Family Doctor by J M Dalgliesh was so gripping, I read it in one sitting. The story was increasingly tense and the main characters are so believable that the twist at the end is totally unexpected.
The writing was so captivating, and the whole thing kept me guessing. I truly enjoyed this so much. Not a second was wasted. I will definitely be reading more from this author!

"I’ll readily send him back to you piece by piece, finger by finger… I will happily take him apart one bit at a time, every hour until I have my daughter home safely. Do you understand me?’"



Pay attention, Kelly. You must do exactly as I say. There are three rules.
Rule One. You have seventy-two hours – three days – to murder one of your patients.
Rule Two. You must not tell another soul.
Rule Three. You must not be caught.
If you break these simple rules, your daughter will die.



A game of cat and mouse. What did Kelly do to be facing such a dilemma? Did she really let someone die out of spite? Who abducted her daughter for revenge? Is she going to kill an innocent person to appease a psychopath? How would she know, whoever it is, would keep their word?
This thriller novel only has one POV and dual timeline. I did not guess both the mystery person and the accomplice. Tension-filled and rooting for Kelly not to make a stupid decision. I felt kinda bad for the other suspect but it was a blessing in disguise he wasn't killed in the end.

My thanks to Bookouture for providing an early copy. I received an arc for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.🖤
Happy publication day! Jan. 2, 2025

I really enjoyed this twisty domestic thriller. The remote Scottish setting drew me in quickly and I was completely invested in the characters.

Well, I did not see that coming…and usually I get it sort of right!
Kelly arrives on the isolated island with her daughter Lauren, hoping for a new start. After all, she was cleared of all charges. But when Lauren is kidnapped, and Kelly is told she has to murder a patient (she needs to choose, but that’s part of the plot…), she realizes that not everyone has forgotten about her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. I absolutely loved the premise of this book. I can’t imagine having to murder someone so my child won’t die. This was kind of slow paced for me, not as on edge as I expected. There were also quite a few characters, that I had a hard time remembering who was who

Dr. Kelly is the only doctor in the remote Scottish island. One day, her daughter Lauren gets kidnapped. In order to ger her daughter back, Kelly must follow the orders of the abductor. And one of the orders is to kill a patient. Kelly is in a dilemma--she cannot violate her ethics but at the same time, she would do anything to save her daughter. She only has more three days to complete her mission, otherwise she will lose her daughter forever.

This was a fast paced thriller, completely told in Kelly's POV. The story shifts between past and present--past tells of an event that happened that killed a girl in Kelly's house. This was a gripping thriller that will also make the reader feel like they are at the edge of their seat. Will Kelly kill a patient or not? Is she able to save her daughter on time? Reading this book will feel like you are watching an action packed thriller movie! I like the writing and I also liked the ending as well. This was an unputdownable and a page turning thriller filled with some twists and turns that will keep you up all night. Worth four stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Family Doctor is set on Jura island in Scotland. The main character is Doctor Kelly who is the only doctor in Jura. She is new to the island and is getting into her new life there with her daughter Lauren. Lauren gets kidnapped and Doctor Kelly is put up to a mission that she must complete within 72 hours to get her daughter back alive. She is given a set of rules she must follow as well. Under a pressing timeline she goes to all extremes to get her daughter back.

This was a read that kept me wanting to come back for more. I had to know what was next and how things would all play out in the end. The character building in the beginning took a bit of time to get the ball rolling but once everyone had their story solid and any needed background details the action and wonder was none stop. This book kept me coming back to see what would would happen next. Would the next twist be the twist will it be bigger than the last? Most twists I did not see coming and I enjoyed the element of surprise. I loved Doctor Kelly she showed to be very resilient in her fight to get her daughter back. I enjoyed this read!

This was my second J M Dalgliesh book and I loved it!! It was gripping and I couldn’t put it down. I love his writing style and the twists in his books always get me

We follow a woman and her daughter as they struggle with something that happens in the past. The daughter gets kidnapped and the woman, who is a doctor, has to follow certain rules to get her back. This was a really captivating book. It’ll have you hooked on it and you’ll be able to read it within a day. I liked the characters and how determined they were to solve what happened. The ending was also a really good one. Thanks to author and publisher for sending this one to me

Doctor Kelly and her daughter move to an island after a tragic accident that causes her to seperate from her husband. Soon she becomes the doctor in the town and creates a wonderful relationship with many. All of a sudden her daughter is kidnapped and there is a request made to get her daughter back: "Kill one patient within three days". As Kelly fights to find her daughter she contemplates who she really is and what she is willing to do. Through her self discovery she realizes there are many secrets on this island that will turn the lives of others upside down.

This was a true thrill ride from start to finish. I felt like she was on a roller-coaster and couldn't get off. The entire book but towards the end there were a few things that felt a little unrealistic. I really enjoyed the book though!

Kelly a doctor has recently moved to small Scottish island.
She is devastated when her seventeen year old daughter is abducted and she is told to perform a terrible task if she wants her daughter back alive.
A psychological thriller with some twists and turns.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. The first 30-40% was learning about the characters and the background story. I found this a bit of a slow burn but then the story started coming together and I was hooked. I did guess who was behind it so that didn't come as a surprise. It was very fast paced at the end and loved the little twist.

Kelly is a doctor and moves to a scottish island with her teenage daughter lauren. Lauren is going to an interview at a university, but fails to let her mum know when she arrives, instead Kelly gets a video message saying her daughter has been kidnapped
Within the next she has to kill one of her patients and not get caught otherwise her daughter will die, and then kelly has to make the choice of which patient does she kill,
It makes you start asking questions of what is in kelly's past, what secrets is she hiding and what lengths would she go to in order to save her daughter.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an arc in exchange for an honest review

This is a great psychological thriller.
Kelly and her daughter Lauren have moved to a remote Scottish island due to something that happened in the past.
Kelly is the only Doctor on the island and is enjoying a quiet life. That is until Lauren is abducted and Kelly is sent some instructions to get her back, but what she has been asked to do, scares her.
Kelly can’t work out who has taken her daughter but is determined to get her back somehow.
The story starts as more of a drama but the pace picks up in the second half when lives are in danger.
Thanks to Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

Family Doctor by JM Dalgliesh, Kelly is a doctor and has moved to an isolated island with her daughter Lauren after experiencing a tragic event that she was blamed for. she thought she left all the bad behind her but when she gets a text, letting her know her daughter has been taken she realizes it really is just beginning. I love a good book for entertainment purposes only with the little eye rolling and a wide suspension of belief but when Kelly went to kill someone in the book to get her daughter back, but Wild there finds out someone else is trying to kill the same person I could not believe and felt so indignant that she didn’t kill her because she was angry that these other people wanted to kill her as well. I thought that was ridiculous, but I digress it seems sometimes these authors go too far with their stretching the plot and rationality and I do think JM Dowd leash definitely did that with this book. I thought the book started out really good with the bad boyfriend Kelly’s ex-husband the “incident“ but there comes a point where I feel like they’re just insulting my intelligence. #NetGalley, #Bookouuture, #JMDalgliesh, #FamilyDoctor,

This one wasn’t for me unfortunately. Too predictable and weird pacing. It was ok, but nothing special.

A very gripping read qnd hard to put down. Good ending too and not too obvious. Will look forward to more of this author*s work in the future.

This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review.

I felt the pace of the book was gripping, then slow, and it pretty much continued like that throughout.
The premise of the story was good, an interesting psychological thriller where a doctor has three days to either kill a patient or her daughter is killed.

At times I did feel like I couldn’t put it down, but then it just slowed again and I found myself thinking of other things. It might have been me as I am a massive mood reader, and reading is subjective.

I have rounded up as I have this one a 3.5 stars, but I would still recommend this book to people who love a psychological thriller.

A fast paced, well written thriller. Set in Jura, a Scottish island, Dr Kelly is faced with an incredible dilemma. Her daughter has been kidnapped, in exchange for her life she must kill one of her patients. She has just 3 days to complete the task and 3 rules to follow. To what lengths will she go to save her daughter's life.

This was a quick read, I was drawn in right from the very start and didn't want to put it down till I was finished. The whole book leads to the moment of finding out who the kidnapper is, and I was completely surprised. Often I'm able to guess twists, but this one was unpredictable for me. The only negative for me was the ending, it was a little bit disappointing in that it tied everything up very quickly with very little detail on what happened with certain characters afterward.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an excellent standalone thriller from the prolific JM Dalgleish and it is intriguing and enthralling from the start. A doctor has moved with her daughter to a remote Scottish island to escape a troubled past. However, her life is once again thrown into turmoil when she receives a video showing that her daughter has been has been kidnapped and, in order to get her back, she must kill one of her patients! A terrific read.