A Spokane woman whose daughter's death is the focus of Ann Rule's latest book claimed a victory this week in Lewis County. 

The manner of death on Cheney High graduate Ronda Reynolds' death certificate will be changed to “undetermined” from “suicide” after Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod filed the necessary paperwork with the state Public Heath Department, which will formalize the ruling, the Chronicle of Centralia, Wash., reports.

A jury ruled in November 2009 that a Reynolds' death certificate was wrong, but the coroner at the time, Terry Wilson, refused to change. it. Wilson did not seek reelection last year, and McLeod told the Chronicle that he felt the new coroner had a duty to correct the certificate.

Reynolds, 33, was found dead of a gunshot wound to her head in her bedroom closet in Toledo, Wash., in 1998. Her death was ruled a suicide, but Thompson (left) never believed it.

Best-selling author Ann Rule’s newest book, “In the Still of the Night: The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds and Her Mother’s Unceasing Quest for the Truth” looks at Reynolds’ death and what Rule calls a botched investigation by authorities too quick to believe an estranged husband’s claim of suicide.

Read more from the Centralia Chronicle by clicking the link below.

Past coverage:

Oct. 15: State trooper's death focus of Ann Rule book

Ronda Reynolds graduated from Cheney High School in 1983 and enjoyed quick success as a State Patrol trooper in Western Washington.

But by 1998, her marriage was ending and she eagerly planned a trip to Spokane for Christmas to visit her mother and grandmother.  She bought a plane ticket and arranged a ride, but Reynolds, 33, (right) never arrived at the Spokane International Airport. She was found dead in her Toledo, Wash., home of a gunshot wound to the head. 

The Lewis County coroner ruled her death a suicide, but Reynolds’ mother, Spokane resident Barb Thompson, didn’t believe it. Thompson (pictured above) worked for years to get the case reopened, and in 2009, a Lewis County jury overturned the coroner’s decision.

Now one of the nation’s most prolific crime writers is telling the story.

Read my full story here.

True-crime author Ann Rule will introduce her new book Saturday at Auntie’s Bookstore in downtown Spokane. 

“In the Still of the Night: The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds” chronicles the unsolved case of a Spokane native and Washington State Patrol trooper who died of a gunshot wound to the head in 1998.

Her death was ruled a suicide, but her mother, Spokane resident Barb Thompson, never believed it.

Thompson tried for years to reopen the case. Then last year, a Lewis County jury reviewew the coroner’s suicide ruling and judge ordered it reversed. Thompson is accompanying Rule on the book tour.

The event on Saturday is free and begins at 2 p.m. Look for a bigger story on Rule’s book later this week.