In 1910 Linda Burrfield Hazzard is the foremost Fasting Specialist in Tacoma. She advertises herself as an expert in fasting & dietic care, which can be utilised as the cure for any ailment, mental, physical, and moral.


Wealthy British heiresses Dora & Claire Williamson are living in America when they discover one of Hazzard’s books. Becoming enthralled by the concepts and having some minor illness, they decide to write to the specialist for advice. By 1911 both women have agreed to go to her sanitarium - Wilderness Heights for intensive treatment to be transformed into peak physical health.


Once under Hazzard’s care for some time, the specialist began to tell many of her patients that she should be responsible for storing their valuables and land deeds for safekeeping, She was also in charge of their communications, essentially cutting them off from the outside world and taking charge of all property and affairs.

Whilst this is obviously an excellently researched book, retelling the devastating stories of people under the care of Linda Hazzard. I feel like it is much longer than necessary with quite a few inane details and repeats included. In my opinion it would be better if it was edited down to at most 2/3 the length.


The narrator is reasonably good, but has some rather questionable accents.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!

I really was looking forward to this book, and really wanted to enjoy it. I've always liked medical histories and true crime, and thought this might be a perfect mix of the two. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be annoyingly amateurish and tedious. It read like someone badly imitating Truman Capote. Unfortunately, I won't be recommending this one.

It is hard to believe that this occurred in America and continued to occur for years! Dr. Hazzard starved her patients and kept them prisoners to obtain their wealth.

This is a case that was not brought to light until 2 citizens of Britain were brought under her care and one of them died. These were wealthy sisters and it is amazing what Dr. Hazzard did to these women. And they were not the only ones!

I learned a great deal about the victims but there was not a lot about Dr. Hazzard and her background. I wanted to know more. She was a fascinating woman. And how she came up with this plan is beyond comprehension. The author does not cover this and I just wanted more!

Stacey Glemboski is an excellent narrator. Very matter of fact!

Need a good true crime you just won’t believe…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this audiobook from the publisher for a honest review.

I enjoy reading Gregg Olsen books. This one was interesting but took a while to grab me. I already knew some of the story and do think it was told in an interesting way, but I would have enjoyed a more thorough look at Hazzard right away to grab attention.

Deadly Cure

Linda Burfield Hazzard had no medical training but she starts a fasting diet and obtains a license in the state of Washington. This fasting diet will soon become a sensational trial.

Two British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, bought into the fasting diet and went to the unfinished sanatorium in the pine filled mountains of Washington. The two sisters soon were undergoing evasive treatments and a starvation diet. Claire would die and the Dora would barely escape with her life.

Dora goes on with the British consul and the lawyer Mr. Kelly to take Linda to court for the death of Claire due to Linda's starvation fasting diet.

The story unfolds of this horrible fasting treatment. The way that Linda not only serves very little time for murder, but comes back and builds the sanatorium in the same town on the same spot. She is arrested several times after that but always is let go and goes about her fasting diet and running her sanatorium.

The ending is fitting for this lady and the damage she does to others. I cannot believe how the state of Washington let this woman get by with so much. Since this is a true story it was truly a sad one.

She was a murderer doing her deed in plain sight and being allowed to do so. She was doing it to gain the funds and property of those unfortunate souls that bought into her fasting diet until it was too late and they were trapped, too ill to do anything, too ill to escape.

It really surprised me to find out that she so charmed people that they still supported her when they were dying because they were being starved to death. They still supported her even when they had lost loved ones to her diet. She charmed the people, the community and the government.

The narrator did a great job the voice was easy to understand and pleasant to listen to.

Thanks to Gregg Olsen for researching and writing this story, to Stacey Glemboski for doing a good job of narrating the audio book, to Thread publishing for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me a copy to listen to and review.

Starvation Heights tells the story of “Dr” Linda Hazzard who advocated a starvation cure to heal what ails you. While I was already familiar with the story of her “cure”, I was exposed only through brief stories on different true crime podcasts. Gregg Olson provides an excellently researched and detailed account of Mrs. Hazzard’s journey and the sisters who ultimately helped expose the cure to the world. Its such a compelling story, I could not stop listening.

I have never heard of “Starvation Heights” or the fasting diets in early 1900s. I find it interesting that 100+ years later we still do a type of fasting diets.

I can’t imagine the pain that the sisters Clara and Dora went thru. They were literally prisoners at what they thought would be a health getaway for some minor ailments they were having.

I’m like Miss Hazzard was found guilty bc man what a horrible person!

I did find at times the trial part felt a bit slow but otherwise was enjoyable. I would have liked more accounts of people having been at Starvation Heights but then remember there aren’t many as really no one made it out alive.

I thought the narrator Stacey Glemboski did a great job and will be checking out her other work.

Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen
The chilling true story of the doctor who starved her patients to death

Thank you NetGalley, the author, and Bookouture for this audio ARC!

What a fascinating story this true crime was. Be ready for a wild and chilling ride.
What a piece of history this is..
If you love true crimes, you'll definitely like this.

First of all the two sister were so foolish. Maybe am looking at this with twenty-first century eyes, so i might not be entirely fair, but I just couldn't understand and get over the foolishness of the two sisters, as much as I fell sorry for them.

Ive been told and seen people had some very peculiar ideas about medicine in the past, but I truly can't get my mind around this one. I'm still dumbstruck.
So many people were affected by this evil woman.

And to think that after everything people still supported Linda and the aftermath of the case gives me chill.

This was excellent and i just couldn't put it down. Every person in this book came to life.

This could have been a 5⭐but after halfway through, during The trial part, it became a bit tedious for me.

Though some people may enjoy that section of the story.. the trial bit i mean, i still think it could have been pared down.

Overall I enjoyed listening to this book.
The narrator did an Amazing job, wow. Stacey Glemboski ❤️

Unbelievable story of the death of Claire Williamson at the hands of a supposed fasting guru, Linda Hazzard. The most shocking part-it’s the complete horrifying truth!

I was so disturbed by what happened to poor Claire and her sister as it is expertly and clearly detailed but what struck me more were those who still supported Linda and the aftermath of the case.

I did get lost in some of the court hearings, though, detailed and informative but drawn out.

The story is laid out beautifully in showing the risk two sisters take when trusting a seemingly caring woman, who sadly has other plans at play.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy of the Starvation Heights audiobook.
This true crime novel is about the wealth sisters Claire and Dora Williamson that seek out Dr. Linda Hazzard to heal them of their ailments. They undergo an extreme regimen of fasting and invasive procedures only further deteriorating their health, resulting in Claire’s death. Dora is then on a mission to retrieve belongings and justice for her sister after being rescued. The premise of this novel was indeed interesting, I had never heard of this before coming across this title. I would recommend it to fellow readers.

Disturbing story. As with the previous book I read by Olsen I feel like there is too slow a build up. Howver, it was interesting and a story I didn't know about before I would recommend.

“Claire and Dorothea are ill because they could afford to be ill ”

QUICK RECAP 👀
Wealthy sisters Claire and Dora Williamson heard of Dr. Linda Hazzard through her book on fasting. They believed their “ailments” could be cured by this “renowned” specialist. They travelled to Dr. Hazards Institute of Natural Therapeutics. These sisters believed they would be receiving to tier medical attention. Instead it so worse than they could have ever imagined. After the death of Claire and Dora being rescued, Dora insisted on Justice for her sister.

FINAL THOUGHTS 💭
Thank you to NetGalley for this copy of the Starvation Heights audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
Wow, I had no idea about this case. Even though it happened over a hundred years ago I feel for these sisters. But it also makes me think of all these “specialists” today who keep popping up, as well as these health and life coaches from these MLM communities. Although it’s not to the extent of this woman, but it makes you see things a little differently.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced audiobook edition for my review!

I should have looked at how long this book was before I requested it. Here I am, listening away, thinking "I've listened to a good chunk of this already!" Then I look at the app and....11 hours left?? How?

This tale is horrifying, and I admire Dora and Margaret for their persistence in escaping and pursuing justice against this awful human. Linda Hazzard was so incredibly manipulative, and it's wild how she managed to brainwash people into thinking they were getting better as they starved to death.

Dora's most telling quote - "And now she sits there and acts as though she did nothing wrong. Her defiance is nearly as detestable as her crimes."

This book is written in a style which is easy to follow and reads like a narrative, so it doesn't get boring like some nonfiction might...to a point.

It is just so. so. long. My interest waned around 50% of the way through. At this point, I had the majority of the information, and a long time was spent going through the legal proceedings. I found all of these details repetitive, muddled, and confusing. I feel like I could have skipped ahead an hour or two and not have missed out on much. I ended up finishing it because I wanted to get the credit for it toward my book challenge after so much time invested....but I was so tempted to give up. I was just so bored.

Overall: Good book, could do with a lot of editing.

As a sidenote: The narrator has a nice voice, but her English accent is not great. You can tell she's an American trying to do an accent. It's not horrible, it's just a small thing that bugged me.

This is classified perfectly, as a True Crime. Yes a True Crime that any individual would have to read this boring piece of "work". Literally So bored. The idea was intriguing as I am a dietitian and there are some MDs that use medical fasting to heal people, but Dr. Hazzard takes it to extremes and many of her patients end up dead. I really was intrigued by the idea behind it, but why oh why Mr Olsen did you feel you needed to drag out this retelling for 500 pages??
There was so much repetition, the writing was very choppy and the story was not succinct at all. It read like someone did a Meta analysis of the topic, reading hundred of articles about Dr Hazzard, all of which include variations of the same story and not much order....just boring chaos.
I suggest if you find the topic intriguing, do yourself a favor and just read the 1 page wikipedia article.

Thank you netgalley for this advanced copy audio edition, I was not influenced in anyway for this honest review
-

This book was amazing. The desperate, sad, upsetting, win, loss, anger, happiness. Kinda makes you wonder what the desperate were really seeking and why would they let this woman manipulate to the point they lost control of everything. I'm grateful people stood there and continued to push for punishment even if it was a short. I recommend this book if anyone like true crime.

You will never be more thankful for the medical malpractice protections we have now than after you read Gregg Olsen's Starvation Heights. The negligence, ignorance, and even downright malice at times of "Dr." Linda Burfield Hazzard is chilling. I wish I could say this book is fiction but this is one of the times truth is more horrifying than fiction.
The main focus of the book, set in the early 1900s, is sisters Clare and Dora Williamson, one of who you will learn was starved to death by the "Doctor" and the other nearly. Nearly two dozen other victims met the same fate at the Hazzard Institute/Sanitorium. Hazzard couldn't have done it alone though - equally culpable were her husband, staff, and even the local funeral home who helped her cover her misdeeds, all to acquire some of the wealth of the "victims".
Olsen does a great job recording the lives of the Williamson sisters and what led them into Hazzard's clutches and thankfully, how one managed to escape to bring her to justice. The reader will also learn about Linda and her husband before, during, and after the trial (don't be surprised to learn they were already rotten to the core), as well as other players who were witness to these happenings.
I did find, at times, that all the court details, witnesses, and dates seem to run together but I praise Olsen for being so thorough in his research so as to bring this story to light. This book needed to be written and I'm glad it has been and further I am grateful it is now an audio book for people on the go.
Thanks to NetGalley and Storyfire Ltd for an advance copy of the audiobook.

Fascinating story of two sisters in the 1910s who likely suffer from Munchausen syndrome and have the money to seek out whatever treatments they fancy, so they travel to America to seek the guidance of "Doctor" Hazzard, a starvation specialist.
Based on the title of the book, I expected a little more time spent on more of Hazzard's patients, and the lives she ruined with her "treatments". The last two thirds of the book (it seemed) were spent recreating Hazzard's legal trial after one of the sisters goes after Hazzard for murdering the other, as well as her and her husband's sketchy past. To be honest, these topics were not near as interesting to me and I found myself waiting for the book to be over.
Content warning for eating disorders and physical abuse.

5 out of 5.
Spoilers
Starvation Heights is a true story about a woman named Linda Hazzard, the “Starvation Doctor” from the early 1900’s who used a loophole in the law to “treat” patients despite having no actual medical degrees. She even had a sanitarium (Starvation Heights) where she held people for their “treatment”. The abuse towards these people that came to her for help was shocking. An interesting twist, is that later on ,she ended up dying from starvation herself, attempting her own “cure” which is wild considering what it had done (what she’d seen be the result) in her patients.
This audiobook was so engaging that I could not turn it off. I wasnt aware about this case until this was given to me for a fair review.
It was written perfectly, setting the tone for what was one of the worst 'cult' "treatmeants" of the 1900s.
I can not wait to read or listen to more of Gregg Olsens books as he has a wag to engage you from beginning to end.

jeez louise credit where its due this was a hard read due to how much suffering is endured by the victims in this true story.

gripping yet distrurbing. you dont want to know but once you start you need to know.
I like that its from the POV of the victims

I liked the court scenes , its interesting that many believe her sentence was softer because shes a woman. that they knew she was a vile evil person yet went easy on her

The most disturbing part of this whole true story is that the murderer who called herself a doctor had followers. people wanting to believe in something despite having no reason to.

This is an old story but the problem is still rampant today, the wellness industry is unregulated. anyone can call themself a nutritionist or wellness expert and vulnerable people will follow and believe.
the amount of times ive been told to read a certain cookbook that claims to be beneficial for one of my conditions. despite the fact theres been no trials to evidence that and common sense says if it were true everyone would be doing it.

people want to grab onto hope so badly that we always have shitty trends to live longer, be healthier , look younger , lose weight .

perhaps my perspective is different because im constantly cheating death but there are worse things in life than looking old or being overweight yet thats what we obsess over. I dread to think the effect these wellness crooks have on those with eating disorders.😔

its frightening how many people went to this vile lady to starve themselves and how many followers she gained.
the story of what the victims went through is horrific so be prepared to feel very sick.

Such a fascinating bit of history. It was a big harrowing to listen to, but I enjoyed the narrator. I will absolutely recommend this to other history buffs. .