Strong Writing, Great Story
Review by Kim Cantrell
In 1991, William Edward “Ed” Dossett was a well-liked yet aggressive Knox County District Attorney in Knoxville, Tennessee. Ed wasn’t a perfect man, considering his philandering ways, but he was one heck of a DA. And since a lot of people found his wife, Raynella Bernardene Large Dossett, a native of nearby Oak Ridge, to be somewhat unlikable, it was easy to look past the mistresses.
By the middle of 1992, however, Ed Dossett was stricken with cancer and every day was becoming a struggle to survive. Friends and family could only watch as Ed, once strong and valiant, withered away before their eyes. They knew his days were numbered but they were shocked when those days came to a sudden, unexpected end.
According to Raynella, on July 9, 1992, Ed said he wanted to go out with her to feed the cattle. Suddenly something spooked the herd. Amid the commotion, Raynella ran to the house to get a gun. She said when she returned, Ed was lying in the gateway of the fence. She assumed he had been trampled by the scared livestock.
Many were leary of Raynella’s story, but an autopsy confirmed her story. However, years later, following the insane actions of the medical examiner and the criminal charges that followed, his professional findings would be strongly questioned.
It would take fifteen years and the death of Raynella’s second husband, David Leath, for the rumblings to explode. While on the surface David’s death appeared to be a suicide, it was soon declared a homicide when detectives found evidence of three shots and forensics revealed one of those shots would have been fired by a dead man.
There’s a common saying, “Lightening never strikes the same place twice.” But obviously Raynella Dossett Leath thought, with her political clout, she could beat that theory.
She was wrong. Very, very wrong.
True crime veteran author Diane Fanning recounts the case of State of Tennessee vs. Raynella Dossett Leath is her newest book Her Deadly Web: The True Story of a Former Nurse and The Strange and Suspicious Deaths of Her Two Husbands.
While some of Fanning’s books have been labeled overly dramatic (and it’s not something I necessarily agree with), I found this one to be one of her best written books to date. It was thorough and accurate, sans melodrama, and, with the exception of a couple of chapters, was an interesting story without being weighted down by legalese and boring courtroom scenes.
If there was any portion of the book I would take exception to, it would be Fanning’s afterward where she pronounces her opinion about justice inequality based not one gender or race but on financial status. I don’t entirely disagree with her, but I don’t believe the truth is nearly as black and white as she believes. But of course, it’s an opinion and Fanning is entitled to hers just as I’m entitled to mine; and, therefore, it doesn’t come into play in my rating Her Deadly Web with 5 out of 5 stars.
It is truly a fantastic read, so put it on your list.
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