Because just about everyone who knew Hank wished he was dead.
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Her Deadly Web
Three bullets, one cattle stampede and two lame excuses. And top of that, add to squirrelly medical examiners who threatened law enforcement with firearms. It’s the unbelievable story of Raynella Dossett Leath. To most who knew her, she was a competent and caring nurse and a political powerhouse. Few saw beneath the facade where a black widow lurked.
UPDATE: Raynella Dosset Leath passed away in her home over Easter weekend. She was 77 years old.
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My Story
The path my life has followed is a bit convoluted but I am pleased with the current result. I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. My maiden name is Butcher. Honest! I was born as Diane Lynn Butcher. Many in my Dad’s family think that I should have written under my original name when I started authoring true crime books. They thought it would be rather appropriate. They did have a point, but I thought if I did a lot a people would think that I made the name up. A book about murder by Diane Butcher?
“Diane is one of America’s living treasures. She can say in 14 words what it takes the rest of us pages and pages to establish.”
-Vance Holmes, Author, Playwrite
“Every now and then you encounter a book that just speaks to you. You can’t put it down, you run the gamut of emotions from anger to fear to elation so intensely that you feel as if you are riding in the front pocket of the narrator.”
- Book Club Queen Review
“Very few writers have the insight and gift to take a true story and make it one hell of a page-turner."
- Susan Murphy Milano, Domestic Violence Victim's Advocate
Upcoming Appearances & Events
Aug 1, 2026
Copley Science Center
at Randolph-Macon College
Ashland, Virginia
2026 Virginia Writers Club Symposium
Writing is a Crime Blog
The Fanning Book Syndicate
Last weekend, for the very first time, my stepson Pete Fanning and I were at the same book event. We had a blast at the Amherst Public Library talking to readers and selling books. What we write is very different. Pete writes Young Adult books…
Suffolk and the Ghost Bunny
Suffolk and the Ghost BunnyLast weekend, we travelled to Suffolk, Virginia, for the 12th Annual Suffolk Author’s Festival. We had a spectacular time. Even the drive down was terrific—with blossoming trees everywhere we looked. Friday night, we…
Henrietta & Harriet: Two Amazing Women
This morning, I woke to this headline: “Henrietta Lacks’s Family Settles Suit With Novartis Over Use of Her Cells.” Seeing that after I just finished reading Truevine by Beth Macy last night, was a bit mindboggling.
RECENT PODCASTS
July 16, 2026
Outliers CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: Episode 84
Join host DP Lyle MD for a fun chat with best-selling true crime and crime fiction author Diane Fanning
April 27, 2026
Wicked Words
Kate and Diane talk about the craziness of the case in her book BITTER REMAINS. One actress, one musician and an artist in a fatal child custody case