4.5 Stars

This is the fifth book in the Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery series by Christina Freeburn.

I have to admit I was not the biggest fan of Ted Roget during this book. That is unusual for me since I have a detective book boyfriend in nearly ever cozy mystery series I read. I had been jumping around in this series and did not read it in the correct order. Sometimes reading in order can make a big difference when understanding romantic dynamics.

Basic premise: Faith went on a cruise with Ted under the guise of meeting his family but what she found almost seemed to pull the couple apart forever. Ted’s young daughter hated her. She tried during the entire cruise to get her parents back together and thus thwarted Faith’s attempts to find alone time with Ted at every turn. I loved that Ted’s dad, John, ended up on the cruise as well and elicited Faith’s help in his own case involving a jewel theft ring.

I was surprised at how much trouble Faith found herself in while on a cruise ship. I guess you never need to stray far when a mystery wants you to solve it. I am totally enjoying this series and I fear that after book six this story might be over and that makes me sad. I am totally digging this series and would love for it to continue.

If you love a good cozy mystery, you have to check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

An easy to read cosy mystery that I would recommend to others. Lovely plot, and story. Just great!!

It was a pleasant reading, fast with many twists, the end surprised me very much. The protagonist is intelligent, very nice and friend of all, really adorable. I also really enjoyed the set, a cruise to the Caribbean. Fiath is on a cruise with her boyfriend Ted, his ex-wife and his daughter, a not very pleasant company. To complicate the situation there is a theft of jewelry and some suspicious deaths.
It can be read as a standalone, even if it is the fifth in the series, there is a lot of information to understand the previous installments.

I want strong female protagonist not weak ones. I need books to stay on course if your going to have a theme stick to it.

For those who have read the prior books in the Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery series, this should be a good bridge between this and the next book. For others, it would be a more difficult book to read stand-alone. The relationships in the book have all been built over the previous four books and how the individuals react may seem strange unless you know the background.

For a cozy mystery, there are a lot of evil doings going on on this cruise ship. While there are a couple of instances that refer to scrap booking, on the whole, the book is about the cruise and solving murders. The whole point of the cruise is a wedding between Bob and his long-term boyfriend Garrison, so perhaps not doing scrap booking is appropriate in this case.

There is a lot of family in-fighting going on with Ted’s family (Faith’s boyfriend) and some blatant misbehavior from is tween daughter, Claire. Faith is trying to keep her cool but, seriously, things just keep happening to her which are not okay. And most of the happenings are caused by Ted’s family or their close friends. Faith ends up, once again, getting involved in solving the whodunnit.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

This series is so fun, and the mysteries are very suspenseful. I loved this book!! Can't wait to read the next one!

Faith goes on a cruise with her boyfriend to celebrate his brother's wedding. As soon as she gets to her stateroom, she's engulfed in the search for a jewel-thief. And, her boyfriend's mother is out of control in planning this wacky wedding. And, her boyfriend's daughter wants her parents to get back together. Quite a bunch of challenges for poor Faith. It's a novel that will keep your attention and has lots of twists and turns, as well as interesting characters. An enjoyable read!

Faith Hunter is going on her very first cruise - a wedding cruise for her friend Bob Roget and his fiance′ Garrison as a member of their wedding party. She's also looking forward to spending time with her boyfriend Ted (Bob's brother) and meeting his daughter Claire. What she doesn't expect is what ensues: being practically pushed into her stateroom and a dress being forced on her by Quinn, a crew member who tells her she needs to try it on now; and when she retreats to the bathroom to do so, is startled by Ted and Bob's father John Roget, a retired FBI agent who says he needs her help.

With an impatient Quinn outside yelling at her to hurry, and John trying to explain that there's jewel thieves on board and he needs her aid - because one of the suspects is Odessa - Faith barely has time to breathe. But thinking fast, she agrees, if only to prove Odessa isn't guilty.

When Faith meets a shipboard performer named Ronnie who is Garrison's friend and also in the wedding party, she thinks she's found a fast friend, since it's apparent early on that Odessa dislikes her, Claire hates her, and Ted is being manipulated by them both leaving him little time for her. But a series of mishaps befall Faith in which one results in the strap of her dress being torn and a visit to Quinn is needed. When Ronnie takes her to the crew's quarters - which is taboo for shipboard guests - it isn't long before she realizes Quinn is drunk...and drops dead right in front of her.

Suddenly the dream cruise becomes more of a nightmare, and Faith will have to keep her wits about her if she wants to survive being stuck in rough waters with a killer, jewel thieves, and Roget family members that wish she'd fall overboard...

Masked to Death is the fifth book in the Faith Hunter Scrap This Mysteries, and in my opinion is the best of the lot. While the first four books were good, in this one Ms. Freeburn has honed her craft to the point where we truly care about Faith and want the best for her. It's quite a bit of fun watching Faith try to juggle her obligations to Bob and Garrison and still help John, albeit unwillingly, find a team of jewel thieves before he can pin the crime on Odessa - or at least that's what she thinks he wants to do. When the crew member dies, Faith isn't convinced it was an accident. When she discovers more than one person has an interest in a tiara she's supposed to wear for the wedding, and a diamond bracelet goes missing, the hunt for the thieves becomes personal.

This book has mystery and intrigue aplenty, with poor Faith being stuck in the middle of it all. Odessa is having a major meltdown because plans are going awry, Claire is doing her best to keep Faith away from her dad, John is clandestinely watching her every move, and Faith is stuck on an ocean liner with a killer...

The plot is well done and interesting, proving things aren't always as they appear. When we finally come to the end of the book (too soon), it all knits together seamlessly and comes as quite a surprise, which is always a good thing. A true pleasure to read and I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.

Cruise vacations are supposed to be a highlight of one's life - sit back, relax, be waited upon and enjoy. Weddings are supposed to be joyous events, sharing the love of bringing souls together.
And yet- this combination makes for a very dark cozy mystery book.

Perhaps there is too much family togetherness. Especially when it comes to forced relationships, like a potential new step parent or two for an eleven year old girl who still dreams of getting her parents back together. Or a Grand Dame mother who dreams of a show stopping extravaganza wedding for her son.

If you have not read previous books in this series, the beginning may be a bit complex to unravel the relationships, but each character is well described and you'll feel their individual energies. You will quickly discover who the power forces are.
There is non stop action and deception, even when it may be difficult to tell who are the good guys, who are the bad, or even if there are any clear cut lines. I actually felt bad for everyone in this book.
It has a complicated, twisted plot with clues being suggested in nearly every paragraph.

I love the combination of crafts and mystery! Such a fun cozy, I can't wait for more!

I was really excited about this book when I first read about it. It sounded great. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed in the actual thing.

The mechanics of the book, like grammar, sentence structure, etc. were fine, which is why it gets 2 stars and not just 1. The rest of the book is unfortunately, not nearly as stellar. In fact, I felt it was pretty horrid. Mostly because of the characters, but some of the plot twists also got to me. I try very hard to find positive things to comment on when I review because I know the author worked hard at writing the book. Unfortunately, aside from liking one character and one scene, I really just did not like this book.

Now, I admit, I have not read the other books in the series, but I found the characters annoying, shallow, and the only one I really liked was Garrison. I thought Garrison was kind and compassionate, yet he had the ability to stand up for himself, which many of these characters seem to lack.

Faith needs a backbone. I understand wanting to please people all the time. I'm guilty of that myself; I struggle with trying to be a people-pleaser everyday, but sometimes you just have to stand up for yourself and live your life. Not the life that everyone else wants for you. For example, I completely understand Faith following her grandmothers' wishes regarding unmarried couples not residing together while she's living in their home. If you don't want to room with your significant other on a cruise, own up to it. Don't blame it on your grandmothers. If you do want to room with your significant other - do it. You're not in their house, under their rules, so live your life. It's possible to do that and not be disrespectful. It's called boundaries, which Faith seems to be very much lacking.

Maybe Ted is a better character in the other books, but his indecision in this one, the coddling of his daughter even when she's being Royal Brat #1 (applause for brother Bob who finally called his niece on her behavior and warned her she needed to straighten up or she might not be in their wedding after all! Someone had to stand up to her!), and his seeming lack of interest in carving out time just for him and Faith (with one or two exceptions) makes me not like him at all and I want to tell Faith to dump him.

Throughout the book there is talk of a mental illness, but we don't have any idea what type until the end. There are very vague hints, but even knowing people WITH this mental illness, I didn't guess it (I'm not saying which mental illness because I consider that to be a spoiler). Even at the end, it's simply thrown at us with no real explanations. Ms. Freeburn misses a terrific opportunity to deal with the stigma surrounding mental illnesses, particularly the one involved.

Another thing that was a little bit annoying (tho' admittedly not as much as the characters were) was that even though this cruise was supposedly taking place during Mardi Gras, aside from the one masked ball, we hear nothing about the holiday. Why make an emphasis to say it's happening during Mardi Gras and then not actually incorporate more than one Mardi Gras themed event? Why didn't the cruise ship stop at some of the islands that celebrate Mardi Gras/Carnivale?

There are plenty of positive reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, but I just could not see the positives in this book other than Garrison's character and then Bob standing up to his niece for being such a brat.

Maybe you'll have better luck with it.

** I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions expressed are my own. **

Well I have never been on a cruise but if they are half as exciting as the one in this book, I might be in over my head. In fact, I don't know if I could solve such a spinning tale of mystery and murder on the high seas. But Faith does it great!
This book was so much fun! Great secondary characters and moved quickly. I couldn't believe the ending what a perfect cliff hanger!

I am certainly coming back to this series more now after reading this book. I sure look forward to more adventures in this series.

This is a great book; this is the fifth book in the Faith Hunter Scrap This series written by Christina Freeburn. A Caribbean cruise is the perfect setting for a Roget wedding, and Faith meeting Ted’s family. She also hopes the vacation gets their stalled romance moving, but it doesn’t take long for that dream to capsize. Ted’s daughter hates her. The ex-wife is adored. Odessa Roget is surly. And the banned father of a groom, John Roget, requests Faith’s assistance in bringing down a jewel theft ring masterminded by his ex-wife.This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I am looking forward to reading the next book by this great author. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

Entertaining and engaging cozy mystery. A change of venue for Faith and friends. Lots of action, twists and turns. It held my interest and kept me turning the pages. I was eager to keep reading. Many surprises kept me guessing.

I really enjoyed this book. Having a Caribbean cruise setting was a nice change.
The story itself was well written and I was shocked with the ending. The author threw in plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing.
Faith was portrayed as a very patient woman in this story. Her relationship with Ted is put to the test when his young daughter and ex-wife are on the cruise with the family.
Ted's daughter Claire was portrayed as a spoiled child, however, I think the author did a good job with her character.

I am looking forward to reading more in this series.
I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

Setting: Aboard the cruise ship, Serenade, for the wedding of Bob and Garrison

Characters:
Faith Hunter, plucky, whip-sharp narrator; co-manager of a scrapbooking shop in Eden, West Virginia.
Ted Roget, police detective and Faith's boyfriend. Accompanied by ex-wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Claire.
Odessa Roget - formidable mother of Ted and Bob
Ronnie - on-ship performer, friend of Garrison
William - gold-digging gigolo, brother of Ronnie
John Roget - Odessa's ex-husband, FBI consultant, estranged father of Bob and Ted

Plot: Faith and the Roget clan are off on a cruise to celebrate the wedding of Bob and Garrison. Faith hopes this will be an opportunity to spend some romantic time with Ted, as well as make inroads with his 11-year-old daughter, Claire. Once on board, Ted's estranged father, John, pulls Faith into an investigation looking for a jewel thief who is stealing valuable pieces of jewelry from passengers on board and replacing them with high-quality fakes. John is convinced Odessa is involved. Faith agrees to help in order to ensure John doesn't wrongfully implicate Odessa. Before you can say bon voyage, things start going wrong. The wedding plans fall apart, Faith is excluded from group activities as Claire actively attempts to reunite her parents, and the body county on board rises. Faith is rapidly entangled in family drama, multiple investigations, and serious concerns about her place in Ted's life. She's up against the clock to unmask a thief and a killer before the ship reaches its final port.

Pacing: Steady

Predictability: Low. Masked to Death is full of interesting plot turns. I called a few points with Claire and her horrible attitude, but was way off track regarding the culprit!

Wild Card: Wow, I disliked Claire. What a brat! I give Faith mad props for not losing her cool. The whole story is my favorite of the series so far.

Hit, Miss, or Draw? Hit!

This wasn't my favorite Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery Series offering. I felt like it began very slowly, and the characters from the boat seemed unbelievable and unlikable, including Ted's daughter. I plodded through to the end to get the resolution, but I for one will be happy when Faith is back in Eden.