Lizzie

You don’t need to be a feminist to feel the rage

Late one summer morning in 1892, a prominent businessman and his second wife were brutally murdered with an axe in their own home. One of the man’s two daughters was charged with his murder. The trial was a circus. The outcome was controversial. What actually happened in that home? This work of fiction imagines the thinking and fear that drove the killer to that extreme act of cruelty.

Read the Beginning

The Story Behind “Lizzie”

I once playfully challenged Ms. Fanning, a prolific true crime author with a detective’s turn of mind, to write a fictional account of the trial of Lizzie Borden for a ferocious double domestic murder. She responded with Lizzie, masterfully blending historical details, intriguing suppositions and thrilling prose to breathe new life into the most infamous cold case in American history.

Gary Brucato, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar, Boston College
Co-author of The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime

Publication Date: March 11, 2025 (PB & EB) from Level Best Books – Historia Imprint
book ISBN: 978-1-68512-882-1 (PB 352 pgs 6” x 9” trim) $19.95 USD
ebook 978-1-68512-883-8 (EB) $9.99

Reviews:

Master of true crime Diane Fanning reimagines in fictional form a case that continues to haunt us, Lizzie Borden. Part true crime and part storytelling, she ably explores the shifting relationship between sisters at the center of a scandalous double homicide.

Dr. Katherine Ramsland, award-winning author of Confession of a Serial Killer and The Serial Killer’s Apprentice.

The author did a spectacular job incorporating fiction with facts. Her writing is lovely and details are very believable. If you are a true crime and historical fiction fan, this is unmissable! Well worth reading.

Brenda C.

One of the best takes on the Lizzie Borden case that i have ever read!!! this case is absolutely bonkers and the book covered it sooo well!!!

Anonymous
One of the strengths of Lizzie is Fanning’s ability to contextualize the events within the broader social and cultural landscape of the latter 19th Century. She explores rigid gender norms of the time, the class tensions within Fall River and the limitations of the legal system.

Anonymous Educator
One of the book’s strengths is its psychological portrayal of the protagonist. Fanning paints a complex Lizzie—neither fully a victim nor entirely a perpetrator. The writing is fluid and engaging.

Beatrice T.
Diane Fanning’s Lizzie breathes new life into the century-old mystery of Lizzie Borden, blending meticulous historical research with the psychological depth of a character study. This novelized account of the infamous 1892 murders in Fall River, Massachusetts, eschews sensationalism for a nuanced exploration of Lizzie’s psyche, family dynamics, and the suffocating constraints of Victorian womanhood. Fanning’s prose is sharp and evocative, immersing readers in the claustrophobic Borden household while teasing out fresh theories about the crime. The result is less a true-crime retelling and more a Gothic tragedy—one that challenges assumptions about guilt, innocence, and the stories history chooses to preserve.

Sarah Jensen
A dark, atmospheric take on the infamous Lizzie Borden case. I really enjoyed how this fictional version dove into the psychology behind the crime — tense, unsettling, and thought-provoking. The writing was vivid, and the imagined motivations added real depth. Gripping and haunting without being overdone.

Eloise Graham

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