The Murderer's Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

by:  Jonathan Kellerman
published by:  Ballantine Books
publish date:  August 18, 2015

A brilliant, deeply dedicated psychologist, Grace Blades has a gift for treating troubled souls and tormented psyches—perhaps because she bears her own invisible scars: Only five years old when she witnessed her parents’ deaths in a bloody murder-suicide, Grace took refuge in her fierce intellect and found comfort in the loving couple who adopted her. But even as an adult with an accomplished professional life, Grace still has a dark, secret side. When her two worlds shockingly converge, Grace’s harrowing past returns with a vengeance.

Jonathan Kellerman finally wrote a stand alone novel.  A non-Alex Delaware novel at that!  Don't get me wrong, I used to really like the Alex Delaware books, but once a series gets into like 20 something books I'm usually done with it.  How much story is there left really?  So, I was really interested to see what this new book was all about.

Grace Blades had a terrible childhood.  Grace's mother murdered her father and then killed herself right in front of her as a small child.  She bounced around from foster home to foster home until she was finally adopted as a teenager.  However, her genius-level intelligence ensured that she got an excellent education and became a clinical psychologist.  None of that could stop her past from coming back to haunt her.

This was a good story.  I liked the Grace Blades character.  I kind of kept expecting Alex Delaware to make a cameo somewhere in the story, but he didn't.  It really wouldn't surprise me if this became a new series.  It would be a good one.  She has a lot of "stuff going on."  If you haven't read Jonathan Kellerman in awhile, I would suggest trying this one out.  It was a nice breath of fresh air.