Showing results by author "Diane Fanning" in All Categories

The nation wept when news broke of nearly three-year-old Caylee Anthony's disappearance from her home in Florida in July 2007. The search for Caylee made front-page headlines. But Casey Anthony continued to lie to law enforcement about her daughter's whereabouts, complicating their search for the truth.

Beneath a veneer of respectability and religion, Mary Winkler's soul festered as she struggled to be obedient and loving to her husband and her God. Her suppressed anguish exploded in a shotgun blast that took the life of her husband, preacher Matthew Winkler. Mary packed up her three young daughters and fled to the beach, leaving an endless trail of questions in her wake. Would anyone ever make sense of the tragedy in Selmer, Tennessee?

It seemed like the perfect romantic afternoon: a kayaking trip for two on the Hudson River. But it ended in tragedy when beautiful, blonde Angelika Graswald called 911 to report that her fiance, the handsome and athletic Vincent Viafore, had fallen into the choppy frigid waters. Authorities assumed it was an accident. But when the bereft bride-to-be posted videos of herself doing cartwheels on social media - shortly before Vincent's body was found - suspicions of murder rose to the surface.

Susan McFarland watched, powerless, as her husband, Rick McFarland, went into a downhill spiral of get-rich-quick schemes, quirky shopping trips, and prescription-drug abuse. Susan, a rising star at a major corporation, finally had enough. When she decided to call it quits, Rick ended her life, leaving three young boys - ages 5, 8, and 11 - without a mother. A two-month long search by law enforcement and volunteers found no trace of the missing woman....

An army brat-turned-marine, Michael Peterson saw combat in Vietnam, and returned a decorated soldier. An avid reader, his dreams of being an acclaimed novelist came true. His desire to find love was fulfilled when he married brilliant executive Kathleen Atwater, the first female student accepted at Duke University's School of Engineering. The Petersons seemed the ideal academic couple - well-respected, prosperous, and happy. All that came crashing down in December of 2001, when Kathleen apparently fell to her death in their secluded home in an exclusive area of Durham, North Carolina.

Ten-year-old Krystal Surles watched as her best friend was murdered before the intruder slashed her throat with a 12-inch boning knife. Despite the odds, she survived and led authorities to 35-year-old Tommy Lynn Sells, a former truck driver, carnival worker, and drifter. Through the Window includes his confession to the murder of 10-year-old Joel Kirkpatrick, playing a pivotal role in obtaining justice for wrongfully convicted Julie Rea.

Jocelyn Branham Earnest was found dead on the floor of her living room in Forest, Virginia. By her side was a gun and a suicide note-typed, lacking a signature, and with one fingerprint on it. A fingerprint apparently belonging to Jocelyn's estranged husband.Wesley Earnest was a respected high school administrator, poised to restart his life in a new community. Parents entrusted their children to his care and believed he was above reproach.

Police found the body of 16-year-old Calyx on her bed under a white blanket. They found her 13-year-old brother Beau in the family car covered up the same way. Both had two gunshots to the head. Both had been dead for hours. The only other person who had been in the home was their mother, Julie Schenecker. She told law enforcement that she could no longer tolerate her kids talking back to her. Was this a case of premeditated murder? Or a horrible tragedy fueled by a mental illness that had spun out of control?

One woman, Raynella Dossett Leath; two husbands, prosecutor Ed Dossett and barber Dave Leath: A startling piece of evidence brought the whole sordid tale to light. A cattle stampede, an attempted murder, a three-shot suicide, a pedophile, two medical examiners threatening to shoot law enforcement officials, a secret city, and a love child - this story has it all, proving the old aphorism that truth is stranger than fiction.

Beauty business entrepreneur Dean Faiello's "life of the party" attitude was constantly leading him to disaster. When his thriving business wasn't enough for him, he jumped into the world of plastic surgery, without any medical degree or experience.

Lisa Montgomery presented her husband, Kevin, with their newborn baby girl, while a state way, police were investigating the brutal murder of 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett. She'd been found lying in a pool of blood, and investigators soon realized that someone had strangled Bobbie Jo to death, then cut the fetus from her womb. When they found Bobbie Jo's baby in Lisa's arms, they knew who was responsible for this grisly murder.

May 30, 1944. In the middle of the night, Libby Clark is roused from sleep by a colleague in distress. Marvin’s cousin Frannie has been charged with treason, and he hopes that Libby, with her clearheaded scientific mind, can find a way to help prove her innocence. Libby, a chemist at a secret World War II facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, agrees to help her friend and pursue the truth. Libby’s investigations soon uncover the immoral Dr. Hansrote, who has tricked Frannie into her treachery. But the evil at Oak Ridge seems to run deeper....

An in-depth story of the astronaut love triangle that shocked America. This captivating account casts light on Lisa Nowak's groundbreaking fall from grace. She was accomplished, successful, and heroic - one of the first astronauts to fly a space shuttle mission after the 2003 Columbia tragedy. Then a primitive attack of jealousy led to a fateful confrontation with her romantic rival that destroyed her reputation, ended her career and left a victim dazed and confused.

In the fifth book in the series, Lieutenant Lucinda Pierce encounters a death that at first appears to be suicide. In another city, Special Agent Jake Lovett pays little attention to a man who seems to be a conspiracy nut-until he's found dead. As they pursue their separate investigations, the two cases merge into one bigger crime. Together, they will need to strip away the veneer of false appearances to find the truth buried behind the façade.

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, otherwise known as the Secret City, rose seemingly overnight in 1942, built by the US government. No one was quite sure what its purpose was or where it came from, but there was certainly something going on. Libby Clark, a gutsy Bryn Mawr graduate, is determined to find her place as a scientist in a world where women are thought better suited to housework and marriage.

A missing elderly man shows up dead on his son's front porch, his pockets full of acorns. Pierce isn't certain if she's investigating a murder or one of the strangest natural deaths she's ever encountered. The investigation brings her into contact with the adult children of people with dementia and leads her to a strange remote wonderland. When the missing are found, often questions remain.

In the third book in the Lucinda Pierce mystery series, the detective unravels a labyrinth of evidence to track down a double murderer while exploring the depth of childhood scars and the price of irresponsible parenting. When the victim's son is kidnapped, Pierce's FBI friend Jake Lovett joins in the investigation, helping Pierce cope with two deaths in her own dysfunctional family and a case involving mysticism, warped genetics and an unusual motive for murder. Does everyone hide a dark secret?

Who is killing the leaders of non-profit agencies up and down the East Coast? Lucinda investigates the death of charity worker Sharon Fleming, who was brutally murdered. A note found by her mutilated body bears the words, "I was left behind". Is this a motive for murder? When a series of notes are also left on Lucinda's car windshield, she knows it's personal. Punish the Deed, because no good deed goes unpunished.

Two cases from the past return to haunt Lieutenant Lucinda Pierce.... She helped an investigator to put Martha Sherman behind bars for the murder of her stepdaughter, Emily. Now, Emily's body has been found in the basement of a home filled with the victims of serial killer Mack Rogers. Dismayed, Lucinda reviews the original investigation to uncover where she took the wrong turn to cause a wrongful conviction. While she delves into that case, FBI Special Agent Jake Lovett is tasked with looking into the coming prison release of politician Chris Phillips who just won a victory in appeals court.

One quiet Sunday morning, homicide investigator Lucinda Pierce is called to the scene after a bomb blast rocks a high school, killing a janitor and an unidentified student. But, much to her annoyance, Lucinda is pulled off the case and the FBI and Homeland Security take over. While they seem determined to prove it was an act of terrorism, Lucinda is convinced otherwise and pursues her own investigation—along with FBI agent Jake Lovett, who believes she may be right.