Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen (May 2005)

Her Patients Paid To Die.
Review by Kim Cantrell

I’m not sure how I missed a true crime from one of my favorite authors, but I did.   Had it not been for the mention of the book from Facebook fans and others, I might have never read it.

And that would be a shame.

In his 2005 historical true crime Starvation Heights, Gregg Olsen invites readers to return to the early 1900s; a time before automobiles were common, small town residents shared one or two telephone lines, and college educated physicians was a relatively new concept.

Linda Burfield Hazzard was a licensed (only by a technicality) osteopath; a doctor who practices the belief that the body has the ability to heal itself.

Unfortunately for the patients of “Dr.” Hazzard, her prescription for health was through starvation.

Welcoming people from around the world to her sanitarium in Ollala, Washington, Hazzard was much sought after as a last resort cure to ailments such as cancer, polio, and diabetes; as well as a host of less severe illnesses.

Unfortunately for believers, Hazzard’s methods were only available to those who were considered wealthy for the times; as the sanitarium was not only a place for cures but a place for some to die after transfering their wealth to Hazzard.

Gregg Olsen does an excellent job of rewinding time; describing commonly accepted practices and the Wild West ways of thinking for the times.

I particularly enjoyed the vivid details about the people involved.  Olsen does such a superb job, I was able to form clear pictures in mind; the nervous British heiresses, the overbearing lady doc, the prince charming turned beaten-down drunkard.

And the manner in which Olsen wrote this book – one that reflected speech patterns of yesteryears – was an excellent means of setting the stage.

Bottom line:  I loved it!  History, murder, fraud, bigamy, divorce, shady characters, wealth – what’s not to love??!!

If you have not yet read Starvation Heights, I would HIGHLY recommend adding it to you reading list.

*Sanitarium photo courtesy of starvationheights.com