Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest

Although this is certainly categorized as true crime, it's atypical of the genre in that it's not the usual contemporary "Husband kills his wife to profit from the life insurance policy and run away with the mistress" sort of thing. (This means I can feel less stupid for reading it. Just kidding. Sort of.) Rather, it's set in the early 20th century; two middle-aged, unmarried sisters from England arrive at a sanitorium in the Pacific Northwest to undergo a "starving treatment" that's meant to improve their health. The predictable unfortunate result of this treatment befalls one of the sisters, who dies of malnutrition, and the doctor who hawked the treatment is prosecuted for murder.

The book is well-written, especially when compared to show more most of this genre, and moves quickly. You may feel a bit dismayed when you read about the ultimate fate of the murderer/doctor -- I certainly was -- but this is a fine book about an unusual and disturbing case. show less

In 1911, two wealthy sisters who seemed determined to try many different fad “medical” treatments, ended up in Washington State at a sanitarium run by “Dr.” Linda Hazzard, who promoted fasting for all ailments. Not only did her treatment come with fasting (really, she starved them), but with hours-long enemas and beatings, and she managed to convince her patients that this was all helping. Unfortunately for the sisters, Claire and Dora, Claire died. But only after Linda and her husband had both sisters sign various documents granting them control of their money, jewelry, etc. Not only that, on digging deeper, others had also died under this fasting “cure”.

Wow, crazy! It floors me that people would do something like this to show more begin with, but then to become so brainwashed as to think it was helping as they slowly starved to death. My summary above is only about the first 1/3 of the book… the middle bit of the book was lawyers investigating Dr. Hazzard, and the last 1/3 was the trial. All very interesting, I thought. And this really happened! show less

This was absolutely fascinating. I’ve always been a fan of Gregg Olsen, both his fiction and his true crime. So when this appeared on audio from Netgalley, I was immediately excited. And most definitely not disappointed. The narration was on point - she had inflection and used accents, something that I find uncommon in true crime but that I very much appreciated.

The story was horrifying and I still am in shock of everything that occurred in this case. Brits Claire and Dora head to Ollala, Washington to take a fasting cure from Dr. Linda Hazzard, a ‘doctor’ who had never graduated from medical school. Within a month of arriving, Claire was dead and Dora was deemed incompetent with Dr. Hazzard in place as her guardian. It must have show more been a coincidence that the sisters were very wealthy, with Dr. Hazzard reaping the benefits of that wealth, yes? What follows is a taut description of the case brought against Dr. Hazzard by Dora and agents of Britain. Compelling and the narration by Stacey Glembowski was superb. show less

In 1911 two health-obsessed sisters, Dora and Claire Williamson, sign up for an extended stay at a creepy institution devoted to fasting cures. The quack in charge of the place, Linda Burfield Hazzard, takes a personal interest in their cases after she finds out that the sisters are wealthy heiresses. "Dr." Hazzard starves the women by offering them only enemas and tiny servings of vegetable broths. Meanwhile, the sisters' possessions start disappearing.

Melodrama abounds in Starvation Heights, as the lives of two naïve women are in the hands of a threatening authority figure. Despite the lurid subject matter, the first two parts of this book are dull compared to other true crime tales. The narrative’s pace picks up in the third show more section, when the case against Hazzard goes to trial. Recommended with reservations. show less

It seems a common trope to kill off adult tenants and continue cashing their checks, but enticing foreigners into slow suicide by starvation while co-opting their estates? That is what went down at "Starvation Heights" and told in this book, which gets a bit tedious with the courtroom details in the final act.

This review originally appeared on my blog at www.gimmethatbook.com.


In 1911 two wealthy but hypochondriacal sisters found a sanitorium that promoted a special “fasting” cure for whatever ails you. They were so eager to check in and become patients, but didn’t know that Dr Linda Hazzard would try to kill them, not by fasting, but by placing them on a starvation diet that would weaken and terrify them. This is their story, including the famous court case against Dr Hazzard.

Claire and Dora Williamson thought that the revolutionary “fasting” cure would help their vague maladies: female trouble, headaches, malaise. A plan was concocted to get in touch with Dr Hazzard and gain admittance to her sanitorium. The sisters told no one of show more their journey, and thus no one missed them, as they were always traveling here and there. The sisters were separated once the fast started in earnest, and could only hear each other. As they grew weaker, dizzy and exhausted, each one thought the other one was getting stronger. Finally Claire slipped away, her jewelry and money appropriated by Dr Hazzard and her husband Sam. Dora was told that she was becoming insane, and it was her sister Claire’s wishes that she stay on at the sanitorium until her death. Purely by accident the sister’s former nanny tracked Dora down, and spirited the emaciated woman away. Part Two of the story tells the story of how the British Vice Consul championed the Williamson’s plight and attempted to take legal action against Dr Hazzard and Starvation Heights.



This is a true story, told with chilling detail due to author Gregg Olsen‘s thorough research. Washington State provided archival materials to the author, such as Claire Williamson’s death certificate, the court ruling, interviews with former residents and photographs of the town of Olalla at the time of the incident. Dr Hazzard’s place was notorious amongst the residents, but they were an insular group and no one thought to say anything against the Hazzards. This was why so many people had died (at least 40) at Linda Hazzard’s hands.

Linda Burfield Hazzard was a strong willed woman, a feminist who railed against the Old School of male doctors. In fact, she was never given a real medical license, a fact that was made much of in court. She felt the medical establishment was against her, and only wanted to provide an alternative method for healing.

On the one hand, she did prove herself as a maverick, but on the other hand she took things too far and was greedy. Healing by starvation was not her intent–or was it? Olsen paints a picture of her as just a little off, controlling and single minded. I was not sympathetic to her character at all, and felt as if she set the female gender back many years with her antics. Being an advocate of natural healing does not mean starving someone against their will in the name of medicine.

Olsen’s writing is detailed and colorful, giving equal time to both good and bad guys. Back story on both Linda and Sam Hazzard is given, albeit towards the latter part of the book, but it does explain a lot about both of their psyches. The court proceedings do not consume too much, which I liked, but the parts about the Consul trying to enlist help from the British and neighboring cities became a bit dry.

All in all, this was a good read. Fans of true crime will enjoy this, and marvel at the facts that permitted such injustice to proceed unchecked for so long. Author Olsen is well versed in the true crime genre, and provides fact and sensation equally. Want your own copy? You can pick it up here.

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My stomach is still in knots after finishing this incredibly detailed true crime audiobook. That must say something about the quality of the research and writing - as well as the narration.

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen has been on my TBR for a long time but this is my first read of his work. It was also my first exposure to this case, which is truly horrific.

Starvation Heights spends most of its focus on the Williamson sisters but we get a huge amount of background information on pretty much everyone who was involved in the case. I'm not going to lie, there were a few times when I thought the book was too long - it's about a 15 hour listen - but most of the time, I was glad for the deep dive. Mostly I was enraged and disgusted that Hazzard show more got away with murder repeatedly. Even if she spent time in prison, it wasn't enough. She, and her staunchest followers, should have been put away forever.

Fans of true crime will very likely enjoy Starvation Heights. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the audio ARC. show less