On a Tuesday night in 2011, Russell Faria returned home from his weekly game night with friends thirty minutes away. He walked into a nightmare. His wife, Betsy, lay on the floor in a pool of blood, stabbed with what was later detailed as fifty five wounds. He called 911 immediately and EMS workers found Betsy cold and starting rigor mortis, something that would indicate death had occurred around two hours before.

But the nightmare would deepen. After talking with a woman who claimed to be Betsy's best friend, Russ himself was arrested for Betsy's murder. Four people testified that Russ was with them at the game night and he had receipts for some errands he had run on the trip but that solid alibi did nothing to sway the police and prosecutor. Instead they believed Pamela Hupp, the supposed best friend who had lots of story to tell about Russ's cruelty to Betsy although everyone else thought the marriage was solid. Pam had also ended up with one of Betsy's life insurance policies taken out to care for her two daughters after her death (Betsy had terminal cancer). Although Pam made lots of noise about giving that money to the girls, she instead spent it on herself.

Russ went through a trial and one of the authors, Joel Schwartz, was his lawyer. He thought he had never seen a more clear case of a defendant's innocence but the jury returned a guilty verdict. Russ was sent to prison but Schwartz continued to work for Russ's freedom. He filed an appeal, brought a case against Pam for the insurance money and reported the prosecutor and judge to the federal agency responsible for investigating cases where fraud could be involved. He got a second trial for Russ and after four years, Russ was found not guilty.

This case had more Dateline episodes than any other in the history of the true crime show. With Russ's lawyer's inside information, true crime readers will learn all the facts of the case. As time went on, Pam was found to have a connection to several other murders, including that of her own mother, and is currently serving a life sentence. The sheer evil of committing a murder for her own profit and then trying to frame someone else makes Pam Hupp deserving of the life sentence she has received. I listened to this book and the narrator did a great job of recounting the facts without trying to sensationize a case that needed none, horrific in its' own right. This book is recommended for true crime readers.

Posted by Sandieat 2:10 PM

This was a case that I had, surprisingly, never heard of before. I was shocked at how so many mistakes could be made by several criminal justice entities. It seems like everyone failed to even try to find the truth until it was too late. I am shocked that this case isn't talked about more considering how crazy it is. It's truly like they say: truth is stranger than fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "Bone Deep" and all opinions expressed are my own. I listened to the audio book. It was very long and repeated things many times. I did find it interesting and probably would not have read it if not for the audio book. Overall okay.

Bone Deep is based on a true crime that occurred in Missouri. The book recounts the murder of Betsy Faria and the wrongful conviction of her husband Russ.
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. There is much more to this as the diabolical scheme unfolds. Then there is the astounding miscarriage of justice left unresolved for another ten years.

The case is told as a narrative which causes the reader to empathize with the victim and her family.

I enjoyed and recommend the narration of the audio for this book

If you have consumed all the other things from this trial or never heard of Pam Hupp, then this is a great book to start or end with. I read this via audio and goodness it was great to revisit all the details of this trial through the eyes of the lawyer who lived it all. I was reminded while reading this book the absolute errors that were made in the investigation and all the things that were overlooked - of course I am looking through a set of lenses with all the clues before us now, but goodness!!

I have always loved consuming non fiction via audio and this one was a great one to add to my collection.

3.5 stars

A very detailed narrative of a true crime case involving framing an innocent person, police/prosecutor corruption, & a touching ending.

[What I liked:]

•What’s interesting is that this case happened very near to wear I grew up, but I hadn’t heard of it (I guess because I was living abroad at the time). It hits a little closer to home when you realize the local courts & police departments involved are the very ones I’d end up dealing with if something like this tragic case happened to me…

•The case is told in a narrative way that makes it easy to empathize with the victim & her family, & also is compelling in the sense of not knowing what is going to happen next. I think the writer did a good job balancing the emotional factors without sensationalizing the story, & as a local I’m honestly really glad that the misconduct of certain officials has been brought to light for the general public, so hopefully such a miscarriage of justice will be less likely to happen again.

[What I didn’t like as much:]

•I don’t think it’s too much of a problem, but the book is quite long & probably could have been tightened at some parts, especially at the midpoint.

CW: murder, infidelity, descriptions of verbal abuse, substance use, descriptions of a stabbing victim’s injuries, abuse of an intellectually disabled person

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

This is such an amazing true crime story. Which is packed full of shocking injustices. From the very start I just knew that this was going to be a fantastic roller coaster of a ride and a page turner. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator was perfect and kept my interest throughout. I just couldn't believe how this cased progressed it was shocking and very eye opening. It has to be one of the best true crime book I have ever listened to. When I gotta the end I just had to sigh in relief. There was so much tension and atmosphere created in the telling of this case through the audiobook that I was constantly on the edge of my seat. I really do recommend this audiobook over the book because of the magnificent tension I experienced while listening. I was totally engrossed in this story. I really had to binge listen to it as I had to know how it was going to end. 

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this truly shocking and fascinating case.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/bone-deep-by-charles-bosworth-joel-schwartz-tantor-audio-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365 or lady Reading365 or ladyc reading

I am a true crime 'fan', but I have not heard of the Betsy Faria murder case before, so this was all new to me.

I feel like it was a tragic miscarriage of justice and it is very horrible and scary to imagine this might happen to you too.

The narrator was enjoyable to listen to!

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC/audiobook!

True Crime is a genre that I’ve been reading a lot lately. This book read like a fiction in that iwe learn about mistakes and @blunders” if you will of the US Justice system. The mistakes and lack of proper investigation will have you thinking if these instances did happen.

This is one of the most bizarre true crime books I have ever read/listened to.
I hadn't heard of the Betsy Faria murder case before, but the blurb intrigued me and looked right up my street.
Wow. You start listening to this, and you can have no idea where the book will take you. I finished this weeks ago, and I am still finding myself thinking about it now.
This book was crazy. Bat-**** insane. I would have called it completely implausible had I not looked the case up online.
True crime fans will LOVE this.

Also shared to my Facebook and Instagram pages Curling up with a coffee and a kindle

This story shows just how flawed our justice system can be. The story follows the murder case of Betsy Faria a 40 year old woman with terminal cancer who ended up dead one night. Her husband Rus was the one to find her after returning from a game night. After twisting the story Rus was arrested for the murder. We continue to follow Rus as he was trialed and found guilty and a retrial was ordered.

This book makes you realize how easily evidence can be twisted to fit whatever story the cops and prosecutor wants. I felt this book was very poignant in showing how different the outcome can be from 2 different trials. I really liked how they followed up with what happened to the prosecutor and Pam although it was pretty sad seeing what happened because of the lack of follow through by the police. I listened to the audiobook for this book and really enjoyed the narrator. He had a voice that was easy to listen too and understand. I would like to thank Net galley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

The book details the information of the case. It is quite nice; however, maybe I am not interested in the case very much since I don't find myself excited to continue listening. I have also heard all the information with a combination of different podcasts so there is no new information here. Definitely get the book if you don't know about the case or are super interested in it.

Bone Deep, written by Charles Bosworth and Joel Schwartz, is a fascinating true crime story about the murder of Betsy Faria. The authors provide a clear and accurate description of everything that happened leading up to Betsy's murder and the horrendous police investigation that followed. Highly recommend for any true crime fan. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my opinion.

I’m not familiar with this case and love true crime so I was eager to dive into this one. That said, I’m having a hard time stocking with this one. I’ve listened to just about the first half and I’m finding it very tedious and dry. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

🔪😵💀

I went into this audiobook having no prior knowledge of the murder case it details. I like the occasional true crime book or documentary and decided to give this one a listen. The first half of this audiobook was tedious at times because it’s basically a transcript of Russ Faria’s hours long interrogation by police. At just over the halfway mark, the overall vibe changes when the court proceedings begin to unfold. That is when this story went from “meh” to downright insane!
😱
This is a must read for true crime fans and I promise you that the second half of the book more than makes you for the shortcomings of the first. It wasn’t until near the end that I realized this is the same murder case that has inspired the new NBC mini-series “The Thing About Pam”, starring Renee Zellweger - the trailer for which I had already seen and planned to watch.

Thank you to the authors along with NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When I discovered a book had been written about the Betsy Faria case, I jumped at the chance to listen to the audio ALC from Netgalley. I was riveted to the podcast 'What About Pam' and found myself down a rabbit hole reading more about this case online. This book would be perfect for anyone who has a spark of interest in this true crime case as it fills in many gaps and answers so many questions.

Although it could be dry in places, sticking to almost nothing accept the blow-by-blow of the court case, I still really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I found myself fully immersed in this wild ride about the lengths one woman went to for money... and the absolute bungle of a case the police had against Betsy's husband. Over and over, I just shook my head in disbelief at how hard the prosecutors and detective pushed against an innocent man and their willful blindness to the glaringly obvious perpetrator - Pam Hupp.

The last few chapters of this book were especially interesting. Watching how Pam Hupp's web of lies eventually unraveled around her was shocking. A true train-wreck of a human being, that Pam.

Thank you to Netgalley and Citadel Publishing for this free advanced listener's copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I looooved this audiobook. It was like listening to a podcast but in super long form. I have been fascinated with this case since hearing about it from Dateline but this obviously covered much more than what Dateline could get in to. I would definitely read more from this author.

It is absolutely astounding how the justice system displayed such incompetence every step of the way. Listening to the interrogation scenes and the Prosecutor's outlandish accusations was incredibly frustrating, and just left me feeling horrified at how many people must end up convicted of a crime they didn't commit because of the tunnel vision to fit a story to the evidence rather than evidence to facts.

I did find myself annoyed with the repetitiveness of the book, and think it could have been edited down to make the pacing better. There were sections in which we were getting a sort of inner monologue commentary from the Defense lawyer about how EVERY statement being made could never be believable to the Judge or Jury. After the first dozen times it was mentioned, it was just like...I GET IT.

I can see why the decided to make this into a TV series because it's very a much a truth is stranger than fiction situation.

***Thank you to Tantor Audio for providing me with the Audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.

If you listened to the podcast The Thing About Pam you know this case. This book is the perfect example of why I love true crime. If you made a movie or wrote a fiction novel with this bonkers story would be too unbelievable for me. Bosworth Jr. teams up with Schwartz, Russ Faria’s defense attorney, for this and it’s the perfect combination. There were a lot of details and information I didn’t know plus more in depth analysis on the trial and why certain elements were excluded (don’t get me started on the original trial judge). A must read for any true crime fan!

Great piece of true crime nonfiction about a truly mind-boggling case, messed-up investigation, and stranger than fiction facts. Russ Faria was at game night with some of his friends when his wife Betsy called to tell him he didn't need to pick her up from chemotherapy. It was the last time he would talk to her - upon arriving home that night, Russ found Betsy dead in their living room.

But soon enough, Russ realized that he had become police's prime suspect in Betsy's murder - although he had a basically ironclad alibi of not even being in the same town when it happened. Police and prosecutors zeroed in on Russ, piecing together any basic shred of evidence, character slander, and complete hearsay to paint him as the killer. Meanwhile, they ignored another person with a clear motive, means, and opportunity: Pam Hupp. Pam was one of Betsy's acquaintances and, just a week earlier, Betsy had changed her life insurance beneficiary to be Pam instead of Russ.

Pam's statements to the police were wild and suspicious, with Pam revealing she knew information that the police didn't share with her (e.g., she mentioned that Betsy was killed at night), she contradicted herself frequently, and she made strange offhand comments about how she was also the beneficiary to her mom's insurance policy, and it would have been easier to kill her frail elderly mother than Betsy. (Yes, she literally said that.) Pam's statements were the prosecution's primary "evidence" for going after Russ, when it was clear that she was trying to paint a picture of Russ as an abusive, vindictive husband with little to no other support. Police never bothered to follow up with Pam on most of these opportunities.

At Russ's trial, basically unethical prosecuting by Leah Askey and ridiculous decision-making by judge Christina Kunza Mennenmeyer gave Russ an extremely unfair trial, in which his defense attorneys couldn't even mention the fact that Pam Hupp was a reasonable and highly likely alternative suspect. But Russ's dogged defense team never gave up in the quest to prove that Russ was innocent.

The story gets even crazier - I won't mention what happened, but it threw the case into a completely different light.

Betsy Faria's case was one of Dateline's most popular specials, behind the OJ Simpson and Jon-Benet Ramsey episodes. It received constant coverage by local news, became a podcast, and is now about to become a limited series on Peacock starring Renee Zellweger as Pam Hupp. In fact, that show airs tonight! I'll definitely be watching. It's a fascinating story that dives into one woman's bafflingly evil mind and actions. Thank you to Tantor Audio for the ARC via Netgalley!