I don’t need an alarm to wake up because my eight-year-old stepdaughter Ava tugs at my blankets every morning around 6:15 am. She’s looking for me to draw logos of things like Cartoon Network on the pieces of paper I keep on my nightstand. That holds her for three minutes until I trudge downstairs and turn on the television for her. You guessed it, Cartoon Network. I’ll do practically anything to avoid her legendary meltdowns. I’m sure others parenting children with autism do the same.

That buys me enough time to wash and check my emails before my architect husband Jason awakens and I have to help him wash and dress. It’s been a few years since the accident that left his hands looking less human than ginger, and yes, he can manage his own hygiene, but it’s difficult. I help when I have the time. Unfortunately, between my work as Rock Canyon Realty’s leading agent, and running my non-profit, Autism Vanguard, there isn’t much time to spare. But I try.

After dressing myself, I struggle to dress Ava, who will only wear her Disney Cinderella costume. I’ve come to terms with that. In fact, I’ve bought five, so she always has a clean one each day. Then I make breakfast. My teenage stepson, Khai, shows up late and heavy-lidded, mumbles a perfunctory hello, and grabs a toaster strudel before heading out to school. Late nights, no doubt playing video games rather than hitting the books. I shake my head. You have to pick your fights and today, I have bigger problems than dealing with Khai’s study habits.

After dropping Ava at school and dealing with the inevitable clinging before she tearfully accepts that I have to leave, I sit in my car, debating how to handle the day ahead. The listing appointments, the contract disputes, they’re not what’s worrying me.

It’s Merry Rafter—my assistant.

Incompetent, you wonder? Oh no, far from it. She does everything well…almost too well. Too perfect. Always bringing me my morning coffee, prepared to take on anything I throw at her. I know these are not typical red flags for an employer but…my friend Brooke cautioned me that when something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Though I defended my hiring of Merry, that warning keeps nagging at me. My inner voice, Celeste—it bothers her too. What have I missed? Why does Merry keep trying to be my friend? Inviting the whole family to Easter dinner—who does that? And why, oh why, didn’t I take the time to check her references when I had the chance?

Dara Banks stars in Deadly When Disturbed, the latest domestic thriller from award-winning author D.M. Barr. Early reviewers are comparing the novel to All About Eve, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and Single White Female. Author Richard Helms describes it as “Liane Moriarty Meets Gillian Flynn, by way of John Lutz.” And N.Y. Times Bestselling Author Marshall Karp says: “Two women. Friends? Hardly. They’re both after the same thing. And as the stakes get higher, the mind games get uglier, until—well, I’m not going to give away the killer ending. D. M. Barr’s latest domestic thriller is a total rush. It’s like being back with Betty and Veronica all over again—only this ain’t high school, and these women (like the title says) are Deadly When Disturbed.”

Deadly When Disturbed
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Release: January 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Deadly When Disturbed follows the journey of leading Realtor and philanthropist Dara Banks.

When Dara searches for an assistant, finding someone as resourceful as Meryl “Merry” Rafter seems too good to be true. So good in fact, she neglects to run a reference check. Bad move. Before she knows it, Merry, a former “actress” trying to be “helpful,” has insinuated herself into Dara’s business, family, and charity, and may be the only person saving her from prison. Dara becomes suspicious and begins snooping into Merry’s past. Feeling cornered, Merry reciprocates by launching an investigation of her own and realizes—too late—that she may have picked the wrong mark to con. These women’s unsettling discoveries, and their desperate efforts to safeguard their skeleton-filled closets and fragile self-images, lead to an explosive confrontation certain to destroy the lives of everyone in their midst.

About the author
D.M. Barr is the pseudonym for Dawn M. Barclay, an award-winning author who writes psychological and romantic suspense under this pen name and non-fiction under her own. Her published novels include Expired Listings, Murder Worth the Weight, Saving Grace: A Psychological Thriller, The Queen of Second Chances, and Simple Tryst of Fate. Level Best Books will release her newest domestic thriller, Deadly When Disturbed, in January 2025, and in February, LBB will also publish the first of her upcoming multi-volume series, Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover’s Travel Guide.