The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

Published by

Sarah Ann

on

February 21, 2010

The Sleeping Doll is the first book in the Kathryn Dance series by Jeffery Deaver. Kathryn Dance is an expert in kinesics, and works as an interrogator and body language analyst for the FBI

When serial killer Daniel Pell escapes from prison, the FBI suspects he’s after “The Sleeping Doll”—the daughter and only survivor of the Pell family that was slaughtered years ago.

Pell once belonged to a cult and committed murders in the style of Charles Manson, so Kathryn Dance must use this information and everything else she knows about Pell to track him down in central California.

The Sleeping Doll has its full share of red herrings and plot twists. There’s also lots of fun pop-culture references and descriptions of the Carmel, California region, which lend extra vibrancy to the tone of this very dark thriller.

I like how there are chapters told from Daniel Pell’s point of view incorporated throughout this book to show us how sick and twisted his mind is. Overall, this novel is incredible, and a great start to the Kathryn Dance series.

The next books in this series are:

#2 – Roadside Crosses (2009)
#3 – XO (2012)
#4 – Solitude Creek (2015)

What did you think about The Sleeping Doll? What’s your favorite book by Jeffery Deaver?

Last Updated on February 17, 2026 by Sarah Ann

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