ARC Review: Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka

Once You Go This Far
Author: Kristen Lepionka
Series: Roxane Weary (Book 4)
Publication: Minotaur Books (July 7, 2020)

Description: Once You Go This Far is the fourth thrilling mystery from Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated author Kristen Lepionka.

Junior-high school nurse Rebecca Newsome was an experienced hiker―until she plummeted to her death at the bottom of a ravine in a Columbus metro park. Her daughter, Maggie, doesn't believe it was an accident, and Rebecca's ex-husband is her prime suspect. But he's a well-connected ex-cop and Maggie is certain that's the reason no one will listen to her. PI Roxane Weary quickly uncovers that the dead woman's ex is definitely a jerk, but is he a murderer?

As she pieces together the days before Rebecca died, what Roxane finds doesn't quite add up. From a series of trips to Detroit and across the border to a casino in Windsor, Canada, to strange calls from Rebecca's home to a charismatic political candidate, to a women's health organization, to a secretive church group that seems to have more information about its members than it should, Roxane needs to figure out how everything is connected before a dangerous secret gets someone else killed.

My Thoughts: The fourth Roxane Weary mystery begins with Roxane meeting a woman at a Columbus Park. It was a brief meeting since Roxane was waiting for her brother and the woman and her dog seemed eager to hit the trail. That should have been that, but moments later she learns that the woman has fallen from the path and died. She ends up going to the hospital since she's got the dog and meeting the woman's daughter.

After getting things squared away with the dog, Roxane goes on with her life. She isn't expecting the woman's daughter to stop in a couple of weeks later to let her know the woman died and that Maggie, the daughter, wants Roxane to look into things since Maggie finds the death suspicious.

Roxane begins to look into things and is immediately dropped into a complex situation with ties to a secretive church, a couple of the victim's ex-husbands, and a charismatic female politician who views don't align with the church.

The more Roxane looks, the more questions she has and the more bodies pile up or the more people go missing. And her case gives her the perfect excuse for putting off any emotional encounters with the guy she is seeing. Emotional encounters are always to be avoided in Roxane's world since she had way too many with her father before his death. A half-sister she didn't know she had is just one more bomb from her father and is complicated by the fact that both her brothers knew about it but hadn't told her.

This was an entertaining mystery with an intriguing main character. I liked reading about Roxane but could easily understand how so many of the people in her life found her difficult.

Favorite Quote:

"Do you want to hold her?"

I put the borrowed pen down. "If you need a break, I am happy to hold your baby. My ovaries do not ache to do so, however."

Maggie laughed. "I think that's the most honest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"I try."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.