Diane Fanning (born, June 21, 1950) is an American

crime writer True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

and author who writes nonfiction and mystery novels.

Biography

Fanning was born Diane Lynn Butcher in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. She graduated from

Perry Hall High School Perry Hall High School (PHHS) is a public high school in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, established in 1967 enrolling about 2,000 students a year. Located in the northeastern Baltimore suburb of Perry Hall and serving the surrounding ...

, and then

Lynchburg College The University of Lynchburg, formerly Lynchburg College, is a private university associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and located in Lynchburg, Virginia. It has approximately 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students. ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, where she majored in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. She and her husband live in

Bedford, Virginia Bedford is an incorporated town and former Independent city (United States)#Virginia, independent city located within Bedford County, Virginia, Bedford County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It serves as the county seat of Bedford County. As of the ...

Career

After college, she wrote for the advertising field, earning more than 70

Addy Awards The American Advertising Federation (AAF), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest national advertising trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry ...

for her work. During that time, she wrote as a freelance writer. Her career shifted into nonprofit work with a move to

New Braunfels, Texas New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas known for its German Texan heritage. It is the seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 Census. A suburb just north ...

. Fanning worked for fundraising groups, including Another Way Texas Shares and the National Association for Choice in Giving. She began her first book while living in Texas. She is co-founder of

Women in Crime Ink ''Women in Crime Ink'' is an American daily crime blog that publishes both original and aggregated content. The blog was founded on March 10, 2008, as "a well of thoughts on crime and media issues from women criminal justice professionals and auth ...

, described by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' as "a blog worth reading." In 2002, Fanning corresponded with serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells, who, in a letter to her, confessed to murdering 10-year-old Joel Kirkpatrick, whose mother had been convicted of killing her son. According to the

Innocence Project Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that is committed to exonerating individuals who have been wrongly convicted, through the use of DNA testing and working to reform the criminal justice system to prevent futur ...

, Fanning's testimony before a prison review board about the letter and her book ''Through the Window'', which details Sells' crime spree, were said to help prove Harper's innocence. In 2011, Fanning was given the Defenders of the Innocent Award by the Illinois Innocence Project for getting the confession from Sells. In 2006, her book ''Written in Blood'' received an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

nomination. Fanning has been interviewed for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's "48 Hours Mystery" in November 2009 and

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...

in 2010 and 2011. CBS's "Crimesider" column featured her in a story about the

Casey Anthony Casey may refer to: Places Antarctica *Casey Station * Casey Range Australia * Casey, Australian Capital Territory * City of Casey, Melbourne * Division of Casey, electoral district for the House of Representatives Canada * Casey, Ontario * ...

case.

Awards

*2001: Freedom Fighter Award, National Alliance for Choice in Giving *2011: Defenders of the Innocent Award, Illinois Innocence Project

Books

Fiction

*''Bite the Moon'' (Molly Mullet mystery; Five Star, 2007)

Lucinda Pierce Mystery series (
Severn House Severn House Publishers is an independent publisher of fiction in hardcover and ebooks. Severn House specialises in publishing mid-list authors in both the UK and the USA. Established in 1974, Severn House began republishing out-of-print titles ...
)

*''The Trophy Exchange'' (2008) *''Punish the Deed'' (2009) *''Mistaken Identity'' (2010) *''Twisted Reason'' (2010)''Twisted Reason'' (Lucinda Pierce Mystery), September 2010
/ref> *''False Front'' (2012) *''Wrong Turn'' (2013) *''Chain Reaction'' (2014)

Libby Clark series (
Severn House Severn House Publishers is an independent publisher of fiction in hardcover and ebooks. Severn House specialises in publishing mid-list authors in both the UK and the USA. Established in 1974, Severn House began republishing out-of-print titles ...
)

* ''Scandal in the Secret City'' (2014) * ''Treason in the Secret City'' (2016 * ''Sabotage in the Secret City'' (2018)

Nonfiction

*''Red Boots & Attitude'' with Susie Kelly Flatau (Eakin Press, 2002) *''Through the Window'' (serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells,

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, 2003) *''Into the Water'' (serial killer

Richard Evonitz Richard Marc Edward Evonitz (July 29, 1963 – June 27, 2002) was an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist responsible for the deaths of three teenaged girls in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and the abduction and rape of a 15-year-ol ...

, St. Martin's Press, 2004) *''Written in Blood'' ( Kathleen Peterson murder, St. Martin's Press, 2005) *''Baby Be Mine'' ( Bobbie Jo Stinnett murder, St. Martin's Press, 2006) *''Gone Forever'' (Susan McFarland murder, St. Martin's Press, 2006) *''Under the Knife'' (

Dean Faiello Dean Faiello (born August 31, 1959) is an American criminal formerly imprisoned at Attica Correctional Facility for the April 2003 death of Maria Cruz, whom he had presented himself to as a dermatologist. Faiello held neither a medical degree no ...

case, St. Martin's Press, 2007) *''Out There'' (

Lisa Nowak Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo, born May 10, 1963) is an American aeronautical engineer, and former NASA astronaut and United States Navy officer. Nowak served as naval flight officer and test pilot in the Navy, and was selected by NASA for N ...

case, St. Martin's Press, 2007) *'' The Pastor's Wife'' ( Matthew Winkler murder, St. Martin's Press, 2008) *''A Poisoned Passion'' (Wendi Mae Davidson case, St. Martin's Press, 2009) *''

Mommy's Little Girl ''Mommy's Little Girl: Casey Anthony and her Daughter Caylee's Tragic Fate'' is a 2009 biographical true crime book by novelist Diane Fanning about 2-year-old Caylee Anthony’s disappearance from her Florida home in July 2008. This was the fir ...

'' (

case, St. Martin's Press, 2009) *''Her Deadly Web'' (Raynella Dossett Leath case, St. Martin's Press, 2012) *''Sleep My Darlings'' (

Schenecker double homicide The murders of Calyx and Beau Schenecker occurred on January 27, 2011; 16-year-old Calyx and 13-year-old Beau Schenecker were found dead by police at their home in Tampa, Florida. Their mother, Julie Powers Schenecker, was arrested on suspicion ...

, St. Martin's Press, 2013) *''Bitter Remains'' (Laura Ackerson murder, Berkley Books, 2016) *''Death on the River'' (Angelika Graswald case, St Martin's Press, 2019)

References

External links

Official WebsiteAuthor's "Writing is a Crime" blogSt. Martin's Press author bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanning, Diane 21st-century American novelists American bloggers Living people American mystery writers American non-fiction crime writers American women novelists Writers from Baltimore Novelists from Texas American women bloggers Women mystery writers 21st-century American women writers People from Bedford, Virginia Novelists from Virginia People from New Braunfels, Texas University of Lynchburg alumni Journalists from Virginia Journalists from Texas Novelists from Maryland American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 1950 births