A story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The multiple personalities aspect added to the story and the narrator did a great job portraying each one.

This one truly turned out completely different than I expected it to, it was kind of refreshing! I don't want to give too much away but this was an interesting story I liked how it unfolded and you kind of spent the whole book waiting for the other shoe to drop which was great!

January LaVoy and Dan Bittner were both amazing!! Even their shared voices were very well done they made this book sound like a full cast every character had a voice!

Highly recommend the audiobook it really enhances the reading of this book!!

4 Stars

Wow, this was an intense thriller. There were quite a few surprises that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I really appreciated how respectful and authentic the portrayal of mental illness was in this story.

If you’re looking for a great psychological thriller, pick this one up. I listened to this on audio and ordered a copy for my mom for Mother’s Day!

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?

Loved this one from start to finish. This story caught my attention from the beginning and kept me guessing. Did Penny kill her birth mother or was it one of her alters? Does Penny REALLY have DID?

I thought the author did a great job writing about Penny’s mental health. It felt well researched, respectful, and not over done. I just adored Grace. She was a strong mother who stopped at nothing to protect her daughter.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this advanced copy!

DJ Palmer’s cleverly plotted, multi-layered psychological thriller combines murder mystery, family drama and mental illness to tell the story of a young girl diagnosed with a Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personality disorder) that has been accused of murder. In true Palmer fashion there are twists and turns your won’t see coming (if you’ve read his other books you know what I’m talking about) yet he manages unravel a well paced plot in a plausible and believable fashion.

The story is told in multiple POVs which enhances the unreliability of several characters that kept me guessing until the end. About 60% in I was certain I figured things out and then speculation, motivation, unreliability and one hell
of a twist at the end had my theory in the finish.
I appreciate how well researched the author was around DID and felt he did an amazing job presenting it in an interesting, believable and thoughtful way. I’ve grown to love Palmer’s flawed yet relatable characters, his realistic portrayal of the breakdown in family dynamic amidst the challenges and stress regardless of the underlying cause and his ability to delve into the social stigma and prejudice surrounding mental illness without coming across as preachy.

This one packed an emotional punch from the beginning and kept me guessing right until the end. The audio was absolutely amazing! I strongly suggest you grab a copy.

A special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for sharing this audiobook with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Grace Francone has returned home from a run to find her sixteen year old daughter, Penny gone. She has no idea where she could be, as this is not something she normally does. Within minutes, two police officers are at her door informing her that her daughter is at the police station on suspicion of murder. Penny was found holding the murder weapon and covered in blood. Not only that, but the murdered woman is her biological mother. Penny remembers nothing about the night nor the incident. She ends up in a psychiatric hospital under the care of Dr. Mitch McHugh. Grace is positive that Penny is innocent, and if she did commit the crime, it was another of her personalities that did it, you see, Penny suffers from DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder. Hiring a lawyer and working with her doctor, Grace spends all her time trying to prove Penny's innocence.

Whenever I read a book that deals with a real mental illness, I always go in with some trepidation. I really liked the way D.J. Palmer portrays Penny's disorder. The doctor also explains about DID in very to understand terms, although it is a very complex disorder. Having said that, I did enjoy this story very much. The characters were very well developed. The story was told from the POVs of Grace and her younger son. Grace is a nurturing and loving mother who is as strong as steel inside, and will stop at nothing to free her daughter. It’s how she goes about doing this that propels the story forward. The story is fast paced as time is of the essence to find a lawyer, find the evidence and prove Penny's innocence. The descriptions and situations of the psychiatric hospital were disturbing and if they are realistic, I would not want any of my family to be there. The Francone family is not without it's cracks before this ordeal starts and it is a delicate balance to hold it together. Not only is there a mystery of what actually happened that night, but there is a mystery about Penny's birth and early life that ended up with her alone in a park when she was very young. As the pieces to the puzzle are figured out, I was once again racing through this story to see where it was going. The addition of Dr. McHugh's personal issues gave him a human side and showed why he worked so hard with Grace to find an answer. The final twists and secrets came as a total shock, but I loved it. A very well written story that I definitely recommend. Another author that will have me checking out their backlist. The narration of this book by Dan Bittner & January LaVoy was excellent. Once again having both a male and female narrator gave distinct voices to the characters which added to my enjoyment of this story.

Audiobook and eBook Reviews: The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer,
Narrated by Dan Bittner and January LaVoy
Published by Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press, April 20, 2021

Audiobook: ★★★★★ (4.5 Stars)
eBook: ★★★★☆ (4.25 Stars)

Audiobook narration, flow and production: A+. Brilliant performance by narrators January LaVoy and Dan Bittner as they nail the accent switches from American to British to Boston Northshore, and the smooth transitions, intonation and cadence of the various protagonists, and the "alters" - little girls and teens at various ages.

Definitely a novel better as an audiobook.

-----

Following "Saving Meghan", author Daniel Palmer pens another uber-thriller that keeps the reader guessing. With a final twist that leaves you stumped in your favorite reading nook!

Swampscott, North Shore, Boston.

Sixteen-year-old Penny Isabella Francone, adopted daughter of Grace Francone, is arrested for homicide.

Rachel Boyd of Lynn, MA, Penny's birth mother, has just been brutally stabbed twenty-five times to near decapitation. With the woman's blood found splattered all over the teen's face, body and clothes, and an angry email exchange that ensued just before the incident in evidence, Rachel's death is an open-and-shut murder case.

But for adoptive mom Grace, this simply cannot not be.

Penny is her perfect daughter.

Adopted when she was four years old under providential circumstances, the former Montessori preschool teacher and owner of "Big Franks", an oceanfront pizzeria, is adamant and resolute.

Penny is innocent.

Along with Ruby, who speaks with a British accent, Chloe, an A-student perfectionist, and Eve, a precocious, alluring and aggressive teen, who'd all joined the Francone family when Penny was twelve.

All of them personality "alters" who live inside Penny.

To the rescue, counsel Greg Navarro, a "Big Franks" regular and reputable local North Shore attorney, former Navy, and former chief public prosecutor.

Plus Dr. Mitch McHugh, Penny's doctor at Edgewater State Hospital where she is confined. A former Mass General employee, Dr. McHugh does have his own personal issues, and is still pretty much on the fence and skeptical of her disorder and identity alters.

DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) isn't legally a valid diagnosis. McHugh, along with many others, question if Penny simply has an antisocial personality disorder, playing everyone along with invented identities and excuses. He has to determine if she is deranged or damaged, sick or evil.

Then comes Day 11 of Penny's murder trial.

And a lost four-year-old girl who'd gone into hiding, emanates.

Right on the witness stand.

And shakes up her own entire world.

// Who's your daddy, Isabella? //

This is the second brilliant D. J. Palmer book I've read. But unlike "Saving Meghan". a 5-star read which grabbed me, I feel the build-up leading to the final twist in this novel lacks prior, subtle double entendres and behavioral patterns to render the turn of events credible, and not ensuing as non-sequitur and contrived. I wouldn't be surprised if, for a few readers, the ending just doesn't cut it and eyes roll with incredulity.

Nevertheless, this is one quasi-medical, family suspense thriller I thoroughly enjoyed in both the audio and print versions, and enthusiastically look forward to the author's next novel.

Review based on Audiobook and eBook ARCs from Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.

The Perfect Daughter is riveting story of Penny who has DID( Dissociative Identity Disorder).
When Penny is found covered in blood, holding the knife that killed her birth mother, the mystery begins. This book will most definitely keep you asking.....Who??? Why??? What???
Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley, @MacmillanAudio, and @djpalmerauthor for an advanced copy of @ThePerfectDaughter

#ThePerfectDaughter #MacmillanAudio #DJPalmer #NetGalley

A gripping pageturner - had me guessing til the very end.
An interesting look into the criminal system as well as mental health
Very good narrator too
Recommend!

Lots of twists and turns in this one! Main character has D.I.D and gets herself in trouble. Interesting to see what her multiple identities have to say about her past and this crime.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator and felt it went quickly.

4.66 stars

Grace, a mother of two boys, finds a little girl lost and falls in love. She believes that is the daughter she was meant to have. Years later, her dream comes true with the adoption of Penny being finalized. The Francones don't know much about Penny's past. Still, soon it becomes clear something traumatic must have happened. Penny starts to show indications that she suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

Fast forward 12 years, Grace receives the call no mother wants to hear – Penny is in police custody accused of murdering someone to whom she has connections.

This arrest turns the Francones' lives upside down as in the search for the truth, many secrets come to light. Grace risks everything they have to provide the best lawyer to her daughter, a decision her eldest son disapproves. Grace, however, is confident her daughter has the best representation in court and best care in the state mental hospital in which she awaits trial; Dr. Mitchell McHugh seems to be the right psychiatrist for Penny.

Is Penny the killer? Does she have DID? is Grace ready for the truth?

I listened to The Perfect Daughter as an audiobook, and Macmillan Audio delivered again. I listened to this book in one sitting; I simply couldn't get enough of Dan Bittner's and January LaVoy's narration. Their pacing was impeccable, and I didn't miss a full cast at all between the two of them. They brought the story to life, and each and every character had their own personality emoted through the narration.

In my humble opinion, this was an excellent plot that was executed well. It takes a certain amount of courage to have a mental disorder as the center of a story, and The Perfect Daughter could have gone wrong in so many different ways. Still, Palmer knew what he was doing and delivered a strong, entertaining, unputdownable execution that got me turning the page at the edge of my seat. I liked the care he put into Penny's character and how beautiful Grace's love for her was. The whole book was permeated with some excellent parent-child relationships in both its purest and most unhealthy ways. I would say those relationships were my biggest takeaway from the book. I was so happy when I got to the end of the book and saw that Palmer played fair. This was an amazingly written novel.

I will be the first to admit that I am very particular about books that depict mental disorders. I was going back and forth, trying to decide whether to read this book. Macmillan Audio producing the audiobook was the tipping point for me, and oh, my, am I ever glad I did?

D.J. Palmer completely surprised me, and I spend most of the book thinking the author was a woman (and this is a compliment). He is the first-ever male author I have read to depict DID respectfully. Obviously, he did his research, and while still using the diagnosis as the crux of his plot, he tried to educate and dispel the most harmful tropes. I keep in mind that this is a work of fiction, and liberties were taken. Still, I can honestly say that Palmer was respectful, mindful, and deliberate in his literary choices surrounding Penny's character.

I became a fan of his narrative and already ordered another of his books, The New Husband. Palmer's female characters were very well developed, and I particularly appreciated the epilogue. Without spoiling, I think the fact that Palmer continued to develop one of the characters at the end and gave us insight into their motivation was the cherry on top. I hope it means we will see that person make an appearance in future books, as they were brilliant.


Disclaimer: I first read it as an ARC. In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and D. J. Palmer for providing me with a copy of The Perfect Daughter.
#FrostaWingsIt, #FrostaHeat, #DJPalmer, #MacmillanAudio, #ThePerfectDaughter, #Thriller, #Mystery, #Booktwitter, #bookstagram, #bookworm, #booklover, #bibliophile, #bookaholic, #bookreview, #bookreviewer, #NetGalley, #advancedreadercopy, #ARC, #DanBittner, #JanuaryLaVoy,

This thriller is a wild ride! I have never read a book that revolved around Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and it was truly fascinating just how this deeply affects the person as well as everyone around them, especially their immediate family. This one really kept me guessing the whole time and I wasn't able to guess the ending. I read a lot of thrillers and sometimes get burnt out, but this one was a breath of fresh air. We have an unreliable narrator and a whole cast of characters we just aren't sure of throughout the book. The Perfect Daughter was a compelling domestic thriller with a great twist.

This book was such a fun experience. I have never read anything like it. The whole world of DID or personality disorders in general is so interesting to me, so reading something like it was such a fun wild ride. It held my interest through out the whole book but the only thing I can say is the ending seemed some what ehh I just think it could of been wrapped up a little differently. But all in all a solid read!

I was provided a copy of the audibook via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. I loved Saving Meghan, and this has a very similar structure and characters to that book. The plot develops in much the same way, you aren't quite sure if Penny's medical condition is made up or all in her head. We also have the strong-willed, devoted mother character who wants to advocate for her daughter and we have the doctor who has some of his own struggles. There is some family drama that takes you off the scent of the case and throws you for a loop. What I thought was different and and an interesting choice was to narrate the book from the perspective of the older brother Jack and the mother Grace. Jack is a film student and using his sister's story as the basis for the movie he is writing. I felt that both of the narrators did a wonderful job with the book. January LaVoy is an outstanding narrator and amongst my favorite audio narrators. She did a wonderful job with the characters, giving voices and accents to each one as appropriate. She always give such emotion to each scene. Dan Bittner was a great addition to Jack’s chapters; his chapters genuinely felt like he was writing letters to his kid sister through the entire ordeal. You could really feel the emotion from his vantage as Penny’s case developed.

I've always been quite fascinated by the multiple personality or disassociative identity disorder diagnosis after having watched Sybil many years ago. It makes for a great plot device in books and movies, but I do know that it is still a very controversial diagnosis amongst actual professionals. I thought it made for a great basis for this medical thriller, especially if you are looking for an unreliable narrator character in a murder investigation. I thought the mental health aspects of this book were portrayed respectfully and well researched. I can't speak to how realistic it is, I'm sure some things were fictionalized to keep things moving in the book. I also thought the author did a great job with the reveal at the end. I didn't see it coming until it happened. I love that in a thriller. I was thoroughly convinced several times that I knew what the ending was going to be, despite the fact that those endings would have been predictable and unsatisfying. I was pleasantly surprised when we were led down several different paths meant to mislead and confuse the reader.

I loved the audiobook version of this. I had a hard time taking my headphones out while I was listening to this. I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next in Penny's case and if she really had DID or if she was making it all up. I also wanted to know if she was innocent or if she couldn't remember committing this horrible crime. If you liked Saving Meghan, I think you would like this as well.

Wow!!!!!! Another great one by DJ Palmer
I won’t go into great detail as I’m afraid I’d give up too many of the books many secrets. The storyline and various characters were so vividly described that they almost felt like real people. The story just grabs a hold of you and keeps you thinking about the characters long after the story ends I wish I could give it more than the 5 stars

This story hooked me from the beginning! I was only vaguely familiar with DID and learned more about the disorder through the book., I found it to be a very interesting topic. I was completely shocked by the ending and loved how it all wrapped up. I will definitely recommend this to my reader friends!

Another great book by D.J. Palmer. I loved the twists and the addictive mystery story. And the audiobook adds a wonderful job by the narrators. Highly recommend to anyone who loved a good mystery.

This book had be riveted and guessing from start to finish. Without getting into details because there are twists and turns I will say it does a good job of portraying the uncertainty of each of the characters as to what exactly is going on. I didn't see the ending coming, but the author did a good job of piecing the clues back together after the big reveal. Even though this book was dark and even gruesome at times, it had much needed underlay of hope, with some good characters trying to do the right thing and a mother at the center of this story that drove the plot with her unrelenting pursuit of the truth and unshakeable faith in her family.

I had the opportunity to listen to the audio version and it was excellent. The different voices, especially for Penny and her other personas, were key to making the story believable and the narrators did a great job with this.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Palmer’s The New Husband so was looking forward to this one. The premise was intriguing but the execution was lacking. I think there’s a big problem in media these days, using someone’s mental illness or disorder as a twist or reason a person committed a crime. Without going into too much detail and spoiling this book for anyone, I think it was a very fine line. The author seemed to do thorough research on Dissociative Identity Disorder but it’s hard to see it used as entertainment when it is a serious disorder people live with. Overall 3/5.

An excellent book that I listened to and really thought it was simply brilliant, It dealt with mental health in a sensitive way and the story was really good. Yes I recommend this book.