In Bone Deep, we follow the case of Russel Faria, who was wrongly convicted in the murder of his wife Betsy. We find out the gruesome nature of the crime and the evidence that eventually led to his conviction of murder. We also find out the revelations that were revealed that led to Russel being exonerated of all charges.

spoiler alert

I found the book very informative and quite unsettling. The thought that the gut reaction of the first police to arrive on the scene can seal the fate of an innocent person is truly frightening. The readers will also be disappointed if they set their hopes on a court of law to set things straight.

Despite the interesting subject matter, I think many readers will find it too detailed and repetitive, especially the first half - the investigation and first trial. The style is mostly very dry and lacks the element of drama that one would expect in any legal case, let alone one as interesting as this one. The courtroom scenes were mostly reported in indirect speech. It is precisely the back and forth direct dialogue of question-answer that makes legal reporting so engrossing and gives a sense of immediacy and of being there in the court. The book would have been far better if it had been more selective in the reporting of the trial, but with more direct speech,

I also would have appreciated if the writers had given less detail about the police investigation and legal proceedings and more about other issues. What Ross goes through emotionally, the press involvement and the public reaction, were all in the book, but could have been in greater detail. . And I was left very curious as to the reaction of Betsy's family and why they continued to see Russ as guilty despite the evidence to the contrary and the strong case against Pam Hupp.

A really great in depth book about a case that has fascinated me since the first episode of Dateline that covered it.

I enjoyed reading this true crime book as it held my interest all the way through. It was well researched and gave an in-depth look at how our Justice system can and does fail us sometimes.
Because it was so well written and detailed, I will recommend it definitely.

This was a very honest and well written true story of murder and a gross miscarriage of justice!

While I'm not huge on true crime - I have watched Dateline and ID channel - but had not heard of this story. While many legal books get so deep in the language and minutiae of the legal system - this is written so that you can not only understand and keep up - but follow the path of errors and abuse that allowed an innocent man to spend 4 years in prison - not to mention the deaths of two others.

Definitely a must read!

Wow! This was a great true crime book. I was unaware of this case and didn’t do any research before reading the book (which was more difficult than you think). The author wrote in a very straightforward manner, presenting facts in a chronological order. I certainly cared about the victims and was frustrated by the system which allowed the perpetrator to seemingly get away with the crime. Great read!

If you are interested in court proceedings this is a good book for you. It is based on real live events. At times you will want to tear your hair out and scream. It is a perfect example of what can go both right and wrong with a trial. You will be introduced to real life people who were put thru the wringer. It is also frightening in a way to think of what can happen. Unfortunately, there is no 100% sure, fool proof way to prove anyone is guilty unless they admit it. I've always been interested in things like this and enjoyed reading this book.

A non-fiction, true crime story written like fiction. Bone Deep is a detailed account of the trial and the ensuing appeal trial of Russel Faria, falsely accused, tired and convicted of murdering his wife. Where some true crime books can tend to be too dry and clinical Bone Deep was nothing of the sort. The narrative was well written and done in a way that kept the readers interest, while giving them a bird's eye view of the case. Only a few places did the pacing get a little slow, generally while covering the appeal trial just because that information was a bit repetitive from the first trial. I love a good true crime story and this one doesn't disappoint.

Are you are a true crime aficionado? Did you follow the egregious murder trial of Betsy Faria? "Bone Deep" is an in-depth look at all the facts as they played out in this horrendous case. This book will blow your mind!

In December of 2011, Russel (Russ) Faria went to a party. Upon returning home, he discovers his wife Betsy brutally stabbed 55 times. She had been dead for over an hour. Russ is visibly upset and immediately calls 911. Reflecting back, no one could have seen the chain of events that were about to unfold including 2 more murders, a miscarriage of justice, and the guilty party putting forth a "mask of sanity" so convincing that even the police went along with it.

"Bone Deep" is so shocking, it is hard to grasp the reality of it. While this story is about a brutal murder, it is so much more. No should ever have to endure what Russ Faria went through and yet, it still happens. This book should serve as a huge wake-up call about our justice system. One of the author's (Joel Schwartz) represented Russ during the trials and eventually got him acquitted. This is their true story. It will be published February 22, 2022.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books, for allowing me to review this eye-opening e-book. I greatly appreciate it.

I heard of the woman in the story but didn’t know anything about her or this case. I was pretty much glued to the pages of Bone Deep by Charles Bosworth Jr. and Joel J. Schwartz. What a story this is and how tragic!

As with so many true-crime stories, you just cannot believe this is real life and that people can be so cruel.

I’m picky with true crime books, I don’t like it when they are too dense or dry, but I found this one to be just the right amount of facts and details told in a way that keeps the readers interest.

Two days after Christmas, 2011, Russel Faria returned to his Troy, Missouri home to find his wife, Betsy, dead, a knife still lodged in her neck. She had been stabbed fifty-five times in a brutal murder that would set off a chain of events leading to one man’s wrongful conviction and imprisonment, another man’s death, the revelation of a diabolical scheme, and an astounding miscarriage of justice left unresolved for another ten years.

First responders concluded that Betsy was dead for hours when Russ discovered her. No blood was found implicating Russ, and surveillance video, receipts, and friends’ testimony all supported his alibi. Yet incredibly, police and the prosecuting attorney ignored the evidence. In their minds, Russ was guilty. But prominent defense attorney Joel J. Schwartz quickly recognized the real killer.

The motive was clear. Days before her murder, the terminally ill Betsy replaced her husband with her friend, Pamela Hupp, as her life insurance beneficiary. Still, despite the prosecution’s flimsy case and Hupp’s transparent lies, Russ was convicted—leaving Hupp free to kill again.

Bone Deep takes readers through the perfect storm of miscalculations and missteps that led to an innocent man’s conviction—and recounts Schwartz’s successful battle to have that conviction overturned. Written with Russ Faria’s cooperation, and filled with chilling new revelations and previously undisclosed evidence, this is the story of what can happen when police, prosecutor, judge, and jury all fail in their duty to protect the innocent—and let a killer get away with murder.

Are you aware of this story? This book will be out on 2/22

I love a really great True Crime story and this did not disappoint! Betsy Faria was a young woman who had stage 4 cancer and had been to chemotherapy. One of her friends, Pam Hupp, volunteered to bring her home. Betsy's husband, Russell, was at a friend's house for a game night/movie night with several other friends. When Russ arrived home later that evening, he found Betsy on the floor under a blanket with blood all over her and a knife sticking out of her neck. When police arrived, even though Russ had no blood on him and Betsy obviously had been dead for a couple hours, they focused on him as the prime suspect. I was furious as I read the police interrogation and the trial. This case has been featured on Dateline several times and I just keep shaking my head every time I watch it. This was a very well researched and well written book that I could not put down.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishers for the ARC of this fascinating book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a serious true crime fan and this book did not disappoint. The research and attention to detail was engrossing and kept me reading well into the night.
The case of poor Betsy was truly heartbreaking and the wrongful conviction of her husband just deepened the sorrow in this case. I will be recommending this to my fellow readers. Very well done.

I thought I knew a lot about this case, and boy was I wrong!
This book is an in depth study of the murder of Betsy Faria, the trial, court proceedings, police interviews, and more. This book tells us about this unbelievable failure of the Missouri judicial system. It is scary to see just what happens when those in power fail the innocent.

This book is perfect for anyone interested in true crime. It was very well researched and written. It’s hard to put down once you start reading.

Bone deep
by Charles Henry Bosworth; Joel Schwartz
Pub Date: February 22, 2022
Citadel Press
Bone Deep is a riveting account of murder, a wrongful conviction, and the trail to pursue the truth.
I found this book to be intense and powerful. Anyone of us could be wrongfully convicted and it is sobering.
I am glad to recommend this book. It is True Crime and we have several readers at our library that like this genre.
Thanksto Citadel Press and NetGalley for the ARC.
5 stars

I was not familiar with this Dateline NBC case and law enforcement always looking at the husband of Betsey, who had an alibi for the evening in question. Like another review said, too many lies, secrets and cheating to keep up. I was not into the story of this murder case as I should bel just so so for me.

Recommended for other people that like true crime.

Thanks to Netgalley, Charles Bosworth Jr and Kensington Books Citadel for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 2/22/22

Bone Deep is a true crime book about the murder of Betsy Faria. Betsy was murdered in her home and her husband found her body. The police and prosecutor decided the husband was the murderer and refused to look at any other suspect. The book is very engrossing and well-written. I would highly recommend it.

Bone Deep is a riveting account of murder, a wrong conviction and the trail to pursue the truth.
Betsy Faria’s husband Russ returned home one evening to find his wife’s lifeless body. She had been stabbed over fifty times, the knife still lodged in her neck. With the arrival of the first responders it was determined that Betsy had been dead for several hours. The police however we’re skeptical of Russ and thought that he had murdered his wife, noting his emotional state and crocodile tears. Russ’s alibi was substantiated with receipts, testimonials from friends, surveillance videos and no blood evidence. In a matter of minutes, Russ faced the devastating loss of his wife and the loss of the life and the freedom he once knew. Convicted, he spent several years in jail but the perseverance of defense attorney Joel Schwartz to pursue justice would change Russ’s path yet again.
With a fine eye for detail and remarkable research, the authors have provided a page turning experience for the reader.
A highly recommended, absorbing read with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Omg! I devoured this book in two days. It is about the Betsy Faria murder that took place in 2011 in Troy, Missouri. Russ and Betsy had some marital issues that had led to them splitting up at times but then coming back together. Betsy had two daughters previously and they both were living elsewhere. Betsy had been diagnosed for the second time with cancer and she wanted to make sure her daughters were taken care of financially from her life insurance policies. Betsy would stay with her mother during her chemo sessions to save her the drive. Russ was meeting his buddies for his weekly game night in O’Fallon. When he got home he found Betsy dead and that is when the twists and turns start. This book is written where you absolutely feel like you are in the courtroom and in sitting in on the interrogation sessions. This book had me believing one person did it until half way through. Would recommend this book if you enjoy true crime. I couldn’t put it down,

I received this ARC for free from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Unless you’ve been in a COVID-19 bubble for the past few years, you’ve probably heard Keith Morrison’s deep voice recounting the Dec. 27, 2011, murder of a Troy, MO, housewife. When Russ Faria discovered the body of his wife Betsy, little did anyone know it would start a fight for justice that’s lasted more than 10 years.
Bone Deep: Untangling the Betsy Faria Murder Case is the latest update on a case that prompted five NBC “Dateline” broadcasts, numerous podcasts and an NBC miniseries in February starring Renee Zellweger. All because of a woman named Pam Hupp.
Frequently referred to as “The Thing About Pam” story, the arrests, murders (yes, plural) and convoluted court trials are more the makings of a fictionalized thriller than the real-case that sent an innocent man to prison, cost another man his life and denied two girls hundreds of thousands of insurance money.
Bone Deep is co-authored by attorney Joe Schwartz, who led legal efforts to prove Russ Faria’s innocence starting with a 2013 conviction and a 2015 exoneration. Oh, and that thing about Pam, a weird woman with alleged memory problems? She’s now in prison for murder, but not for Betsy’s.
Schwartz and Bosworth have put together court transcripts, interviews, police records and much more so readers can follow the twists and turns for themselves. They can follow the frustration of court delays, tricks and deceptions and all that followed. The writing is dry at times, but so are the facts and records. The anticipation comes in learning what’s between the words.
When Russ Faria was arrested for his wife’s murder, few believed he’d done it or that he’d be found guilty. Why would he kill his wife who had terminal cancer? Sure, they’d had their share of problems, but they’d put them in the past. Unfortunately, several detectives, prompted by the fabricated tales of Pam Hupp, were determined that Faria was the killer. Despite the alibis, the evidence and inconsistencies, he was found guilty.
Then, because of legal shenanigans by the prosecutor and judge, Faria got a new trial and was released in 2015. Schwartz had been allowed to introduce evidence that had previously been withheld from trial, some of which implicated Hupp as having killed Betsy Faria.
But the story wasn’t over. Pam still had $150,000 of Betsy’s insurance money. It was money she supposedly had promised her friend Betsy that she’d give to Betsy’s daughters when they got their lives together. Pam did set up a trust but then withdraw all the money. To date, Betsy’s daughters have received nothing from their mom’s insurance policy.
In 2013, Pam’s mom had died under mysterious circumstances. In 2017, her death was changed to “mysterious circumstances.” The motive once again is suspected to be financial gain for Pam.
Pam told some that her mom died from dementia complications. The truth is that she fell from a third-floor balcony. A reader has to ask if Pam was extremely unlucky or was there some other demon following her. Two deaths and two insurance policies in just a few years?
Then the story takes another deadly turn.
In 2016, Pam shoots Louis Gumpenberger to death in an alleged “home invasion” with ties to Russ Faria. There’s even a twisted reference to a TV show producer in the days leading up to that shooting as Pam scouted out someone to play the invader role for a so-called voice-over for a “Dateline” episode, according to a trial witness.
In a “better late than never” moment, Pam Hupp was finally charged July 12, 2021, with the first-degree murder of Betsy Faria. Pam has entered a “not guilty” plea. The prosecution alleges that Pam stabbed her friend more than 55 times while she slept on the couch after chemotherapy treatment, then used Betsy’s socks to spread blood around the house to implicate Russ before putting them back on the dead woman’s feet.
In Bone Deep, a best-selling author and a defense attorney team up to tie all the loose ends together and take a deeper look at Pam, an average-looking woman who plotted and performed horrific crimes. It’s up to the justice system now to ensure she doesn’t hurt anyone else.

This book caught my eye partly because I’m a true crime buff and partly because I’m disgusted by the trend of law enforcement zeroing in on a suspect and molding the evidence in order to corroborate that person’s guilt instead of searching for the one who actually committed the crime. Crooked cops, lawyers and judges letting a criminal go free is the worst.

The book synopsis mentions there was a wrongful conviction so I’m not giving away anything there. The tirelessness of Joel Schwartz is the real story and Wow, what a story that was!

The actual guilty party was an absolute nutcase. Planning and conniving to suit their best interests. The reader can begin to see things coming apart but something keeps falling through the cracks and additional crimes are allowed to happen.

I felt the book started out a little wordy. Thankfully it picked up the pace during the trials and I found myself really enjoying it. I would recommend it to other true crime fans.

I had previously listened to the podcast and watched the Dateline special on this case. Now there is talk of an upcoming television series starring Renee Zellweger and Josh Duhamel. I’ll likely watch that as well since I enjoy the work of those two actors.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.