Fasten your seat belt as Mr. Palmer takes you on a phycological thriller you won't soon forget. He drops subtle hints along the way, but trust me, you have to work pretty hard to put this one together at the end.

Four year old Penny is found abandoned in a park, discovered by a stranger named Grace. Penny soon finds herself part of a loving family, adopted by Grace and her husband Arthur. Her new step brothers Ryan and Jack love and welcome her to the family, they have typical feelings as young children struggling to adjust to their mom doting so much attention on this new member of the family.

As Penny ages she displays signs she may have some mental impairment or long term psychological damage from her abandonment, she is thought to have Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID), alternately known as multiple personality disorder. She has several "alter" personalities, Chloe, Eve and Ruby. Each alter plays a protective role for Penny in different situations, one fun loving, one tough, one sweet.

Rachel, Penny's birth mother is found brutally murdered in her home. Penny (now a teenager) is discovered at the scene covered in blood, holding the murder weapon. She claims she doesn't remember any part of what took place. Could she do it? Would she do it? And most of all, after all this time, WHY?

Penny is committed to a psychiatric hospital as she awaits trial for first degree murder. At the hospital she is appointed a wonderful doctor, Dr. Mitch, the true hero in the story for me. He dedicates himself to bringing her personalities back into one being regardless of the court outcome. Her mother hires an attorney, Navarro and together along with her doctor they begin to form a defense.

The suspense carries on with twists and turns, Palmer hints at alternative theories and suspects. The ending is not disappointing but at the same time is pretty unrealistic (hence 4 stars instead of 5). I'm still unclear as to why Penny or any of her alters repeatedly recited the names of states, what would that matter to a four year old Isabella? I'm scratching my head on that one, again unrealistic. Palmer presents fascinating details and it is apparent he did due diligence into research and the delicate diagnosis of DID.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this great book

I appreciate the chance to read this ARC in exchange for feedback. I had a hard time getting into this story and I’m not fully sure why. I found it disjointed and I just wasn’t interested in it enough to continue. Maybe I’ll try again as other reviewers have said they read it in one sitting and found it hard to put down. I’ve enjoyed other books by this author but this one didn’t grab me.

Really enjoyed this domestic drama/thriller. Great storyline that kept me up reading into the wee hours. Amazing and thought provoking.
Loved all of the characters! Highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

—NetGalley for provided me a copy of The Perfect Daughter by D.J.Palmer for my review


Penny, a teenager with DID is arrested for killing her biological mother. Her mother Grace teams up with Penny’s prison psychiatrist to prove her innocence.

I stayed up late into the night to finish reading The Perfect Daughter. I want to read all of D.J. Palmer’s books.

While this is only my third book of 2021, I can confidently say The Perfect Daughter will be one of my favorites of the year. Deliciously twisty and thought-provoking, this may be DJ Palmer’s best yet.
Grace Francone is a married mother of 2 when she finds a little girl, soaking wet and all alone, at the local park. Neither Grace, nor her son, knew this moment would change their family forever.
In the present day, that little girl is now a teenager charged with a gruesome murder. Oh, and she suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. This novel truly has it all! It will stay with me for a long time.

I received #ThePerfectDaughter as an ARC in exchange for an honest review courtesy of #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress

This one totally caught me off guard. I read it in one sitting, I could not tear my eyes away from the pages. Palmer weaves together such an intricate and realistic story, handling mental illness with such care. It was a thriller, with all the right twists and turns, which still feeling raw and real.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this book for an honest review. DJ Palmer never disappoints in his writing. This was a great read. As a mom, you can relate to Grace and what she is going through to protect her daughter. There are many twists but the ending was a complete surprise. I thought I had it figured out but the author did a great job with the ending.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were very relatable and likeable. I read late into the night so I could find out what happenend next - I couldn't it down! The whole book kept me guessing and the ending just blew me away! This book DEFINITELY needs to be on your tbr list - you won't regret it! 5/5 stars!!

**Contains several pages describing cat abuse/murder


***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE PERFECT DAUGHTER by DJ Palmer in exchange for my honest review.***

2.5 STARS

When Grace’s troubled teenage daughter Penny is charged with murdering her birth mother, Grace believes, despite all evidence that Penny is innocent. Sort of. Penny has DID Dissociative Identity Disorder, once called Multiple Personality Disorder. With the help of a caring attorney and state psychiatrist, the adults in Penny’s life try to figure out help her.

DJ Palmer writes compulsively readable thrillers. THE PERFECT DAUGHTER held my interest from start to finish. The even, quick pacing made the book unputdownable.

While I tore through the pages, I can’t justify giving THE PERFECT DAUGHTER more than 2.5 stars, bumped up to 3 for readability. In my opinion, writers never need descriptions of animal abuse. Palmer lost me describing how alter Eve killed a cat.

I’m a psychologist and I interned in a state hospital that has a forensic unit, inaccuracy of Dr Mitch annoyed me. Forensic psychologists work for the state, they don’t work with parents to help patients with their court cases. That would be an ethical violation. They may indeed find diagnoses and that are helpful to the patients, but their pretrial role is neutral to both the state and patient. Dr Mitch functioned much like a defense hired forensic psychologist would. Most readers won’t notice or care, but it interfered with my enjoyment of the book.

Another reason I didn’t rate THE PERFECT DAUGHTER higher is because I didn’t like any of the characters. I don’t need to like characters to truly embrace a book, but I do need to have at least one person to root for. I didn’t have positive feelings toward anyone in the story.

I enjoy reading THE PERFECT DAUGHTER, despite it being an imperfect read. I think most readers will enjoy this book.

I want to start with the following words of advice: Do NOT make the same mistake I did and start this book as I got into bed last night. I ended up with only 1 1/2 hours of sleep. The story grabbed me from Chapter Two and did not let go. In typical Palmer fashion, I thought I knew how the book would end only to find I was dead wrong.

Trying not to give too many spoilers, let me say that this is the story of Grace and her daughter Penny and her two sons Jack and Ryan. The story is told through both Grace and Jack point of view, as it revolves around Penny, a child who entered their lives at the age of 4 with very little of her history known.

Penny has been charged with the murder of her birth mother and is taken into custody and ends up at a State Mental Health facility. We the reader follow along as Grace tries to support her daughter's mental health and legal issues. We learn of Penny's multiple personalities and her life both before and after she is adopted by Grace. We learn of Penny's life in the Institution and the doctor who becomes obsessed with helping her as the reader is introduced to more of Penny's life and alters.

This story kind of just sucked me in and I couldn't get enough fast enough. I thought I had figured out the story, and what actually happened is that I got sucked in to exactly where Palmer wanted me to go with it only to learn how very wrong I was. Palmer gives the reader good main character development to develop further insight and provides good development of the sub characters. Another great read from a great author

3.5/4 stars!
I loved the in-depth look at the mental illness DID- I think it’s fascinating, scary and sad.
Penny is found alone in a playground and adopted by Grace and her family. Soon they realize Penny has many other personalities.
Once Penny is a teenager, she has an alter, Eve who is trouble and who may have murdered her birth mother.

We don’t know if she’s faking symptoms or if she really has DID but she’s locked up in a psychiatric hospital awaiting trial. Grace is consumed by proving her daughter’s innocence.

The Perfect Daughter was definitely a page turner and I was totally invested in the story. It felt a little longer than necessary or maybe the ending felt a little rushed.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book for anyone who enjoys twists and psychological thrillers!

This one is out April 2021, thanks to St.Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my advanced ebook copy.

You can never go wrong with a book by this author. I loved the twists and turns and I loved nor knowing where the author was going with the storyline. The daughter was an extremely complex character and I enjoyed watching her be revealed.

A woman has been murdered and it looks like the murderer hasn't left the scene, Penny, a teenager, is covered in blood and catatonic but still holding the knife. She doesn't remember anything. When brought to the police station she isn't Penny anymore she is Eve, Penny was previously diagnosed with DID, "Dissociative Identity Disorder" with four different personalities. At four years old this child was found alone, in the rain, at a park, by what became her adoptive Mom. They have no idea what happened to her previously. Penny is very loved by most of her family. They know she has developed some interesting quirks. They thought she was just fooling around when she said her name was Chloe and decided everything had to be perfect, or Ruby who spoke with a British accent. They weren't fond of Eve who was wild and got into serious trouble as Penny was a sweet quiet and funny girl,. When she was taken to a psychiatrist the DID diagnosis was given. Why she had to form protective personalities is unknown. What kind of horror did she live with her first four years. She never speaks of it. Her adoptive mother knows Penny isn't capable of murder, but is Eve? Could there be more personalities than Eve, Ruby and Chole. While awaiting trial she is put in a mental hospital prison. The doctor there says she doesn't have DID she is a psychopath. Her mom hires a lawyer to keep her daughter from prison for the rest of her life. A new doctor takes over her care and he works closely with mostly Eve, the strong one who can survive in this hell hole prison, to determine if she really has DID and if one of her personalities a killer? What really happened? Will she ever remember? I really enjoy this psychological thriller and was eager to find out the Who, What and Why of this story, It's not until the very - very end that the truth comes out! Thank you NetGalley, D.J. Palmer, excellent job, and St Martins Press NY for allowing me to read this digital advanced copy, My honest opinion is yes read this book!

Thank you so very much to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for DJ Palmer's latest arc!

It has been a long time since I have stayed up way past my bedtime to finish a book, but by god I stayed up late to finish this. I HAD to know what was going on and where this was going.

The gist of the story is that a teenager is accused of killing her biological mother. A teenager who has DID (Dissociative identify disorder) or what used to be known as multiple personality disorder. So its up to her mom Grace and Dr Mitch to figure out what really happened.

Palmer is fantastic at creating red herrings. I mean to the point where you are convinced that you know how the book is going to end. Then at the last second, the book takes a turn you never saw coming! Palmer manages to do this without it seeming over the top either.

He is also exceptionally good at making you care about the supporting characters as well without taking away from the story itself. Another great one from D.J. Palmer

Fantastic as always!

So many lies, secrets, twists and turns.

Penny is accused of gruesomely murdering her birth mother but can not remember anything about the murder.

Grace her mother continues to believe in Penny and has done a remarkable job of adapting to Penny's Dissociative Identity Disorder so when the murder occurs Grace blames herself .

Who can Grace or Penny even trust? Did she do it?

Look out for curveballs, red herrings and oh so subtle hints that leads to an ending that will surprise and shock you.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an intriguing, mind blowing read.

This was a page-turner full of intrigue and suspense. I found the plot to be original and fun to read, with lots of twists and red herrings. The writing was excellent and the ending was unexpected.

Grace Francone is dealing with the sudden loss of her husband and trying to keep her family together, when her adopted daughter, Penny, is accused of murdering her birth mother. But Penny suffers from DID, dissociative identity disorder, where multiple personalities, or alters, can take over at any given moment. Grace is convinced her daughter is innocent, but she must get her lawyer and her daughters doctor to see what she sees. As her alters come out, and Grace continues to search for answers, Pennys backstory unfolds and leaves everyone questioning who she is, and what she did.

Oh my! D. J. Palmer has hit it out of the ballpark with The Perfect Daughter. I thought The New Husband was good but this one had me guessing what was going to happen until the very end. And I mean the very end. I had no clue what was going on with Penny/Eve/Chloe/Ruby and what was going on with Ryan, the older son. Who really killed Rachel. Was it Penny/Eve/Chloe/Ruby or her boyfriend or a drug dealer, or someone else. Is Penny/Eve/Chloe/Ruby faking the split personalities or are they real. There are just so many things going on in The Perfect Daughter that I couldn't wait to get back to reading. I will be recommending this book to my friends and family.

What just happened?! A well-written psychological thriller that will have reader’s guessing until the very end. Kudos to D.J. Palmer for skillfully weaving a complex storyline with unexpected characters. Palmer expertly leads readers astray over and over again with the perfect amount of apprehension. The characterization was nothing short of brilliant! All with their broken pieces and all with so much potential. Absolutely loved it.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #StMartinPress for the ARC of #ThePerfectDaughter. All thoughts and opinions posted by Wayward Readers Book Blog are original and offered voluntarily.

I have never been so surprised by an outcome in a murder mystery as I was with this amazing book! I was 94% through before the stunning revelation came. I was so enthralled with the path of the story and the many “characters,” that I still feel like I’m reeling. Wow! How good is this! A must read. Book provided by NetGalley.