Reading · Barr Sinister: The Suspenseful World of D.M. Barr

This page did not load. You can still read it on the original site — the toolbar below keeps your place in the directory.

This Month: Win a Free Copy of The Queen of Second Chances Audiobook!

Here’s a way to make your fall even better. This month, I’m raffling away a free download code to the audiobook for my sweet romance/new adult/romcom novel, The Queen of Second Chances. Sierra Kline does an amazing job narrating this heartwarming tale of a young woman who upends a senior center and helps the seniors overcome the regrets of their lives, while navigating her own. Between now and September 30th, drop me an email at dawnbarclayauthor@gmail.com, with the subject line: “Queen of Second Chances audiobook raffle.” That’s all there is to it! I’ll be picking a winner shortly after September 30th, and will announce that winner in next month’s newsletter. Good luck!

NOTE: The winner of last month’s raffle was Debra Guyette, who won an audiobook copy of Simple Tryst of Fate. Congratulations, Debra!

FREE BOOKS!

My gift to you: some links to free books offered by some other mystery, suspense, and romance/romantic suspense authors for you to download. I’ve given you some clean and some spicy reads this month!

Here are the links:

Spy, Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense Freebees:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/spyfreebiessepttooct/41bnl9hwl8

Clean Reads: Low Spice/No Spice/Closed Door:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/keepitclean/m8fctqhcdv

The Best of Free Spicy Reads

https://books.bookfunnel.com/freespicystories_sep/m34eyqeyxh

Thanks for reading Barr Sinister: The Suspenseful World of D.M. Barr! This post is public so feel free to share it.

What have I been up to?

The first of the two-volume anthology, Better Off Dead: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, debuted on August 25th ! Seventeen amazing stories, edited by yours truly. Get your copy here! I was very excited to meet many of the authors at Bouchercon, and I’ll be working with some of them on the upcoming anthology, Moral Corruption: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Morals of Aesop’s Fables. It’s slated to come out in late 2026 or early 2027 with Down & Out Books.

Other upcoming releases:

Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover’s Travel Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States: release postponed to late January

Better Off Dead Volume 2: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, release delayed to sometime in 2026 (information to come).

Ya Got Trouble: Crime Fiction Inspired by Broadway Show Tunes: Three volumes to be released in 2026, exact release dates TBA.

Personal Appearances:

I am scheduled to be at:

New Providence Book Festival on September 20th at the Salt Box Museum at 1350 Springfield Avenue in New Providence, NJ 07974. The rain date is September 27th. More information here: https://newprovidencebookfestival.com/2025-authors/.

Brooklyn Book Fair on September 21st. I’m not exactly sure of my hours yet, but the Fair runs from 10am-6pm, I’ll be at the booth between 1-2pm. Stop by! More information at https://brooklynbookfestival.org/

I’m actually writing this from Bouchercon in New Orleans, which has been a real blast this year. It’s wonderful connecting with so many other authors (I’m an author groupie!) and fans as well as meeting the authors I’ve been editing for my Down & Out crime fiction anthologies. Here are some photos:

We actually drove from New York to New Orleans, and this is Copper, a Bloodhound I met at a truck stop on the way. Anyone who knows me knows I adore dogs, especially Bloodhounds and Bassets, even though I’ve never owned either breed (yet!).

This is Lisa Jewell, a Brit who—like me—is a lifelong Pantser, which means she doesn’t outline her books but rather, writes by the seat of her pants. She was part of a panel about the inner lives of psychological suspense killers.

This is author David Schlosser, one of my anthology contributors, who proudly displayed our anthology from the podium and pointed me out in the audience as his editor (thanks, David!)

This is Jose H. Bogran, a prolific author from Honduras, who met with me and my husband and his wife for beignets and coffee. He moderated a great panel on serial killers which featured Katherine Ramsland (The Serial Killer’s Apprentice), the wonderful author who blurbed my first two true crime travel guides, Vacations Can Be Murder, Volume 1 (New England) and Volume 2 (Mid-Atlantic States).

And here’s Michael Connelly (Bosch, Lincoln Lawyer, more) being interviewed by Alafair Burke.

My latest post from Miss Demeanors (www.missdemeanors.com) will run in early October. I discuss how to plan a writer’s retreat, right down to how to price the event. Be sure to check it out here. Miss Demeanors is a great blog that was voted #25 in the Top 400 Mystery/Suspense Blogs list for 2025, so be sure to subscribe!