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American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Motherhood, and the Cyanide Murders That Shook the World
American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Motherhood, and the Cyanide Murders That Shook the World | Gregg Olsen
5 posts | 2 read | 6 to read
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Tell comes the absolutely unputdownable and chilling true-crime story of Stella Nickell--a mother and wife who did the unthinkable... and the unforgiveable. At 5.02 pm on June 5, 1986, an emergency call came into the local sheriff's office in the small town of Auburn, Washington State. A distressed housewife, Stella Nickell, said her husband Bruce was having a seizure. Officers rushed to the Nickell's mobile home, to find Stella standing frozen at the door... Bruce was on the floor fighting for his life. As Stella became the beneficiary of over $175,000 in a life insurance pay-out, forensics discovered that Bruce had consumed painkillers laced with cyanide. A week later, fifteen-year-old Hayley was getting ready for another school day. Her mom, Sue, called out 'I love you' before heading into the bathroom and moments later collapsed on the floor. Sue never regained consciousness, and the autopsy revealed she had been poisoned by cyanide tainted headache pills. Just like Bruce. While a daughter grieved the sudden and devastating loss of her mother, a young woman, Cindy, was thinking about her own mom Stella. She thought about the years of neglect and abuse, the tangled web of secrets Stella had shared with her, and Cindy contemplated turning her mom into the FBI... Gripping and heart-breaking, Gregg Olsen uncovers the shocking true story of a troubled family. He delves into a complex mother-daughter relationship rooted in mistrust and deception, and the journey of the sweet curly-haired little girl from Oregon whose fierce ambition to live the American Dream led her to make the ultimate betrayal. Originally published as Bitter Almonds. Revised and updated edition.
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Pickpick

In 1986, two people in the Seattle area died of cyanide poisoning. This book shows what happened along with the eventual trial of the person charged with the murders. The story here is super interesting, but the writing in the first third or so is convoluted and poor. It evens out later, but as this is a reissue, I think it should have been reworked. Ultimately, I was really captured by it, so low pick for me.

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Kappadeemom
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Reading this one but struggling to get through it. 😒

30 likes2 stack adds
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Cinfhen
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#NetGalley #NonfictionNovember This was originally published as Bitter Almonds ( I wasn‘t aware) but there is an additional chapter as new developments have occurred since first publication. The first and last third of the book was FANTASTIC but sheesh, the middle section was so long winded & overly written. WAYYYY too much information and repetitive content. I‘m surprised the publisher didn‘t edit the book second go around. Good audio narration.

Cinfhen A pick but I‘d say #BorrowNotBuy 1y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 1y
squirrelbrain Good to know it‘s a #borrownotbuy! 1y
LeahBergen Thanks! I‘ll wait to come across a secondhand copy. 👍 1y
84 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Cinfhen
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squirrelbrain Whoa that sounds good… stacked! 1y
LeahBergen Ooo, this sounds good! 1y
65 likes2 stack adds2 comments