The Murderer's Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

I liked this psychological suspense novel with a new character as the heroine.

Grace Blades is a successful psychologist in private practice. As the novel progresses, flashbacks reveal her troubled childhood - murder of a parent and years in unfit foster homes. One foster parent realized her intelligence and arranged for testing. Grace was genius quality.

One event in her childhood would later bring Grace into a life and death situation. Three children were brought into the foster home in the dead of night. Two of those children would come back into Grace's life nearly twenty five years later. Murder soon followed.

I liked the psychological aspect of this novel. We follow the action as Grace tries to unravel what happened twenty five years ago and why someone wants to kill her now. It was interesting to get into Grace's character. She is a successful private psychologist, loved by her patients. But Grace has a dark side, a sexual compulsion that gets her in trouble.

I liked Grace's savvy character, even if she had severe sex issues. At times she seemed almost too savvy, so accomplished in so many areas, from personal protection to seeking out information. She seemed too accomplished, too confident. And the mystery of all those years seemed to solve too easily.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book. I liked the concentration on the psychological aspect, there not being any suspense until the last few pages. I liked Grace enough that I hope there will be more novels with her at the center.

My rating: 4 stars.

Note to my regular blog followers: there are graphic violence and sex scenes in this novel.

Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than three dozen bestselling novels, including the Alex Delaware series. He has co-authored novels with his wife, bestselling author Faye Kellerman, and one with his son, Jesse Kellerman. He has also written two children's books and many nonfiction titles. He has won numerous awards. He and his wife live in California, New Mexico, and New York. You can find out more at http://www.jonathankellerman.com/.

Ballantine Books, 384 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.