I struggled with this one. First, this is a story that one, I haven’t heard of before and two, is actually really fascinating! You can tell it was really well researched, but it just didn’t draw me in like these stories usually do.

I will say some parts were drier than others. I really did find myself intrigued by this case but overall, this wasn’t a book that I loved.

If you enjoy true crime stories, especially those with historical intrigue, then I would recommend picking this one up but warning, it can be a dense read at times.

Thank you so much Netgalley and the publisher for letting me give this one a try. I will definitely be on the lookout for more about this creepy story in the future.

DNF at 52%. At this point, I know everything I needed to know about this case, and it wasn't interesting enough to keep going and rehash it all through the court cases. This is my third read by Olsen, and while he picks interesting subject matter, his downfall is that he doesn't know how to cut it off and where to leave it. All of them have been over-told by at least 100 pages. Stick to what's relevant, stop repeating facts, and the reads would be so much better.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and I have chosen to post a review.

I had gotten the overall picture of what had happened by watching videos. No short video could do the topic justice as this book has. It draws you in, leading you along, with unexpected turns to look at past events, before taking back off towards the conclusion. I like that there are short, but direct quotes which help remind us of the reality of events, and the participation of individuals. America was very different back then, yet I fear this sort of thing might still happen even in the age of social media and cell phones.

Starvation Heights is dark, disturbing and compelling but what makes it especially disconcerting is that real people were involved. The sanitarium in Olalla, Washington which housed patients of Dr. Linda Hazzard and her husband over a hundred years ago burned to the ground several years ago, taking with it evidence and memories. Everyone involved then is dead. Now it is the stuff of legends and mystery. Drawing from copious research including photos, author Gregg Olson brings this heinous story to life, one which I did not know existed. I thank him for that.

British heiress sisters Claire and Dora Williamson were so close that they decided not to marry as they did not wish anything to become a thorn in their relationship. They were open to improving their health and could not resist the thought of "fasting for the cure of disease" to rid their minds and bodies completely of anything detrimental. After journeying to America they were fed lie after lie and manipulated like crazy. But the sisters were so keen to begin treatment they overlooked what should have been red flags. Their trust in Dr. Hazzard did not waver and only grew. She was kind (!), motherly and perceived as trustworthy but her husband was not. The sisters began treatment immediately and it became apparent the cure was not helping but worsening. Still, they stuck to the daily internal baths, pummelling and tomato broth as they were hopeful for their futures. Interestingly, Dr. Hazzard's patients were all wealthy. Wonder why?

Patients began dying and signed their financial lives away to the Hazzards. Some realized the trouble they were in, others were resigned. But all suffered slowly at the hands of this detestable couple who serial killed patients under their care, mentally and physically, under terrible pretenses and brainwashing. I like that the author includes what happened to the patients, especially the sisters, and the Hazzards in the criminal investigation and deaths.

If True Crime intrigues you, do not miss this book. Details can be difficult to read...this is a true story...but it is an important one. The more I learn about such stories the more I wish to learn.

My sincere thank you to Thread Books and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this stellar book.

Overall it's an interesting yet creepy true story about Dr. Linda B. Hazzard, a fasting specialist, and Dora and Claire Williamson, her patients. The book is broken down into 3 parts. The sisters getting to the doctor and recirving the treatment, Claire's death and the making of a trial, and finally the trial itself.
Sprinkled in are a ton of detailed sub stories of other characters in relation to either the Dr. or the Williamson sisters. In fact, there is an abundance of extra characters with a lot of noise. It took me a while to get through.
Having read this author's fiction piece before, I'm left with the same feeling of confusion reading this one. It just feels like too much is packed into one book. Although this is a true story, the amount of detail described in most of the scenes is unlikely. I have gone on a search of a documentary about Starvation Heights, have not found one yet.
Thank you Netgalley, publisher, and author for the ARC.

Starvation Heights is the true story of Linda Hazzard and her outrageous methods of "treating" patients in 1911. How was she able to persuade so many people to her methods in search for a cure?
Linda Hazzard believed that fasting and enemas could rid the body of disease but when patients pass away from her treatments-is it considered murder?
Linda always seemed to have an answer for everyone-whether friend or foe. She was not able to take accountability for her actions or express empathy- neither of which would be expected in a doctor.

While all genres of writing are important- I had to keep telling myself this was true crime (not suspense/thriller, etc). While Gregg Olsen is know for research, details and commitment to true crime- Starvation Heights moved too slow for my liking. I felt that the story was very drawn out and lost my engagement.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Thread Books and the author for an eARC of Starvation Heights in exchange for my honest review.

Starvation Heights, is the story of Linda Hazzard; a self-proclaimed healer who used starvation techniques to heal her patients, Exhaustively researched, the unbelievable story of Hazzard, her family, and her victims is ghastly and shocking. Starvation Heights is also about a much younger America, struggling in its early stages of a system of justice, gender equality, and regulated health care. Just 100 years ago, victims of crimes could be required to pay for their legal trials. Although Gregg Olsen includes background and other information. I found it interesting and helpful to understand the culture of the early 1900's. Hazzard's murder trial reads like fiction. Easy 4 stars and recommendations to lovers of true crime reads. This is a good one. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Starvation Heights.

As a Gregg Olsen fan and a history lover, this book felt very promising to me. Unfortunately I found the chapters to drag on and the narrative to be dull. I struggled to stay invested in the story. Olsen chose a unique story that needed to be told. Sadly this book was not for me. I’ll continue to seek out Olsen’s future work in hopes of redemption of this book.

Who was Linda Burfield Hazzard? Was she a quack or a legitimate doctor? Was her method of treatment maligned because she was a woman or because it was dangerous? Was she a martyr for her cause or was she an opportunist? In the book Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest, Gregg Olsen delves into the complex character of Mrs. Hubbard. Eventually, her treatment of her patients and her devious pilfering of their possessions will come under scrutiny after years of being ignored.

Mrs. Hazzard believed that all diseases of the mind and body could be remedied by cleansing the digestive system through fasting and enemas. She was considered by her followers to be a fasting specialist, a savior. Her patients subsided on spoonsful of vegetable broth, and daily enemas that often lasted for hours. Supposedly, some were cured by this process which often lasted for weeks. However, for British sisters Dorothea and Claire Williamson, it proved to be deadly for one, and life-altering for the other. Eventually, many other victims—both dead and alive—would be found.

Mrs./Dr. (she wasn’t a licensed physician) Hazzard is a fascinating woman. She saw herself as being superior to others, a leader of a movement; anyone who questioned her was jealous, ill-informed, or out to get her. She could never admit to being wrong, or that her behaviors impacted others negatively. She had a total lack of empathy: if a patient wasn’t improving, it was the patient’s fault. If one were to give her a psychological evaluation, she could be seen as having an antisocial personality disorder, as well as narcissistic personality disorder.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sections that concerned Mrs. Hazzard: her upbringing, marriages, wherewithal, spirit, vision, evilness, delusions, and psychoses. I would gladly read a book that centered on her. Although the building of a case to bring her to justice was interesting and satisfying, I wanted more of her.

I would like to that NetGalley and Crown Publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Yet another true crime, serial killer book that I loved! Gregg Olsen did a superb job again just like with American Mother. The research is spot on and extensive and I'm not sure anything could have been done better!

3.5 rounded up
After reading Gregg Olsen's best-seller, If You Tell, I eagerly dove into this book. The subject matter is horrifying and the way that Olsen tells the story would delight and intrigue readers who love dramatic historical fiction. Overall, I found the book to be really slow read. Normally I am an extremely fast reader but I found I struggled with this one. The pace felt slow and I found myself wanting to skip ahead to get through sections. I found myself Googling the events alongside reading and was fascinated by the trust these people put in such an extreme treatment. I ended up not finishing the book. While I'd say this book wasn't for me, I can see why others who enjoy this style of book would really like it. Gregg Olsen is a great story teller and I will absolutely read other books by him. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a copy of this book.

Starvation Heights is a story about a woman who has a “clinic” where she practices the act of starvation in order to help cure her patients of illnesses. I found this story to be very interesting, and I couldn’t put it down.

This book was a difficult read, not because of the dialect or writing style, but because of the contents that it contained. Although this was a true story, it read way easier than I expected it too in the aspect of keeping me engaged and entertained from page one. It definitely was eye opening to read something based on the horrors that this women caused, but I do recommend this book to anyone who is interested in true crime and the like.

Thank you so much for an opportunity to read an ARC of this book! I was absolutely fascinated by the topic, but I have to be honest, I feel like this book could have been half as long and still gotten the point across. I found myself skipping chapters in order to slog through some of the information, primarily when it got to the court case. Sadly, the important bits kind of get overshadowed by the minutiae that is discussed.

The beginning portion of the book that talks about Clair and Dora and how they came to know about Linda Hazzard's methods, how they made the decision to participate in this fasting cure, etc. is thoroughly interesting. The methods that Dr. Hazzard uses are bizarre and anyone on the outside would clearly be concerned about what was occurring, but the fact that they were all-in for this was mind blowing. The outcome of their decisions is tragic, and learning how much they were deceived by Linda and Sam is disgusting. The fact that she continued to practice without a license, continually getting arrested with a minor slap on the wrist, after killing and stealing from her patients is awful.

Overall, the book's premise is truly an interesting one, and I do give Olsen credit for his research. No stone was left unturned in discovering every detail about Starvation Heights and the tragedies that occurred there, but some editing down to the most important details would have been beneficial.

This book is a fact-packed true crime story about a ‘doctor’ who took advantage of her patients and ultimately starved them to death. Linda Hazzard takes British citizens Claire and Dora into her care with a plan to isolate them and take them for all they are worth. This book takes us back to the early 1900’s to see how the world became acquainted with the horrors that happened at the place known as ‘Starvation Heights’.

I enjoyed this book to a certain extent; the story was really interesting and the writing was actually very smooth for a historical nonfiction. There was, however, a lot to read. The story is told over the span of a couple of years but it feels as if it's a 10 year recounting. There were quite a few parts where I felt it just wasn’t adding anything to the telling of the story and just felt like filler. The author did a good job of finding a ton of information surrounding the story but it wasn’t all necessary to tell the story.

I do enjoy the author’s writing style for true crime because it doesn’t feel like a fact sheet for you to follow. They tell the story and present us with the ‘behind the scenes’ of a crime.

The story of 'Dr' Hazzard and her patients is gripping and so unusual. It was difficult to read about their ordeals, but it is essential to do so.

Well written and engaging, this story of manipulation, cruelty and frankly, torture is likely to stay with me.

(Posted to goodreads)

Grab a glass of wine and buckle up.. this one is a doozy.

If you’re like me, you might have heard a podcast about Dr. Hazzard, the woman who starved her patients to death and stole from them. There’s a huge difference in hearing a thirty minute podcast and the excruciating detail laid out in this book. If you’re into dark true crime, this is the book for you!

This is once again told in Gregg Olsen’s signature factual but compelling prose; told so seamlessly it almost seems like fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy ahead of this book’s re-release. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book is well written and so interesting, but at 37% I gave up because it just dragged on and on. There was much empty information that could've been cut from the book to make it more engaging. I hate to rate it low, but maybe true crime isn't for me.

In 1911, British heiresses Claire and Dora Williamson decide to undergo the "fasting treatment" under the supervision of Dr. Linda Hazzard - but everything is not quite as it seems, and the sisters soon find themselves trapped in nightmarish circumstances.

Between a new job, NaNoWriMo, and an impending move, I've done very little reading this past November. So I figured a nice way to get back on the wagon would be to break out this true crime tale of a very bizarre crime.

I was already acquainted with Linda Hazzard and Starvation Heights through the podcast Stuff You Missed In History Class, but the episode was short enough and the listening so long ago that much of what presented in this book was quite new to me.

The story is such a strange and sensational one that it makes for a fascinating read in itself. But Olsen's writing, with its deft character sketches and its rampant tension, goes a long way toward making it eerie as well.

The first half of the book deals with how Claire and Dora fall under the spell of Hazzard and plunge straight into physical and mental deterioration, which of course ends in tragedy. The second half deals with the efforts to persecute Hazzard, including some truly strange backstory and a dramatic trial. Despite the fairly complex sequence of events and the number of deaths, I found the story fairly easy to keep track of.

However, I wished we got more backstory about Linda Hazzard and how she came to the place in which she ended up. Was everything about scamming people out of money, or did some of it have to do with a thirst for recognition? Did she really believe in her fasting cure, and to what extent? Until she pops up in relation to Samuel Hazzard in Chicago, information seems quite thin on the ground. I wish we had understood her better, considering she's the main villain of this whole story.

Starvation Heights Review!!

Thank you so much Thread Books and Netgalley for this gifted copy, in exchange for an honest review! Starvation Heights comes out 19 January 2023!

I read If You Tell a couple of years back and really enjoyed that true crime, so I figured I’d give this one a try as well! I’m actually kind of surprised I have never heard of this lady and her starving sanitarium before. This book was messed up. 😬 Starvation Heights was a 3.5/5 ⭐️ for me!! I have never read a true crime where the killer starves their patients. And the crazy thing about this one was at first the patients were willing participants of the treatment!! While this was just a completely shocking read, it was also pretty slow, which is the reason for the 3.5/5 stars. I do recommend if you are looking for a unique true crime!