Penny was adopted by Grace and Arthur under unusual circumstances when she was a small child. Although Arthur seemed uncomfortable with the arrangement, Grace was determined to make Penny a part of the family and a sister to the boys, Jack and Ryan. However, there are things that Grace doesn’t know about Penny’s early childhood.
At sixteen Penny takes the family car to visit an unknown woman. Later that night, she’s found in the house, covered in blood with the dead woman. Penny is incoherent and appears to be suffering a dissociative state where other personalities emerge. The district attorney thinks he has an open and shut case, so Penny is locked in the Edgewater State Hospital to await trial.
Grace wants to save her daughter. She hires an attorney, Matt Navaro, who frequents her restaurant and offers a reduced fee. Grace also befriends Dr. Mitch McHugh, at the hospital. Together Grace and Mitch try to get to the bottom of Penny’s multiple personalities. Grace is convinced that her daughter didn’t commit the murder and the answer lies buried in Penny’s dissociative personalities.
This is a fascinating thriller. I particularly liked all the psychological details the author presented about Dissociative Identity Disorder. It was the best part of the book. The scenes at the trial and the state hospital were well done and very convincing.
I found some of the characters not so convincing. Grace seemed to be in her daughter’s corner, but she took incredible chances that could have turned out badly. I also found Grace’s sister-in-law, Annie, less than convincing. However, this is a clever thriller with lots of twists. If you enjoy psychological thrillers, this is a good one to read.
I received this book from St. Martin’s Publishing for this review.
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