What a fantastic mystery! I couldn't put this twisty story down and I loved that I couldn't figure it out! This is the story of Penny... and Eve, Ruby and Chloe. The amount of research Palmer did into Disassociative Identity Disorder, is evident as the reader explores this world where Penny is being accused of murder. Told in different points of view, the story grabbed me and kept my interest the entire iride. I loved that I really had no idea exactly where things were going and the way that the author explored DID was really interesting. I can't wait to read another book by this author! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

You know the book is really good, when you get sucked in, right from the page 1. That’s what happened to me while reading The Perfect Daughter. The author has done such a marvelous job writing this mystery, thriller book where it kept me guessing till the end, who the suspect was!

Penny a 16 year old teen is arrested for the murder of her birth mother Rachel! Penny suffers for dissociative identity disorder (DID) where a person has multiple personalities which are called as alters. Penny is found with blood on her clothes and hair along with murder weapon in her hand. She has no memory of committing the act, but she could be plain lying or one of her alters could have done it. Now it is up to her adoptive mother Grace, Dr Mitch and lawyer Navarro to figure out if Penny or one of her alters Eve, Ruby or Chloe did the act or was it someone else who is hiding in plain sight.

I am not a big mystery thriller fan, but this book!! Oh my, it got me hooked from the beginning and was not able to put down the book a bit! The story is very captivating and kept me on edge throughout the read!

This was a 5 star read for me and I recommend this book for anyone out there who is a fan of mystery, thriller or plain love of mother daughter and the extent a mom can go to find hope for her daughter!

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and D. J. Palmer for a gifted copy of this galley in exchange of my honest review!

The Perfect Daughter is about Penny who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) being accused of her birth mother, Rachel, murder while her adoptive mother, Grace, fights for her innocence.

I really enjoyed the short chapters and the mystery kept me on the edge of my seat but there was so many side stories I could’ve done without and some things got repetitive.

I am not familiar at all with DID so it was interesting to learn about that (even thought the author said somethings were altered). Some parts were far fetched and not believable but overall, the ending took me by surprise and wrapped up well (even if unrealistic).

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

My first read by DJ Palmer and this did not disappoint.

The story starts off with a murder, and a teenage girl with multiple personality disorder. Unaware of what happened, the teen is found at the scene of the crime, covered in blood and her prints on the weapon that killed her birth mother. Sentenced to a stay at a psychiatric institute awaiting trial, Penny and her alters work with Dr Mitch to help uncover what happened.

Told from multiple POV, the story vacillates between narrative of the mother, the doctor and Penny’s brother Jack.

The thing that impressed me the most about this book is the authors sensitivity and dedication to portraying Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in an accurate and sensitive manner. These conditions are often exaggerated in Hollywood and Palmer does a great job of shedding light and sensitivity to these commonly misunderstood conditions.

Thrillers are supposed to keep you on the edge of your seat, and D.J. Palmer succeeds with his new book, The Perfect Daughter, including a total surprise ending. At the core of the story is the concept of multiple personalities — now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder — that have been a popular idea since the movie The Three Faces of Eve and the book Sybil. Did Penny/Eve/Ruby/Chloe murder her birth mother? Grace struggles to prove her adopted daughter Penny/Eve/Ruby/Chloe innocence. At the same time the girl’s doctor, Mitch McHugh, has to find ways to verify that the girl really has the disorder. Putting clues together Grace, Mitch, and Grace’s son Jack find ways to peel back the layers to find the truth. Highly recommended.

This thriller explores the truth or lies behind a teenage girl's multiple personality disorder. It is an unputdownable, fascinating, and gripping novel. A young daughter with several personalities, twisty family dynamics, a murder and a psychiatric hospital! Oh my. I loved Saving Meghan and absolutely loved The Perfect Daughter. DJ Palmer doesn’t disappoint. 5 stars.

3.5 STARS

Penny Francone, age sixteen, has been charged with a brutal murder. All the evidence points to her guilt especially considering who the victim is in relation to Penny. While it looks at the outset like an open and shut case, Penny’s mother and advocate, Grace, believes Penny is not responsible because she has a multiple personality disorder. Grace wants a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity; however, that is very difficult to prove in court so the odds are definitely not in her favor. Penny was adopted out of a very extreme circumstance when she was four years old.

Penny is currently incarcerated in a maxim security psychiatric hospital where she comes under the care of Dr. Mitch McHugh. Mitch has his own family issues to deal with making him more sympathetic and empathic to Penny’s case than the previous doctor in charge. Penny’s multiple personalities include: Eve, a goth girl who seems very capable of committing such a horrific crime, Ruby, a Harry Potter loving with a British affectation, and Chloe, a hard-working perfectionist. Mitch is not certain he believes Penny has dissociative identify disorder known as DID; he feels she is quite able to fake her neurosis in order to escape a life sentence in prison.

This psychological thriller has many twists and turns with red herrings abounding. While all of Penny’s alters as they are called are presented from the past and currently, it is Eve who Mitch deals mostly with. Eve is brash, cynical, and abrasive and very often, not cooperative. As the layers are slowly pealed back on this crime, Grace and eventually Mitch, begin to believe that there is much more to the crime and story than previously thought.

As is the frequently the case, a child who has extreme problems produces a lot of trouble for the family as a whole. Penny is no different; her predicament causes major family strife, in part, because Grace is so obsessed with helping her adopted daughter to detriment at times to her sons. Since losing her husband a few years before, Grace has also struggled to keep the family pizza business afloat so she has many issues in the mix.

This intense and very dark story is very complex and at times, convoluted, with all the theories and possibilities floating about. So many deep and hidden secrets have to be unraveled to bring the truth to light. Multiple POVS also add to the layers and complexity. When it comes out, the truth for me seemed somewhat incongruous as well as not quite satisfying, and not just a little bizarre, but perhaps that fits the nature of the story as a hole.

The Perfect Daughter is Daniel Palmer’s third domestic thriller using his D.J. Palmer pseudonym, and my (unpopular) opinion is that this third is a bit of a turd.

Harsh, I know, but I found it so hard to engage with the book that I didn’t want to pick it back up between sittings. I think I finished three others in the meantime! It could be that I started it on the heels of the 5-star psychotherapy memoir, Good Morning, Monster, which expertly dealt with a Dissociative Identity Disorder patient and her tragic childhood. So a thriller using a young girl with D.I.D. as the center of a murder investigation felt like changing the channel from PBS to Lifetime.

A cat is also tortured and killed. Not just referenced in passing, but several pages are dedicated to the end of the poor animal. I skimmed this part with one eye barely open and can’t fully attest to how graphic the description of the event is, but if animal abuse is a trigger for you: WARNING!!!

Clearly based on other early reviews I’m in the minority here, and another reason could simply be domestic thriller fatigue. I keep picking them up due to FOMO, but I need to listen to my gut that the MO isn't any worse than the FO. I'm finding the genre tired and increasingly unoriginal with each passing read, and The Perfect Daughter certainly didn't do anything to change my mind.

So with that, I’m officially putting myself on a one-year hiatus for any books formulaically-titled "The Adjective Family Member."

I received an advance copy to read and review from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley. The Perfect Daughter is slated for publication in April 2021, and there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it more than I did.

This book had me going to the end! Received as an ARC on Netgalley. Did not want to put it down. Interesting book with one of the main characters having DID. Kept me guessing until the end and I never saw it coming. The characters were all very likeable. Loved that I was not able to predict the ending. Highly recommend!

This was a good suspense story. The ending was certainly unexpected! Thank you to Netgalley for the early read.

Another awesome psychological thriller!
I'm always so intrigued by the mental health aspect of criminals. I think Palmer does an awesome job of tying it into thrillers.

I enjoyed this one a lot. It was fast paced, interesting, and had medical, family, and psychological drama all wrapped into one.

I definitely didn't see the ending coming. Such a surprising twist.

Oh my how the hell can I write a review that will do justice to just what a fantastic read this is, well I can’t but I will have a damn good try. The story’s focuses on a teenage girl Penny who is accused of murdering her birth mother and the ongoing determination of her adoptive mother and family to somehow get justice for Penny
The whole crux of this amazing story is that Penny is believed to suffer from DID which is dissociative identity disorder and has multiple personalities but omg the book had me reeling I was going from did she do it, has she got DID and what the hell is happening here as the secrets and surprises just kept coming.
I have read other books with the topic being DID but nothing comes close to being such a mind blowing ride that this book was it was jaw dropping and wow what a ending, sheer perfection at its best!!
I could go on and on with the praise but I won’t bore you with all that and I don’t think I have the words to do it justice anyway so just please read it it’s better than good, it’s amazing and is completely unputdownable also.
I must also give massive praise to DJ Palmer for a brilliantly crafted read that is one of my favourite reads of the year so far.
My thanks also to NetGalley and St Martins Press for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Perfect Daughter, by D.J Palmer, is a thriller. It is filled with twists and turns and nicely tied up in, for me, an unexpected ending. I will certainly be seeking out more of Palmer's books to read in the future. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing me with an ARC ebook version of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Grace has a problem. She's trying to move past her husband's death, but her daughter has just been accused of murder. Palmer takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of events and emotions to flesh out the truth, Grace is willing to do anything to help her daighter, to the exclusion of her business and other children, I empathasized with Ryan the most. I felt his emtouims were valid and the most honest. It was a little exhausting keeping up,wth all of the rotating personalities of Penny. It's a good psychological drama.

This book was pretty interesting, though it did get bogged down in the middle, i think it was trying to tell too many stories and didn't do them justice, would have served the story to make it simpler and deeper. I did guess the villain. And it ended the daughter's story without much closure on how she got from point a to b, it would normally take year and years of therapy and it was glossed over

This story will keep you on the edge of your seat as you try to put the pieces together. And that twist at the end? Will you see it coming?

Was it really Penny? Was it someone else? Who was the victim?

I don’t want to tell you about the plot because it’s real secretive until each layer is pulled back.

Well written and gripping, give it a read.

This was a great book. I really enjoyed how the author created such different personalities for Penny. I will be honest, I can usually guess what is going to happen in a book and this one really threw me for a loop. I will definitely check out more of this author's books.

Dissociative identity disorder, “the existence of two or more distinct identities; ongoing gaps in memory”, is a mental condition that has perplexed man for years. The science behind it is better understood today, but the subject is still a source for a tense fiction thriller. D.J. Palmer presents us with Penny, a sixteen-year-old who was found abandoned when she was a little girl. As we’re learning about Penny’s history, we understand that something horrible must have happened to Penny in her previous home environment that triggered DID. The big hint: finding Penny covered in blood, knife in hand, standing over her birth mother’s mutilated body. Let the roller coaster ride begin! Penny has multiple personalities, and you can’t help but like all of them and empathize with why they exist. The author handles the mental illness with respect; it’s obvious a great deal of time was dedicated to studying the illness before writing this novel. I enjoyed the fast pace, the learning experience, and the tension all braided together to create a quick and consuming thriller.
Sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is April 20, 2021.

This was a very interesting book for me. The mental illness aspect was very interesting and dealt with in a respectful and realistic manner. I was completely engaged through at least the first half. The second fell a little flat for me. The expected last-minute character twist was not stunning but the overall story was still good..

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, many of whom believed she was putting on a show to help manage her trauma. But Grace didn’t buy it. The personas were too real, too consistent. It had to be a severe multiple personality disorder. One determined psychiatrist, Dr. Mitch McHugh, helped discover someone new inside Penny—a young girl named Abigail. Is this the nameless girl who was abandoned in the park years ago? Mitch thinks Abigail is the key to Penny’s past and to the murder. But as Grace and Mitch dig deeper, they uncover dark and shocking secrets that put all their lives in grave danger.

Okay, I'm the first to admit I haven't loved anything I've read by Daniel Palmer, or his pen name, D.J. Palmer...that is, until now.

I have continued reading his work though, because I could see that glimmer of greatness just under the surface. I feel like, with The Perfect Daughter, he finally broke through that barricade (for me, at least). I see that many of my friends felt differently, but for me, this story worked on nearly every level.

It was incredibly well-researched, and I enjoyed the back and forth way it was written. Told from several points of view, including the mother, Grace; her filmmaker son, Jack; and Penny's psychiatrist, Dr. Mitch McHugh...this book kept all my interest, and even managed to keep me guessing. Dude gets all the props for keeping me guessing. Admittedly, I did end up figuring things out, but I was well into the story before I did...and that always makes me happy.

The conclusion tied everything up beautifully. I actually didn't find it to be implausible or over-the-top at all. I spent a great deal of time working in mental health facilities, both during nursing school and during my nursing career...and the descriptions, reactions, and attitudes in this novel all felt quite authentic to me.

Finally! I can happily recommend The Perfect Daughter.

Available April 20, 2021

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my review copy.