Joshua Moehling is surely a debut author to look forward to his next works. In And There He Kept Her, the author’s first thriller, Moehling tells a gripping story that will keep readers hooked from the first to the last page.

With an abrupt start, we are faced with the breaking and entering perpetrated by Jesse Crawford and Jenny Wheeler, when they are surprised by Emmett Burr, the property owner, with a shotgun and everything just goes from bad to worse, with Jesse being shot and Jenny trapped in Burr’s basement, which holds too many secrets and he wants to keep them hidden.

Deputy Benjamin Packard receives a call from his cousin, Susan Wheeler, about her daughter’s disappearance. At first, he thinks Jenny has just escaped home to be with her boyfriend, but soon her mother discards that possibility since she left her cellphone and insulin behind, without which she couldn’t go on much longer. And what seems to be something that could be resolved very quickly, soon turns out to unfold into a case much more complex and branched out.

As time passes by, we see the urgency Packard puts into finding the two teenagers, especially when everything leads to believe that Jenny’s boyfriend, Jesse, had taken over the “dealing business” at school from someone who might just complicate things because of the person’s family links. We also get to sink into the deputy’s life, his past as cop in another state and personal life unfolds gradually throughout the book, giving us a more complete view of Ben’s own tragedies.

Moehling demonstrates a great control of how much information is given in each chapter and how that influences what the reader thinks. Page after page we are led through an intricate maze of characters, their lives and the secrets that could bring them down if all was revealed. And There He Kept Her is much more than just another thriller about a false imprisonment, it is a look into what people decide to share what they decide to keep hidden.

This is certainly one of the books that will be in my Top 5 readings of 2022 and a must-read for fans of an enthralling novel with magnificent characters that give the story even more appeal.

Wow! I loved everything about this book!! The way the story was divided gives readers an advantageous perspective and increased knowledge on the goings on with the investigation, but also, the occurrences for the teen in captivity. Not only that, but the dialogue helped so much in creating a backstory for the villain in this story and I really appreciated that!

I loved the small town setting where everyone kind of knows everyone, and it shows that even in small towns, maybe especially small towns, the polar haves and have-nots are explored and create even more dynamic tension in solving the case of the missing teens.

I could NOT stop reading this book. All I wanted to do was read Packard's story and follow him as he and his team of deputy sheriffs worked leads to solve the case. Looking evil right in the face and not even seeing it was one of the hardest parts of the story for me. The story is less about two teens breaking into a house to still prescription meds and more about starting over, going back to your roots, and finding your place in a new space - even after a tragedy. I wonder if the author will continue with this story as it is kind of left open for another investigation for Ben Packard.

It really makes you wonder, how many people we might interact with daily who have committed or are still committing truly heinous crimes? We could be living right next door to someone like that.

I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for the opportunity to read and share my opinions on this book. It's a 5-star read for me, and one that I will recommend to my fellow readers!!

Ben Packard has returned to the town where he spent his youth vacationing with family. He’s stepped in as acting sheriff. The story revolves around two missing teenagers, a small town, and the struggles of the sheriff to manage being back, dealing with small town life again, and the things he ran from.

I loved the characters in this book. The storyline was intriguing and kept me hooked but it was the main character, Ben who I really felt drawn in by.

I would read more by this author and I hope we will see Ben again!

And There He Kept Her is the first published novel by American author, Joshua Moehling. Eighteen months after grief and confusion see Ben Packard quitting Minneapolis Police for an investigator position in the small Minnesotan town of Sandy Lake, he’s been appointed Acting Sheriff while Sheriff Stan Shaw undergoes chemo.

That’s not the only reason that Susan Wheeler calls him about her missing teenaged daughter. Susan is Ben’s cousin, so there is a loose family connection. Turns out Jenny Wheeler has gone off in the early hours with her boyfriend, Jesse Crawford, but a few things point to this being something other than a romantic getaway. Adding urgency is the fact that Jenny has insulin-dependent diabetes and only a limited reserve of insulin.

As Ben investigates, he learns that Jesse is no squeaky clean teen; rather, he’s dealing weed and pills to students at school. When Ben digs deeper, he finds an association that requires a sensitive discussion with his boss. Following up, Ben comes upon a death scene that could be accidental, but doesn’t feel that way to him.

Emmet Burr has had it with people thieving his medications: he needs them for his debilitating pain. So when he disturbs two intruders in his basement in the early hours, they’re confronted by a fat, naked man with a shotgun. Emmet fires the gun, and then has to call on Carl, who’s helped him out before in a situation like this.

This is a tightly plotted police procedural, and while the reader knows much of what has happened before the Sandy Lake County Sheriff Department does, watching Ben’s investigation proceed keeps the pages turning. There’s plenty of tension in the build-up to a nail-biting climax, and quite a high body count, for a small town, by the final pages.

Ben Packard is a complex and appealing character, a diligent cop who acts with integrity while trying to keep his sexual preferences and a certain traumatic family incident under the town’s radar. Moehling gives the reader plenty of support characters with good intentions tempered with very human flaws, and a couple of really nasty characters whose attitude will chill to the bone.

There is also a generous dose of humour, some of it quite dark, both in the dialogue and the people and situations Ben has to sort out. Moehling leaves plenty of scope with unresolved matters for further books in the series, and more of Ben and Sandy Lake will definitely be welcome. An outstanding debut novel.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press.

I could not put this book down because I had to know what happened. It's also taken me a while to put my thoughts into words other than I just really enjoyed this dual POV thriller.
And while you knew exactly who the good guy/bad guy was it was so interesting to get to read about both of their inner thoughts and demons.

If I had anything to critique, I thought the ending was a bit underwhelming. I would've liked for Emmett (heck even Carl) to be literally arrested. Whatever, no big deal. Definitely still a great, fast-paced read!

Thank you Netgalley & Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC!

And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

When two high school students break into a disabled old man’s home one night looking for a fast score, the last thing they expect is for him to be more than a match for them. Jenny Wheeler is a good kid most of the time, but her slightly older boyfriend Jesse Crawford is desperate to find the pills he knows are stashed in the house. Things go wrong, the teenagers don’t make it home, and the next morning Jenny’s normally stoic mom Susan is calling her cousin, Deputy Sheriff Ben Packard, to report her daughter missing.

At first, Packard doesn’t think it’s that big a deal: kids often lose track of time, especially when spending it with their love interests, and usually show up none the worse for wear within a day or two. Susan, however, is worried because Jenny is diabetic and hasn’t taken any backup for the insulin pump she wears. Of even greater concern is the fact that the phone that Jenny is usually surgically attached to is still in her bedroom.

As the days pass without any sign of Jenny or Jesse, Packard must increasingly lean on the skills he honed back in Minneapolis to investigate how they could have possibly disappeared so completely. Having a missing family member, in a dim echo of his own older brother’s disappearance decades earlier, weighs heavily on him. In addition to this, his role as acting sheriff makes him responsible for the safety of the entire county. The current sheriff, Stan Shaw, is undergoing debilitating rounds of chemo, and handpicked Packard to take over while he’s indisposed, despite Packard’s lack of seniority. Packard wants to prove that this trust in him is earned, but faces a dilemma when he discovers that one of Stan’s grandkids might have been involved in the teens’ disappearance. Gingerly, he attempts to bring up the subject to Stan, and is told:

QUOTE
[“]Were you here when [my granddaughter] got the DWI?”

Packard shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Pulled over with four other girls in the car. Blew .19. I think she was expecting to get off with a warning because her grandpa was the sheriff. She got the opposite. She got the full treatment. Still doesn’t have her license back because she violated the terms of her parole. I personally called the judge and told her to suspend it for six more months.”

Now he knew where Stan stood when it came to his grandkids breaking the law.
END QUOTE

With this sort of support behind him, Packard feels more confident pursuing leads in their somewhat insular community, no matter where those leads might take him. But will he be able to find and rescue the kids before an unrepentant killer puts them permanently beyond his reach?

The surprises come thick and fast in this excellent small town police procedural, as Packard has to race to save the teenagers even while he’s being drawn in sixteen different directions trying to do his job, and often the jobs of others’. The characterizations are sharply drawn, with a keen eye too for humorous details and dialog.

At the heart of all this, of course, is the hard-working, intelligent and deeply conflicted Ben Packard:

QUOTE
When he looked back on it, Packard knew fleeing from Minneapolis to Sandy Lake had been what they call in recovery circles a geographical cure. He thought his problems were with the city and the job and the rumors about him and Marcus. He’d expected to leave his troubles behind, but two years on he still hadn’t resolved his feelings about Marcus. In death, Marcus had become perfect. Untouchable. Packard was the asshole who kept him at arm’s length during their year together, wary of what his life would be like coupled with another man.
END QUOTE

Following along as Packard comes to terms with both his identity and his grief is almost as gripping as the suspenseful abduction plot, and certainly as entertaining. I loved, too, that the ending hinted at a sequel that explores even more of Packard’s past. After this impressive debut for both the character and author Joshua Moehling, I can’t wait to read all about it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Joshua Moehling, and Poisoned Press for an advance copy of this debut novel in exchange for an honest review.

Where to start?! I love police procedurals that also double as a thriller so this book was right up my alley. I CANNOT believe this was a debut and im so impressed with the authors writing. Ben Packard gave me Will Trent vibes and I need more of him in my reading life. I also loved that this was told from both POVs (the deputys and the perps!) Im a born and raised Minnesotan so I loved all the nods to Minnesota and obviously the setting- the author did a great job bringing small town MN life alive to his readers.

I also appreciate that this book featured a LGBTQA+ main character as I feel like we dont see alot of these characters represented in a big way in novels. I hope we get to explore more of this aspect of Ben the next time we meet him again (wishful thinking here). This one comes out on 6/14/22 and you just have to add it to your summer TBR.

A fine example of a story that flowed from the beginning to the end with well developed characters and a believable premise that didn't have to grasp for straws to tell a story. It was easy to read and understandable as we met characters whose life was hard an sad.

Definitely recommend this one for its well written content and Joshua Moehling's ability to make his characters so real.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a story that held my attention from its inception to the end. This book is available to all on June 14,2022.

This is the year for debut authors you all! @jmoehling has done something truly disturbing, creepy and addicting with this one.

Sometimes with thrillers, it is hard to stay “unique” and things get played out repeatedly that I roll my eyes, nod along and forget about it after I am done reading but this-no sir! 70-year-old Emmett Burr will haunt me. I really appreciated the fact that our villain was an elderly man in bad health. It really made the story much more realistic and frankly, scary as hell. Definitely going to be side eying the creepy old man at the grocery store now.

I fell in love with our detective Ben Packard. His background, his inner blight at finding happiness and his desire to find the truth really made me feel for him. I think it also helped break up all the darkness that is this book. We find out so much about him that I am hoping we get another appearance of him in another one of @jmoehling work. Fingers crossed maybe?! There are trigger warnings so beware going into it. If you want to know what they are-DM me!

Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy!!!

<b>Note:</b> I received an advanced copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley.

When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he's been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he'll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector.

Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff's deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.

This is on a sickness scale that is truly terrifying. I can and I can not believe that this ould actually happen but I have read too many serial killer stories.

And There He Kept Her is crime drama at its best. Ben Packard is the acting sheriff of the same small town his brother disappeared from 20 years ago. When 2 teenagers disappear, he tackles finding clues with intensity. Dealing with some of the local crazies, including one of his staff, make small town detective work a little trickier than big city detective work. The pace of this book kept me glued to my book all day. I cannot believe this is a debut novel and I cannot wait to read Packards next investigation.

I could not put this book down! While it was different than I was expecting, it was still so enjoyable. I adored Packard, the main character and I am hoping we see more of him in books to come? Fingers crossed!

This book is a good mystery suspenseful story that kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was happening. Sometimes I felt like the book dragged on a bit, but overall, I enjoyed it, and considering it a debut, I was super impressed!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I will leave a review on Amazon and B&N on June 14th

This was a new author for me, and I really enjoyed the book. Two teens are missing in a small community in Minnesota, and the acting sheriff Ben Packard is trying his best to figure out what has happened to them. I would recommend it to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and am under no obligation to leave a favorable review the opinion expressed here are my own.

Rating: 3
Author: Joshua Moehling

This one was okay. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t great. I feel like it was way too long even when I turned the speed up to 3.0 on the audiobook. The narrator felt one note which made it hard to connect to the characters. I never truly felt any emotion from anything happening in the story.

I think the main issue I have with this book is there is nothing to figure out and it has zero suspense. From reading the synopsis as well as the title of the book the reader knows what happened. The chapters switch between what’s currently happening with Jenny and the police officer Packard who is trying to figure out where she is. While I liked Packard’s character I didn’t care about his chapters. Again, I think it’s because as the reader I knew where Jenny was and so it made Packard’s chapters feel very repetitive. I did, however, find Emmett and Jenny’s interactions to be interesting. I feel as though if the story focused more on Emmett’s conflicting feelings then I would have enjoyed this one more.

Overall, it’s an okay book to read if you have nothing else going on. This is definitely one that you will have to try on your own. Just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean you might not love it!

Thank you so much @dreamscapemedia & @poisonedpenpress for the #gifted copy on #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book Review:

And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

There are people who seem like killers and then killers that fly under the radar because they are just average people. This is a great example of the latter. I loved this book, but given recent world circumstances if the kidnapping of a high school aged girl is too much for you then skip this one.

Emmett Burr didn't mean to kidnap the girl...this time. When two teens break into his basement to steal his pills, the boy is shot but he keeps the girl until he can decide what to do with her.

I really liked the character development that happened for many of the characters. From beginning to end you felt like you understood Emmett or Office Packard much more than the beginning of the story. Such a good story but very disturbing at the same time.

If this sounds like a book for you, make sure to check it out when it releases June 14th!

Thanks to @poisonedpenpress
And @netgalley for this advanced reader!

#BookReview #Bookstagram #JoshuaMoehling #AndThereHeKeptHer #PoisonedPenPress #BookishLife #reading #InstaBooks #BookPhotography #BookRecommendations #Bibliophile #GirlsWhoRead #BookNerd #ThrillerBooks

Whew! And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling was a page turner that left me breathless through all the sections with the teenagers who were missing. The parts of the book with Ben Packard, sheriff's deputy/acting sheriff were not only well-written and entertaining, they explored facets of lives rarely explored; I am not going to spoil the specific issues Ben is facing in his new small-town, but I enjoyed thinking about it and pondering if small towns really are that much different from bigger cities in dealing with differences or if they are just magnified because of the size of the town making everyone's attitudes more on display. Though this isn't a typical book club type book, some of the community issues that were highlighted in the novel would certainly make for good discussion topics.

So the thriller portion of this novel revolves around two missing teenagers. In the first pages of the novel, the reader learns what happens to them: They robbed the wrong guy and paid a steep price for doing so. The book follows three different POVs: One of the two teenagers, the main police officer (Ben), and the old man who was robbed. Each POV was fascinating and made the story so much more well rounded than it would have been without it. In fact, in addition to the three narrators, I absolutely loved so many of the secondary characters in And There He Kept Her. The main standout for me was Gary, the LGBTQ+ truck driver/former porn-star/former prostitute/animal rescuer was a trip. He and his feud with his religiously zealous neighbor was a welcome comic relief.

All in all, I REALLY liked this book and would give it 4.5 stars for entertainment and enjoyment.

This book by a first time author to me started with a bang...literally. Two teenagers are shot as they break into someone's basement. This fast paced book kept me reading from the beginning. I usually have two or three books going at once, but this is the one I kept returning to. Investigations are led by Packard, a gay cop (really just an under current in the story) who is struggling with some past history and learning how to accept himself for who and what he is. During the investigation and the search for the missing teenagers, we are taken into the world of people selling drugs, kidnapping and murder. By the end of the book, it seemed like the author was leaving himself an opening for another book, this one possibly about a cold case he has a personal interest in. If so, I would definitely read it. I will be looking for more of his books.

What an epic debut thriller!
I truly don't have the words to do this justice. This was fast paced, disturbing in all the right ways and based on a children's riddle...CREEPY!!!

I really enjoyed this debut suspense from Joshua Moehling! It was well-plotted, well-paced, and the characters were interesting and well-developed. Although you know all along 'whodunnit', it was interesting to follow the investigation to see if they'd rescue the victim in time. I also found it fascinating to see into the mind of the abductor, specifically how he justifies his own actions and shifts the blame onto others until the very end.

This was a great suspense read that felt like the first in a series. I would definitely read more!