Mary Yoder along with her husband Bill ran a chiropractic clinic in upstate New York. Bill was a bit older and about to retire. Mary was sixty and did the majority of the patient work. They had grown children and their youngest, Adam, was still in the area, going to college and trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He had a longtime girlfriend, Katie, who his parents had hired to work at the clinic as the receptionist and office person.
When Mary came home one day feeling ill, Bill didn't think much of it. But she was so sick by the next morning that he took her to the hospital as a precaution. The doctors admitted her but felt that it was a digestive virus that would quickly run its' course. But Mary didn't get better. She died the next day after coding multiple times.

Her death was perplexing to the doctors and her family was in shock. They quickly agreed to an autopsy to find out what had gone wrong. What the autopsy showed left everyone reeling. Mary Yoder had been poisoned by an obscure drug used to treat gout.

The police immediately started an investigation. Despite attempts to throw them off with anonymous letters, the truth emerged. The poisoner was Katie. She and Adam had broken things off, an occurrence that had happened many times over their relationship but this time Adam was serious about the breakup. Katie had poisoned his mother to pay him back and to try to throw suspicion on him.

The narrator for this book was not my favorite. His voice was wheezy at times and as the book progressed became irritating. However, he read well without stumbling and carried the narration through to its end.

This case happened in 2015. The author carries the case through Katie's trials and talks about the crime, the relationships and the heartache that an obsessed person can cause others as they single-mindedly pursue their goals. There is an active group still convinced that Katie Conley was falsely accused and convicted. The author offered to talk with them to get their side of events but they did not choose to participate in the book. This book is recommended for true crime readers.

I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This audiobook is well written and the characters are described well. This makes you wonder why they did it. This book is about a 3 star listening experience. I think everyone would like listening to this book. It is in stores for $24.99 (USD).

Litercurious Partial Review for We Thought We Knew You

CONCLUSION

We Thought We Knew You by M. William Phelps is not the best of his work. There were a number of times where I found some repetition. The tendency to transcend between one time and another proved to be a little disorientating. Despite that, I enjoyed Phelps unraveling of the conundrum that is: We Thought We Knew You.

One of the reasons that Phelps is a successful writer is he sincerely cares about the victims of the crimes he reports. His success cannot simply be attributed to his excellent skills in writing or his investigative methods. There is a palpable sense of anger and frustration that his subjects have been callously killed. This is borne out by the consistent pattern of his writing style in that he always has the victim as the fulcrum of the story. He consistently regales us with the minutiae of the victims daily lives and their hopes, dreams and vulnerabilities. He paints them in flesh and blood terms as they once were through the written word. This to me, this is what make M. William Phelps work stand out. In the world of true crime, he stands alone and unique in his defense of those who can no longer defend themselves.

I received this and as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for giving me access.

That's it, I think I need to add True Crime to the list of my favorite genres. Phelps does an amazing job of portraying this really sad series of events that lead up to Mary Yoder's death.

Phelps make sense of the mess of information that is presented on all accounts in such a way that you almost forget that this is a case that really happened. I will definitely look for more of his work in the future.

I received an audio ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

<i>We Thought We Knew You</i> is the true story of Mary Yoder's death. Mary, a chiropractor, had always been health conscious. One day, she was vivacious, and then she suddenly became deathly ill, eventually succumbing to her symptoms. Mary's family, husband Bill, son Adam, and daughters Tamryn and Liana, were shocked a few weeks later when an autopsy showed that Mary Yoder had been deliberately poisoned. Police searched for clues to the identity of Mary's killed, considering her husband, her son, and Adam's ex-girlfriend and office manager of the Yoders' chiropractic practice, Katie.

While I was listening to this audiobook, I kept thinking that it sounded like exactly the kind of story that would be on Dateline NBC. Then, toward the end of the book, I learned that they had, in fact, covered this case, too! I really enjoyed the insight into how the police worked the case and determined who had killed Mary Yoder. It was a heartbreaking story, and it baffles my mind that someone could do that to another human. I loved the narration by Danny Campbell. I definitely want to check out more books by M. William Phelps. If you like true crime stories, check this one out!

I struggled with this book. The case was interesting but it took me a good third of the book to get into it. Honestly, I think the narrator was the problem. His voice just grated on me. I mean, he added some emotion to the reading but I think I would have enjoyed the book much more had I read it with my eyeballs.

I'm a huge fan of true crime books and documentaries but I don't think I'd recommend this one. At least not the audiobook.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to give an author I'd not heard of a try.

I loved this book! I’ve seen M. William Phelps on Deadly Women (i.e. the show my husband tells people I watch to get ideas lol) and this was like reading a particularly juicy episode. We were just discussing colchicine poisoning at work not long before I listened to this book (don’t worry, it goes along with my job!) so the Yoder case was also a timely listen. If you’re sensitive to swearing and the like, this may not be the best listen for you, but if you love a good true crime I highly recommend!

I loved this book, which is usually for the books written by M. William Phelps. He is one of my favorite authors. He absolutely did not disappoint with this book. Well written and the storyline, although so sad, was very interesting. I like the way he highlights the victim and the loved ones. I had never heard of this case so it made it even more interesting. The narration was very good, as well. I highly recommend this book!

I was unable to listen to this book all the way through.
The swearing and the situation was not encouraging and although I have read true crime before, I was unable to finish this one.
For someone who is more comfortable with listening to swearing and graphic descriptions about people, it might be worth a shot.

If you are looking for a true-crime mystery that walks you through the fine details to solve a murder, this book is for you. The author shares the perspective and deep personalities of each character while working to solve the murder of Mary Yoder. The family, the coworkers, the secrets, and the perspective of the police throughout the investigation - this book walks through every fine detail until the conviction.

Compelling Read! The author does a great job of letting the reader get to know the main character, Mary Yoder, as well as those in her family. And the tragedy that befalls them. A good read for anyone who enjoys true crime.

One day, Mary Yoder arrives home from her chiropractic practice seriously ill. After spending the entire night sick, her husband, Bill, takes her to the hospital. The doctors think it is just some stomach thing going around until she codes. And codes. And codes again. (I think it ended up being 9 times?!) The Yoder's eldest daughter, Liana, is a doctor and wants to know why her mother's health deteriorated so quickly. After an extended period of time the coroner's office has no answer. On a whim, they go to poison control and ask their opinion. With literally the sample of her blood, COD is determined: colchicine. But was it an accidental poisoning, or murder?

After receiving a tip that Mary Yoder's son, Adam, poisoned and killed his mother, the police bring him in. But they immediately smell set-up and latch on the tipper: Kaitlyn Conley, Adam's ex-girlfriend and receptionist at Mary and Bill's chiropractic practice. What unravels is a tale of manipulation and malice, ending in Kaitlyn murdering Adam's mother as some kind of horrible revenge for being dumped.

I am familiar with M. William Phelps, having seen him on quite a few episodes of my favorite ID show, Deadly Women. (Or as I call it, Bitches Be Crazy. :P) And boy, did this one have a crazy bitch. I have done some questionable-yet-not illegal things when I was younger and dumped. But the laundry list of what Katie does is hard to believe. I sometimes forgot this was non-fiction! I'm glad for the ultimate outcome, but it never fails to amaze me how a person can be absolutely guilty and people still don't believe it. Some of Mary's own sisters did not believe the Katie could have done this.

The narrator on this one was just okay for me. Not great, but not horrible either.

A fast-paced and interesting, stranger-than-fiction story.

3.5 stars!
Mary Yoder passes away suddenly after complaining of severe stomach cramps and intense vomiting. She was the loving mother of three children and married to her husband, Bill, for many years. Together they owned a chiropractor business that prospered. They hired their son Adam, and his girlfriend, Katie, to help with the administrative roles. The hospital asks to perform an autopsy due to the puzzling nature of Mary's death and her family agrees. When they discover that Mary was actually murdered by poison, everyone immediately comes under suspicion. Bill is questioned and Adam is put under a microscope, as well as his girlfriend Katie.

This true crime novel has very detailed insights into the two main suspects lives. Adam and Katie's relationship is put under a microscope as the police comb through their text messages and rocky history. Their toxic relationship is examined as the police try to determine who had the greater motive to kill Adam's innocent mother. At times I did find the insights into Adam and Katie's affairs a little too much. I get that the author was trying to give us the full picture but some of it could have been cut out as a pattern is established early on. That being said, it was really well researched and you can definitely tell that Phelps was thorough. I like how the conclusion to the legal case is actually included because finding out how things are settled is always satisfying. Thanks to @tantoraudio for this ALC!

Thanks to NetGalley & Tantor Audio for providing an advance audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Very interesting story, but Phelps drags the narrative on for a LONG time and highlights weird behaviors of the defendant early on but then never goes back to them (I *really* wanted to know why Adam didn't allow Katie to come to his family functions, but alas, I will never know because it was never revisited after having been mentioned a couple of times in the beginning chapters).

Danny Campbell has an exceedingly raspy voice that makes him seem unsuited to his profession - I looked him up bc at first I figured Phelps was narrating the story (I looked him up too but he's only in his 50s) only to discover he too is not the ancient mariner he sounds like on this recording. The creaky quality of his voice was distracting, and there are times when he puts the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble. It's an odd quirk.

Not a bad story by any means, and the subject is an interesting portrait in sociopathy. It feels best suited to a pulpy mass market rather than an audio selection.

I thought the narrator was great but the book was lacking. I also felt as if things were all over the place

I thought it was great!! The story really sticks with you and is wonderfully written. It’s creepy and keeps you listening to know what will happen next. Highly recommend.

Mary Yoder was a beloved fixture of her community as a chiropractor along with her husband. She kept a strict routine, was close to her children, and seemingly had never done anything cruel. It was a major surprise when in July 2015, she took ill and was hospitalized with vomiting, sweating, and got weaker and weaker. What was assumed to be food poisoning quickly turned life threatening and she quickly passed away.  Baffled, her family began to grieve, only to be given the startling news that their beloved Mary had been murdered by being deliberately poisoned with colchicine. Pretty soon it became pretty clear that her son Adam's brief illness from a few month before may not have been a food poisonings either. Popular and well-loved office assistant Kaitlyn Conley, Adam's ex-girlfriend, quickly became a suspect. 

Narrator Danny Campbell tells the story with her soft and folksy voice, giving the leader the full power of how destructive and painful this was for the Yoder family. The book by M. William Phelps is full of facts and  acts as an interesting murder mystery, but it's Campbell's narration that makes it personal. We Thought We Knew You is at times hard to stomach for the listener, especially when one questions how someone could hurt someone as kind and dedicated as Mary Yoder.  This audiobook is one where listeners will find themselves not wanting to hit pause once they hit play. 

We Thought We Knew You is now available in audiobook or book format.

I only really got into audiobooks this year when I realize during early lockdown in February that I wasn't a major fan of being left alone with my thoughts when those thoughts were focused on a pandemic. I was therefore also very excited to hear NetGalley branched out into audiobooks, as it opened up whole new avenues for me. We Thought We Knew You was one of my first forays and I am here to discuss my mixed feelings. I will give a warning now that I will be getting into mild spoiler territory below. It will be marked clearly, but consider this warning #1.Thanks to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

True Crime is a tricky topic. It is quickly exploitative and sensationalist, sweeping aside the fact that these cases are about real people who have family members still struggling to understand. In my True Crime forays I have always searched for authors, and podcasts, who focus on victims rather than killers, who avoid the glitz and glamour and rather focus on the more humane side. In his epilogue Phelps also comments on the importance to put the victim in the centre, to avoid making a celebrity out of the killer. Sadly I don't think he entirely succeeds himself.

Mary Yoder was killed in the summer of 2015 from Colchicine poisoning. That she had been poisoned did not become clear until shortly after her death, at which point the police begins to investigate. As the blurb states, there were various suspects at the start but they honed in on a specific suspect towards the end of the year. In We Thought We Knew You, Phelps digs further into the Yoder family background, especially the story of how Bill and Mary met and began their family life together. He frequently makes time jumps, suddenly discussing their university years before jumping back to her painful death, after which we jump ahead and then back again. The back and forth is quite confusing and I at times found it hard to follow what exactly had been explained already and where in the timeline we were. This became especially difficult while Phelps explained the relationship between Mary's son, Adam Yoder, and his on-and-off-again girlfriend Kaitlyn Conley.

Although I enjoy the True Crime genre, We Thought We Knew You truly did not hit the spot. What I found off-putting about We Thought We Knew You was the tone of the story itself. I will be entering solid spoiler territory here in regards to the Yoder case, so perhaps skip to the next paragraph, although I do think the below comments may be useful for any female readers considering the audiobook especially. Phelps establishes early on who is guilty for the crime. Although he perfunctorily explores other avenues, he continues to return to Kaitlyn Conley and her 'talent for manipulation and a history of bizarre, rage-fueled behavior', as the blurb puts it. Although We Thought We Knew You gives the reader plenty of evidence as to why she is guilty, it felt like Phelps had a personal grudge against Conley. (Again, spoiler warning!) During her relationship with Adam Yoder she accuses him of rape. Whether this is true or not is hard for me to say, although Phelps clearly believes it to not be true. The way he speaks of it, however, and the way he questions Conley's behavior around this alleged event may be intensely triggering for anyone who has experienced sexual abuse. I often found myself cringing at Phelps' tone and it was even harder to avoid in an audiobook. Then there is also the sweeping aside of Adam Yoder committing statutory rape, owing Conley roughly $12,000 and admitting to hitting her in court. Due to the evidence laid out, I am pretty convinced that Kaitlyn Conley is indeed the one who murdered Mary Yoder, but God, Phelps' tone felt seconds away from screeching at times. He makes it very clear in his epilogue he is not interested in any kind of feedback, but maybe me laying this out will help someone make a more conscious choice before engaging with his book. I'd also highly recommend to Tantor Audio to include a trigger warning to their audiobooks if it includes this kind of vitriol. Things can be skipped or read past in a physical book and any True Crime reader will expect "mature themes". That's not always possible in audio, especially if you're not expecting it. I'd have preferred not to have Danny Campbell yell the words 'slut' or 'whore' at me, quite honestly.

Ok, back to safe territory here! The audiobook was narrated by Danny Campbell, who definitely brings a passion to the project. The difficult thing with True Crime is that it does require a lot of pathos and I imagine it is also harder to "do voices" for real people. Campbell does his best to differentiate between when the text is quoting the involved parties and when it is Phelps narrating. As I am used to hearing my True Crime from mostly female podcasters I did have to get used to a male narrator initially, but quickly found myself engaging with him. The issues I have highlighted above can not be laid at Campbell's doorstep, as he simply read what Phelps put there. To return to the narrative itself, it is very repetitive at times and information keeps being presented as if it is new, which made me occasionally question whether I had accidentally skipped back. Although I was very interested in the case, I can't say that I found listening to We Thought We Knew You to be a fun or interesting experience. These issues are almost completely due to the book itself, not the audio execution of it.

We Thought We Knew You was sadly not what I hoped for it to be. As True Crime is a very sensitive subject and genre, it really comes down to finding the authors or creators who work for you and approach it in a way that feels genuine. Sadly, M. William Phelps isn't that man for me.

Dear M. William, today I will give you 4 out of 5 murdered birds for We Thought We Knew You. I received this audiobook as an advanced copy through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I saw that it was about crime and I love crime so it was a no brainer. I had NEVER heard of this case before and so it was all new to me. This was a bizarre crime, like there's no way it was made up. It was very well researched and the facts were presented. My only hold up was there were quite a few times where things felt repetitive... I'd read another one from William Phelps after this. It was interesting, but not my favorite crime. Is it weird to have a favorite crime? Yeah. I know. It's fine. This one launches on December 29th 2020.

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I really enjoyed this true crime audiobook from M William Phelps about the death of Mary Yoder. From the beginning of the book it was clear who the author was saying perpetrated the crime. With each passing chapter I expected to hear a twist.

The audiobook is presented and written very much in the style of a podcast. As an avid listener of true crime podcasts I really enjoyed this. As it allowed the story to be developed in more detail.

I would recommend the book to any true crime fan.