The Perfect Daughter: A Novel

D.J. Palmer

Apr 2021 · Sold by St. Martin's Press

About this eBook

A thriller that explores the truth or lies behind a teenage girl's multiple personality disorder, from D.J. Palmer, the author of The New Husband.

Meet Ruby, who speaks with a British accent.
Then there’s Chloe, a perfectionist who strives for straight A’s in school.
And along comes Eve, who is spiteful and vicious.
All of them live inside Penny...
Or do they?

Penny Francone, age sixteen, is a murderer. Her guilt is beyond doubt: she was found alone in the victim’s apartment, covered in blood, holding the murder weapon. The victim’s identity and her secret relationship to Penny give Penny the perfect motive, sealing the deal. All the jury needs to decide now is where Penny will serve out her sentence. Will she be found not guilty by reason of insanity, as her lawyer intends to argue? Or will she get a life sentence in a maximum-security prison?
Already reeling from tragedy after the sudden passing of her beloved husband a few years before, now Grace is on her knees, grateful that Massachusetts doesn't allow the death penalty.

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 threatens to consume them all.

The perfect daughter. Is she fooling them all?

Ratings and reviews

Her daughter has DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Grace found her at the age of four, standing in a park, abandoned and soaking wet from the rain. Years later, Grace receives a call from the police department. Penny was found kneeling and bloody, next to her biological mother, and holding what happened to be the murder weapon. Thus begins the fast-paced story of Penny, her alters (other identities), and a race to prove she is innocent. I absolutely enjoyed this story and I could not put it down. DJ Palmer had me pulled in from the first page. The characters and plot were well developed. I find DID to be quite fascinating and he did an amazing job creating a story around this disorder.

My Review: I loved, loved, loved this book. This was by far the best book I read all year. I never read anything by this author before but I’m sure glad I did. The blurb and cover really caught my eye and I knew I had to read it. I will be reading more of this authors books in the future. I want to start off by saying that I enjoyed reading this book so much. It dealt with subject matter that I find so interesting, the human mind. The way people think and why they do what they do has always been an interest to me. This book dealt with a teenager who supposedly committed a murder and who also had multiple personalities. Her lawyer wanted to show that it was one of her personalities that did the killing. I have never read a book that has dealt with this subject that was so in depth before. This author really did his homework and I learned so much about people who have multiple personalities. Along with the psychological aspect of this book there was also a mystery to be solved. The mystery was not the main focus of the book but it was definitely a shocker to find out what happened a why someone was killed. This book was like a roller coaster ride that I never wanted to end. It had so many twists in the end that I thought I would get whiplash. This book was wrapped up so nice and tight in the end that I didn’t have any questions that was left unanswered. What a great, amazing, awesome, thrilling, book this was. Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

About the author

D.J. PALMER is the author of numerous critically acclaimed suspense novels, including The New Husband, Saving Meghan, and The Perfect Daughter. He received his master’s degree from Boston University and after a career in e-commerce he shifted gears to writing full time. He lives by the ocean in Massachusetts where he is working on his current novel. Besides writing, DJ enjoys yoga, songwriting, and family time with his two children and his ever faithful dog.