“The Perfect Daughter” by B. J. Daniels is a domestic drama that could easily become every parent’s nightmare. Grace is notified that her daughter Penny is accused of murdering her birth mother. Grace is unaware that Penny had made contact with the woman who had abandoned her at a park many years ago. Having a child accused of murder is one thing, but to have a child with a mental illness accused of a heinous crime especially difficult when you have to fight the system as well as your own child to save them. This is a fast-paced thriller that will keep you hooked until the end. I was given an advanced copy of this book, and all of the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I was fortunate to receive an advanced copy for an honest review. Wow, just wow. This book had so many twists, it was great. This book had it all and then some in a psychological thriller that was brilliant.
Grace's teenage daughter Penny is found covered in blood, holding a knife over her birth mother. Penny was found by Grace in a park as a young child and adopted by Grace and her husband. As Penny grew up more personalities emerged and Grace seeks help from multiple psychiatrists and turns out Penny has a severe multiple personality disorder, so who really killed Rachel?

D.J. Palmer is a wonderful author and I was delighted to get to read this new book. Essentially a psychological thriller by nature, it definitely does the genre justice. This held me until the very last page, of which I let my self-control go and devoured it as soon and as fast as I could.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Penny is a 4 year old girl who was abandoned in a park by her drug addicted mother. Grace is the woman who finds and adopts Penny because she always wanted a daughter. Now Penny is accused of murdering her birth mother, but she doesn't remember the night of the murder and her only defense seems to be that one of her alternate personalities must have done it, but Grace believes that something more is going on.

Spoilers ahead:

I guessed early on that Penny herself was an alter. Other than that the book was pretty unpredictable. I didn't *think* Penny had actually killed Rachel but I wasn't sure. The reason this book only gets 3 stars is because the middle of the book really drags. The group of people trying to figure out what happened meets to talk it out at least five times and they reiterated things constantly, then the ending was wrapped up in about two pages. I feel like it could have been edited down quite a bit without changing the story at all. Overall it was pretty good though.

This book was way better than his last one "The New Husband", which I thought was so predictable that it took the fun away. He has made me enjoy him again with "The Perfect Daughter". Thankful to NetGalley for providing me a copy.

Grace receives a visit by two police officers. It seems that her 17 year old daughter, Penny, may be in a bit of trouble..

Penny has been believed to have murdered her birth mother, Rachel. The word is that Penny has no recollection of the entire event. Yet, at the police station, Penny is bloodied and in need of a lawyer. It seems that Penny has a bit of a checkered past...

A close look at a serious mental situation with emphasis on Penny's struggles.

Superb characterization with a page-turning story sure to win the reader over!

HIGHLY Recommend!

Many Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a truly wonderful read.

This book started off with a bang and never slowed down. There are lots of twists and turns. If you like thrillers, this is the book for you. DJ Palmer certainly has written a page turner.

The Perfect Daughter is the perfect escape! I enjoyed it very much. It was fascinating to get a closer look at the complexities of dissociative identity disorder (DID), or multiple personality disorder as I’d known it. And with the narrative coming from multiple characters, this story provides you even more perspectives and background of the background of our main character based on what others had experienced or witnessed throughout the development of and introduction to the various personalities. I thought that was a fantastic choice for this story. And, as someone who loves to try to figure out the ending, I can tell you that this book is completely satisfying. You will have plenty of rabbit holes to examine. But, you will be left hanging until the very end!!

D.J. Palmer has done it once again. The Perfect Daughter tackles a health issue that quietly plagues so many people around the globe. Palmer breaks down DID for the reader to understand, all the while spinning a masterful story that mesmerizes the reader as only he can. The Perfect Daughter is a winner just waiting for you to read.

WOW!!!

Yes, this book was a huge wow factor for me. From the first page, Plamer captivates you and does not let go till the very end. This physiological thriller had more twists and turns than then a country back road. I am usually very observant when reading a book and can figure out who did what by mid-way through but with Palmer he kept me guessing right up till the end.

The book opens with a murder, an arrest, and a girl with some serious mental health issues. Add to that a mysterious past, an unknown birth father, and a birth mother who had her own issues and you get the makings of a Lifetime movie or a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I immediately got caught up in the story and thought for sure, Penny, the daughter was guilty. After all, she appeared evil and had multiple personalities. However, as the story unfolded and people started to come forward I began to question my own thoughts. Then when Ryan he brother got angry all the time and defensive I started to doubt myself, Then there was the boyfriend before long I was question everyone's motives. When the big reveal came I was totally shocked.

I must say this has been one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is a heart-stopping keep you on the edge of your seat kind of book. One I would read again curled up by a fire as I try to discover the clues I messed.

I loved DJ Palmers A Perfect Daughter. It reminded me if his father Michael’s books but with one main difference. While Michael’s books seemed more aimed at exposing a corrupt system, DJ’s is more character driven. This book shows the effect that the suspect’s crime had on her family. The book kept me guessing whether the DID diagnosis was real or an elaborate well acted hoax. There is quite a reveal in the last couple of chapters that I did not figure out until about three pages prior to the reveal. If you live medical thrillers you will love The Perfect Daughter

D.J. Palmer never disappoints!  The Perfect Daughter is the latest example of his storytelling abilities.  He wove such a story with characters that were realistic and believable.  Typically I am able to guess the 'twist' but I didn't see it coming.  Amazing book and highly recommend.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: April 20, 2021
When Grace is given the news that her daughter, Penny, has been arrested, she is instantly stunned. The police found Penny covered in the victim’s blood and her fingerprints are all over the crime scene. To the police, there is no doubt that Penny committed the murder, but Grace is determined to prove her daughter, Penny, is innocent. For years, Penny has struggled with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Grace is determined to prove that one of Penny’s alters committed the crime and Penny is, in fact, innocent. But faced with a psychiatrist who doesn’t believe in Dissociative Identify Disorder, and a police force already convinced Penny is guilty, what can Grace do to prove her daughter’s innocence? How far will she go to prove it?
Palmer has a way of covering mental illness in his stories (like “Saving Meghan”, which hints at Munchausen by Proxy) that is real, heartbreaking and honest. In “The Perfect Daughter”, Palmer unveils the struggles and challenges associated with Dissociative Identity Disorder. I love when an author so honestly discusses mental illness in their novels; any honest and realistic portrayals of mental illness can shine a light on understanding these afflictions and help eliminate ignorance.
Also true to Palmer, is the way he portrays the heartbreaking, to-the-death mother-daughter relationship. In this story, Grace is convinced her daughter is innocent and will go to the ends of the earth to prove it, even though she knows Penny struggles with mental illness and the odds are stacked against her.
“Daughter” checked all the right boxes. I was entertained, pulled in and intrigued and all the while I kept trying to guess how it would end. Palmer drops hints, of course, but when the ending comes it is completely unpredictable.
I was a fan of the way this story pulled me in from the beginning and kept me engaged right through to the end. The ending, however, pulled me away from a five-star review. The actual culprit, although unexpected, was also completely unbelievable, and the way the discovery played out seemed far-fetched. I did, however, enjoy that just desserts were served, and all the questions were answered.
Highly engaging and real, Palmer’s “The Perfect Daughter” is addicting and thought-provoking, a page-turner from beginning to end.

What an absolute thrill it was to receive a copy of this book! This book captured my attention from the very first page and I knew to settle in for a great read. As the story progresses, the suspense builds and finding out how it ends becomes all consuming. This book is really well written, fast-paced and suspenseful.

The Perfect Daughter is an excellent, jaw dropping read! I've read maybe one other book from this author and it certainly WON'T be my last based on this nail biting read! I highly recommend it!

Full review to be posted on release!

I really, really like D.J. Palmer’s books and this is a very good read. The book starts with a bang: Police come to Grace’s house to inform her that her 16-year old daughter, Penny, has just been arrested for the murder of her birth mother. The story is told from different perspectives, which made it easy to follow. This is an excellent novel concerning Dissociative Identity Disorder. Highly recommended!

I wish to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin's Press for this compelling and puzzling psychological thriller. At its centre is a teenaged girl, Penny. She is believed to have a rare mental condition, Disassociative Identity Disorder. (DID). This was formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder that became known to the general public through two movies, 'The Three Faces of Eve'(the 1950s) and 'Sybil'(the 1970's). There is still much unknown about the disorder and its cure that involves the integration of the separate personalities.

Penny was adopted at an early age by Grace and Arthur who happily welcomed her into a loving, caring family with their two sons. Her mother was a drug addict and her father was unknown. It was assumed the child suffered from a traumatic experience before being found abandoned in a park. Several years after her adoption, Penny began to demonstrate mental problems when three other personalities began to emerge, (Eve, Ruby and Chloe).

She was arrested for a frenzied, brutal murder and found drenched in blood and holding the murder weapon. She was imprisoned in a locked ward in the State Psychiatric Hospital while awaiting trial. Grace is loving and fiercely protective of her daughter. She is determined to have her found not guilty of the horrific murder.

There is much controversy about her diagnosis. The prosecution would like to claim that the girl is a psychopath and is lying about her DID. She was first diagnosed by the hospital psychiatrist as having a borderline personality disorder. Grace wants the new psychiatrist, Dr. Mitch McHugh, to prove she has DID and the possibility that one of her alternate personas committed the murder while Penny was unaware and unable to tell right from wrong. This would make her not guilty by reason of insanity. The possibility of a sudden psychotic break was also explored. Dr. Mitch is very cautious, sympathetic and methodical in his assessment of Penny and in no rush to make a final diagnosis. He has his own problems with his troubled son.

There are many twists, turns and shocking surprises when the shy, introverted Penny must testify in court. This was a tense, suspenseful and mystifying story with a complex, well-researched plot.

This was a book that I could not put down! My third book of DJ Palmer’s that was fantastic. His books are the greatest suspense books. Definitely a good book!

Grace never dreamt she’d visit her teenaged daughter Penny in the locked ward of a decaying state psychiatric hospital, charged with a shocking and brutal murder. There was not much question of her daughter’s guilt. Police had her fingerprints on the murder weapon and the victim’s blood on her body and clothes. But they didn’t have a motive.

None of this was conceivable the day Penny came into her life. Then, it seemed like a miracle. Penny was found abandoned, with a mysterious past, and it felt like fate brought Penny to her, and her husband Arthur. But as she grew, Penny's actions grew more disturbing, and different "personalities" emerged. Arthur and Grace took Penny to different psychiatrists, until one diagnosed a severe multiple personality disorder.

As Penny awaits trial in a state mental hospital, she is treated by Dr. Mitchell McHugh, a psychiatrist battling demons of his own. Grace’s determination to understand the why behind her daughter’s terrible crime fuels Mitch’s resolve to help the Francone family. Together, they set out in search of the truth about Penny, but discover instead a shocking hidden history of secrets, lies, and betrayals that put all their lives in grave danger.

I was hooked after the first chapter. This was an outstanding psychological thriller. The characters are engaging and relatable. There are so many surprises this book is sure to keep you reading.

I gave D.J. Palmer’s book, The New Husband, a five-star review. When I saw Palmer had written a new book I had to read it. The main character Peggy reminded me of Maggie in The New Husband. If you liked The Silent Patient, you will like this book.

You will never guess the ending. But, it will all make sense once you read it.

I received this book from NetGalley.