"The Good-Bye Door" by Diana Britt Franklin

You know, I have read some strange fiction in my time, and I have read some strange real life tales.

After reading Franklin's book about Anna Marie Hahn, I kept thinking about how truth is stranger than fiction.

First off, Diana Britt Franklin is a great writer. Her book is well researched, and she notes her sources. Still, "The Good-Bye Door" reads like a very well written fiction story. You will read it in a short period of time.

Anna Marie Hahn is one of the first well documented female serial killers around. She pretty much hunted down elderly men, poisoned them, and then tried to get there money.

Hahn comes up with many stories after confronted, but none of her stories add up. The entire time she tries to come across as just a nice person concerned about the health of her friends.

In 1938, she becomes the first female executed in Ohio's electric chair.

Author Diana Britt Franklin does a great job of describing Hahn and the other characters in the book. She includes a follow up section in the back telling what became of the judge, lawyers, Hahn's husband, and her son.

Oddly, Hahn's husband lived a very long life, living until 1989! According to Franklin, he does not bring up his late wife ever again after the execution.

Hahn's young son disappears from the pages of history. There are a few rumours, but nothing else.

Franklin covers Hahn's life, the trial, and towards the end of the book, she covers the execution. It is dark.

There is a strange twist at the end, as Hahn leaves a letter for her lawyer after her death!