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
November 28, 2026
Saturday, from 1-3 pm
Local Authors Holiday Event
Writing is a Crime Blog
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.
DEATH WISH: A Charley Spencer Novel
If the name Charley Spencer sounds familiar to you, you probably read a book or two in my Lieutenant Lucinda Pierce series. I introduced Charley in the first book, The Trophy Exchange. At that time…
Growing Up in Baltimore: Another Childhood Bubble Popped
I spent the first six years of my life growing up in Baltimore in a community that I was told was built as housing for returning World War II veterans. Recently, I got curious about my original home and turned to…
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