Bitter Harvest

By: Ann Rule

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

This New York Times best seller and shocking “tour de force from America’s best true crime writer” (Kirkus Reviews) - which formed the basis for the Lifetime movie event A House on Fire - follows a woman whose seemingly perfect life hides a destructive madness.

In this harrowing New York Times best seller, Ann Rule is at her masterful best as she winnows horrific truths from the ashes of what seemed like paradise in Prairie Village, Kansas. Rule probes the case of Debora Green, a doctor and a loving mother who seemed to epitomize the dreams of the American heartland. A small-town girl with a genius IQ, she achieved an enviable life: her own medical practice, a handsome physician husband, three perfect children, and an opulent home in an exclusive Kansas City suburb. But when a raging fire destroyed that home and took two lives, the trail of clues led investigators to a stunning conclusion. Piece by piece, Ann Rule digs beneath this placid Midwestern facade to unveil a disturbing portrait of strangely troubled marriages, infidelity, desperation, suicide, and escalating acts of revenge that forever changed dozens of lives.

©2000 Ann Rule. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Quite possibly The the best Ann Rule book

I am a hard core Ann Rule fan, even had the pleasure of meeting her years ago at a book signing my then boyfriend was conducting security at in Everett, WA. I read this book decades ago but after revisiting it now, long after reading all of her books....I do believe it is her best work!

Hard to Believe

This was an incredibly difficult story to listen to. it appeared the author already had her mind up about Debora, before she even met her. Even the narrator's voice tone was harsh as she imitated Debora's voice.

Debora was many things in this story. But, somehow there is a back story here that is not being told. It is very curious to me that both people that proved they can cheat and lie, both walk away unscathed, more wealthy even. But of the two discarded spouses, one supposedly commits suicide. And the other spends the rest of her life in jail?

Someone needs to relook this. There are way too manys fingers all being pointed in one direction. Surely there must have been something suspicious in Celeste's husbands death or the case would have been open and shut. But questioning did ensue.

It is quite possible that Mike had a very big hand in this. and used Debora's weaknesses against her to place all guilt on her. I found the author completely irresponsible in her research of this story.

A great Ann Rule book!

I really enjoyed this book! It's quite a story. Hard to believe things like this actually happen. I found it pretty interesting from start to finish. Debora's mental health was very interesting, it's quite a roller coaster. I really like the narrator, I found her to be pleasant to listen to. I think it's one of Ann's better books!

THIS IS JUST A FAMILY STORY

I have read many of Ann's books and most are murder mystery that you can not put down. I am a few hours into this story and it just seems like a story of a bad marriage. There might be more to come, but I'm loosing interest, so I probably won't get to the end

Intense all the way through!

Ann Rule, as always, didn’t disappoint. This story is intense from beginning to end, and I found myself repeatedly jumping back 30 seconds to make sure I heard it correctly, because I knew that information would come up again later in the story, connected to something else. The narrator did an excellent job of creating different personas for different characters, including her rate of speech, intonation, verbiage, and energy level. I listened to this during long walks outside, which I would highly recommend! Great read!

Needs cutting by 1/3

Ann Rule has written much better books. After listening to several Jack Olsen books, I'm highly annoyed by the poverty of her prose. The Audible narrator was so slow I had to listen at 25% higher speed.

Sad and terrible.

Storyline told well and this narrator is so good at portraying each character. I'm going to listen to more books like this true crime genre that are narrated by Cassandra Campbell.

So good!

I’ve listened to 4-5 Ann Rule books and this has been my absolutely favorite. I loved the way it was written. The narrator was awesome too!

Ann Rule's best

This is an engaging, well-written account of horrendous crimes that would have challenged my ability to suspend my disbelief had it been fiction. I finished it in 2 days. I only wish that there had been more information available to the author about Debora Green's psychology. Highly recommended to mystery and true crime fans.

Genius or Madness

This is a thorough rendering of a terrible crime. A doctor with a genius level intelligence and a child's mindset, Dr. Green, poisoned her husband and killed two of her three children. Rule leaves no stone unturned in presenting this story.