BOOK REVIEW - Embellished to Death by Christina Freeburn

Embellished to Death (Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery #3)

by Christina Freeburn (Goodreads Author)

Paperback, 266 pages

Published September 23rd 2014 by Henery Press

Goodreads synopsis - When Faith Hunter agrees to help PI Bob Roget find an identity thief at a local scrapbook retreat, her friendly croppers’ weekend quickly morphs into a dangerous one. As croppers share their own memories, a killer collects them for her new identity, and doesn’t appreciate Faith in the picture.

Faith struggles to balance her professional, detecting and personal lives as threats and secrets keep her off-balance. Things turn deadly when a woman is killed and Faith is blackmailed. Truth and lies collide when Faith discovers croppers aren’t the only ones embellishing, and the results might end her life.

I really enjoyed this book. It did take me a minute to get into it because I had not read the first two books in the Faith Hunter series. But if you want to read this book first, the author does a good job at making sure you know who everyone is and giving enough back story to keep you informed.

The murder happens right at the beginning which is good because I have had books where I wonder "when is the death going to happen" and you lose half the story by busy writing up to the death. I did think the author did not spend a whole heck of a lot of time focusing on the person who actually died. I know she probably did that purposely since a lot of the mystery could have been solved if the focus was more on that woman than all the other shenanigans happening. Although, I am not completely sure why the lady from Cropportunity abandoned her car at the beginning of the story (which is what drew Faith into the mystery to start with). Everything thing else in the story all tied up nicely which is always a plus.

I am not sure if the whole "Adam" issue was brought up in previous books but I thought that section where Faith confronted Steve about betraying her could have happened earlier. Since it was so close to the end, I am hoping there is a book four that will put to bed this issue between the two.

Other than those niggles I completely enjoyed this novel and the characters. I am sad that I did not get to see the Faith Scrapbooking Tips since they were not included in the ARC copy but I'll bet they were truly interesting.

4 Stars!

I received this book as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from Net Galley in return for an honest review and I thank Net Galley, Henery Press and the author for allowing me to read this title.