Robin has taken great pains to build a well-ordered life for herself after enduring the chaos of her youth. It’s been over five years since she cut her father out of her life after her mother’s death and his subsequent marriage to Tara, a contemporary of Robin’s who not only used to be Robin’s close friend, but also was engaged to Alec, Robin’s brother. And that’s just part of the wonderfully complicated family dynamic she so desperately tried to shed.

It’s been more than two years since she spoke to her sister, Melanie, or Melanie’s teenage son, Landon, who has autism. Added to the mix is young Cassidy, Tara’s 12-year-old daughter from her abusive first husband. So it’s “dysfunction-junction” everywhere you look. But now Robin is a successful therapist and engaged to Blake, a dependable, steadfast businessman. Things are finally going her way. Until she gets that phone call.

"THE BAD DAUGHTER is a great read for fans of Lisa Gardner, Lisa Scottoline and Karin Slaughter, and for those who want to lose themselves in a compelling page-turner for an afternoon or a lazy weekend."

Melanie leaves Robin a voice mail message with some horrific news. Robin’s father, Tara and young Cassidy have been shot. Her father is in a coma, and it’s been touch and go, and Cassidy is gravely wounded as well. Tara was pronounced dead at the scene. “They found the front door open and your father and Tara lying on the living room floor, their bodies riddled with bullets, Tara’s face pretty much blown off,” Sheriff Prescott shares with Robin. Could this be a home invasion robbery gone horribly wrong, or is it something more sinister and decidedly more personal? If so, who could carry out such heinous acts on the family? Given the way her father and Tara lived their lives and flaunted their wealth, that list is getting longer by the minute.

Now Robin must return to her hometown of Red Bluff, California, a town she thought she put in her rear view long ago: “The town’s motto is ‘A Great Place to Live,’ although Robin had always thought ‘A Great Place to Leave’ would probably be a more suitable slogan…. Aside from its rodeo, Red Bluff was perhaps best known for being the place where a 17-year-old girl was kidnapped by a deranged couple and held captive in a box under their bed for seven years…back in May 1977, and as far as Robin knew, nothing much of note had happened in the town since.” No wonder she wanted to get out and move to L.A. But now she’s back and must face her painful past and even more complicated present. The answer she seeks to the question of who could have committed this crime might not be the one she wants or expects.

New York Times bestselling author Joy Fielding is the master of domestic suspense, and with over 25 novels to her credit, she knows a thing or two about plotting an intricately suspenseful story. THE BAD DAUGHTER is a great read for fans of Lisa Gardner, Lisa Scottoline and Karin Slaughter, and for those who want to lose themselves in a compelling page-turner for an afternoon or a lazy weekend. It will have you guessing until the final chapter.