The Perfect Daughter by D.J. Palmer

☆☆☆☆
.ePUB, 350 pages
Expected Publication: April 20th 2021 by St. Martin's Press

About the Book:
A thriller that explores the truth or lies behind a teenage girl's multiple personality disorder.
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 her 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?

My Review:

I must say, I did uncover the central mystery - but that only happened seconds before the revelations.  Mr. Palmer managed to create a lot of empathy for the protagonist despite the grim tone of the story line. I appreciated there were no characters that were present just to create a smoke screen - all minor charterers did play some part. The style was easy going, spontaneous and remarkably lucid. 

I won't give anything away, no spoilers here. Just know that it's a very well written book. The way the author carefully and slowly led us into the truth of the story was surprising and a fun read. I really enjoyed the trip through the unfolding and revealing of what happened and I look forward to more books from him for sure.

Disclosure:
Thank you NetGalley, D.J. Palmer and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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