murder. But I never believed those scenes. As a result of my past media conditioning, every time she "flashed back" I simply thought, "oh, here's another flashback to her childhood." Unfortunately this made all of the "let's make her disassociate to solve the murder" adventures kind of a slog to get through (and, of course, the "These were ACTUALLY memories from her childhood" a less than thrilling reveal.)

This was shame, because I thought the murder mystery part of the story was compelling. I was indeed surprised by the final reveal of the murderer and thought the courtroom scene was well done. I thought Grace was a solid character and found Mitch's chapters interesting (although his son's drug troubles started to feel like a very large subplot.) Sadly, I really disliked the chapters from the brother's perspective, which felt like shifting perspective simply for the sake of shifting perspective.

I think perhaps this book was just not a good match for my tastes. While I'm not an expert on DID, I have read a lot of stories about it and know DID tropes well and found it ineffective when this book tried to play against those tropes.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another fabulous book not to be missed by DJ Palmer. Filled with twists and turns that will have you on the edge of your seat! Truly fascinating, and well researched book dealing with multiple personality disorders set in a psychiatric hospital. DJ Palmer’s writing is so rich in detail that you will be turning the pages of this book into the wee hours of the night! This is one book not to be missed!!

⚓️Penny, a teenage girl with a multiple personality disorder is charged with the horrific murder of her birth mother, Rachel.

⚓️Grace—Penny’s mom, will stop at nothing to prove that her adopted daughter is innocent. Working closely with Penny’s Attorney and Doctor, they must navigate the evidence Penny — Eve — Ruby —and Chloe present during therapy and interviews before the trial begins.

⚓️With 4 very different personalities living within one young girl, the memories of what really happened that night are a mystery they must solve to save this young girl from a life in prison.

⚓️Who killed Rachel Boyd? Is Penny innocent? Or did one of her alternate personalities kill her birth mother? Will she pay the price for murder, or is someone else responsible??

⚓️This is a fast paced psychological thriller has all of the gripping components to keep you racing to the end, and when you get there you won’t be disappointed!

⚓️The author’s writing was well researched and the character’s mental health was portrayed very realistically. The different personalities of this young girl kept me very invested in the book!

⭐️This book will be on sale April 20th, 2021. Pre-order now at your fave book spot. You are DEFINITELY going to want to add this to your TBR!!!

⭐️A special thanks to @djpalmerauthor @netgalley and @stmartinspress for providing me an early copy!

Another GREAT read by D.J. Palmer!
Had me sucked in from the first page!
Never saw the ending coming and that is great writing!
Will always recommend a book by D.J. Palmer and will be sure to tell others about this coming book in April! Thank you @netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC and a great one at that!!

This book and every other book by DJ Palmer is a must read. The Perfect Daughter is a complex step into mental health and will be eye opening for so many people. I really enjoyed this book, a must read!

What if your daughter had a dark side?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story of a young girl arrested for a terrible crime. Her adoptive mother knows that the daughter she loves couldn't be guilty... but what if another part of her personality was? I think that books describing alternate personalities tend to get cheesy very quickly, and this book did a good job of avoiding that. The story is intriguing, and I didn't see the twist coming. Overall, an entertaining read!

Wow! The Perfect Daughter is one complex, compelling novel, and a little hard to review. This story was truly unique, which is hard to achieve in my experience. At the center of the novel is a teenaged girl named Penny. Penny was abandoned as a young child, and subsequently adopted by Grace and her husband, already parents to two young sons (Jack and Ryan). Everyone is thrilled to add Penny to the family, but over time they begin noticing things amiss with Penny. Eventually, they discover that Penny has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), also known as multiple personality disorder. The family soon becomes familiar with Penny's alters Eve, Ruby, and Chloe, all distinct personalities.

As the story begins, Penny is being arrested at the scene of a violent murder, covered in the victim's blood and holding the murder weapon. It certainly looks like an open and shut case, but Penny is refusing to talk and her DID diagnosis complicates matters. Why would Penny commit such a seemingly senseless act? Did one of her alters take over? Or could someone else be involved somehow. Grace is determined to prove Penny innocent and never wavers in her support. Jack is trying to make sense of things by filming a documentary about life with Penny, but Ryan is certain Penny is guilty and refuses to communicate with her or help his mother prove her innocence. Grace hasn't had much luck with psychiatrists, but when Penny is institutionalized, she is assigned to Dr. Mitch McHugh, who has an open mind and is willing to consider alternative explanations. Grace and Dr. McHugh join forces to keep Penny out of prison.

This novel was a major page-turner for me. It's a complicated mystery, but author, D. J. Palmer is masterful at weaving the many strands together into a beautiful tapestry. Clearly, Palmer did a mountain of research into DID and presents a sympathetic picture of Penny and the impact of her disorder on her family. Penny (and her alters) is a complex character, and Grace is so sympathetic as she fights to save her daughter. The other POV in the novel is that of Jack as he develops his documentary. Best of all, for me, was the way everything came together in the end. Other readers may see the ending coming, but not me!!! I loved it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an eARC in exchange for my honest review. D. J. Palmer has another winner with The Perfect Daughter, slated for publication on April 20, 2021.

D.J. Palmer goes the extra mile in describing a young girl with dissociative identity disorder (DID), the term used today to describe individuals with multiple personalities. The girl, Penny, was adopted at age 4 and shortly afterwards, her alters, Chloe, Eve, and Ruby began making their appearances. Now, at 17 and charged with the murder of her biological mother, Penny's family is desperate to find out if Penny is destined for a life in prison.
Penny's mother, Grace, and her two sons are faced with numerous challenges and are unable to find much hope in the prison system. Even with a well trained psychiatrist who is new to the area, there's suspicion that the DID diagnosis could be a manipulative defense.
The story line rings true and Palmer does a fantastic job drawing the reader in to the drama.
I received an advance Kindle copy in exchange for an honest review and I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity. The Perfect Daughter is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. Another amazing book by D.J. Palmer! Great character development and loved the way everything unfolded in this book. Talk about a turbulent ride! Kept me reading late into the night (lol). D.J. Palmer is my new favorite Mystery/Thriller author. Highly recommend!

Oh my goodness this book was SOOOO good. At first I was a little skeptical on how the other was going to show us Penny and her multiple personalities but the author did an amazing job!

I was on my toes the entire time reading this and literally was screaming at the twists. That's how you know it's a good book.

Probably one of my new favorites!

When Penny was four, Grace found her alone, abandoned in the park. Once they found her mother, she gave up her parental rights to avoid charges against her, and Grace adopted sweet little Penny into her family. Little did she know that in the teenage years, Penny would be on trial for killing her birth mother. There is one other thing too. Penny has multiple personalities, and you never know which you will get. Her new therapist at the state psychiatric hospital Mitch, sees primarily Eve, the strong willed and dark side of Penny. Penny doesn’t remember anything from that night, could one of her selves have killed Rachel?

Talk about an unexpected gem! I enjoyed The New Husband, it was a solid 4 star read, but damn this book! I was not at all expecting this book. I am fascinated by the idea of multiple personalities, so I was excited to read it, but the way Palmer wove the different personalities together was absolutely fantastic. It was like I could see and feel the shift from Eve to her other selves while she was sitting with Mitch. This thriller seriously has it all, amazing and compelling characters, unreliable narrators, mental health discussions, and a twist I didn’t expect! I don’t want to say too much but I promise you, this is a book you want to pick up when it comes out on April 20th!