Starvation Heights

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

A decent read for the true crime enthusiast…

Amazon.com Description:
“In 1911 two wealthy British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, came to a sanitorium in the forests of the Pacific Northwest to undergo the revolutionary “fasting treatment” of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard. It was supposed to be a holiday for the two sisters. But within a month of arriving at what the locals called Starvation Heights, the women were emaciated shadows of their former selves, waiting for death. They were not the first victims of Linda Hazzard, a quack doctor of extraordinary evil and greed who would stop at nothing short of murder to achieve her ambitions. As their jewelry disappeared and forged bank drafts began transferring their wealth to Hazzard’s accounts, Dora Williamson sent a last desperate plea to a friend in Australia, begging her to save them fromc the brutal treatments and lonely isolation of Starvation Heights.”

The Deep Dark

The Deep Dark: Disaster and Redemption in America’s Richest Silver Mine by Gregg Olsen

Olsen tells the story of Sunshine Mine in Kellogg, Idaho. Though this mine was thought to be fire-proof, in 1972, there was a fire. Over a hundred people were trapped, too deep in the Earth to get out. Many died instantly. Many others lingered.

Olsen gives voice to the families who waited to discover if their loved ones were alive. He brings the life of the working class to the page. I found this to be a very moving account of a town that has never fully recovered from this tragedy