The Perfect Daughter: A Novel

by D.J. Palmer

Overview

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250267948
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/05/2022
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	148,530
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)

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.

Editorial Reviews

02/08/2021

A tenacious, loving mother fights to prove her daughter is innocent of murder in this well-crafted psychological thriller from Palmer (The New Husband). Grace Francone knows that her 16-year-old daughter, Penny, has dissociative identity disorder, but Penny’s multiple personalities have never been violent. Adopted by the Francones after she was found alone at age four in a deserted park near their Swampscott, Mass., home, Penny is accused of murdering her biological mother, with whom she recently reconnected. The evidence against her is overwhelming—she was covered in the victim’s blood, and her fingerprints are on the murder weapon. While Penny awaits trial in a decaying state hospital, she’s treated by a compassionate psychiatrist, who struggles with his own mental problems. Palmer digs into the fraught family dynamics of the Francone household, where Penny was embraced by one brother, Jack, and resented by the other brother, Ryan. Alternating points of view between Grace and Jack, a college filmmaker, ratchet up the suspense. Palmer’s take on a complex psychological disorder will keep readers in its grip. Agents: Meg Ruley and Rebecca Scherer, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

One of “10 Spring and Summer Thriller and Mystery Must-Reads"—Ms. Career Girl

"Will keep readers in its grip." —Publishers Weekly

"What starts as a slow-burning thriller ends in a crescendo of intensity as D.J. Palmer’s newest thriller, The Perfect Daughter, explores the often-terrifying intersection of mental health disorders and the criminal justice system...Full of twists and turns, readers will stay busy trying to guess just what is coming around the corner. But much like the poorly funded state psychiatric facility where a lot of the story takes place, there are some surprises that you will never be able to anticipate, and you better be on your toes and be ready for them!"—The Nerd Daily

"Another pulse-pounding read...[The Perfect Daughter] was a cleverly plotted, multi-layered psychological thriller with an ending that will have you feel like you’ve just been punched in the gut without warning."—The Reading Beauty

"...a journey that will shake you to the core."—Fran Lewis' Just Reviews

From the Publisher