Wow, just wow! Solid debut novel. Well-crafted thriller. I cannot wait to see more from this author!

Two teens break into Emmett Burr's house, but they each got more than they bargained for when Emmett comes down the stairs with a shotgun. The teens are soon reported missing. However, as the story unfolds, the lines between victim and villain become blurred. Who is Emmett Burr really?

Ben Packard moved to Sandy Lake for a fresh start. He is the current acting sheriff and trying to keep the peace between the locals, especially Gary and Cora--neighbors who do not get along, However, when one of the missing teens is Packard's relative, he becomes invested in this case.

I really liked this protagonist, and oddly enough, I felt for Emmett Burr to a degree. Some lines got blurred there between victim and kidnapper. So glad I was able to read this!

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, and Netgalley for this digital ARC.

Always delighted to discover a new series, and I think Moehling will continue with Ben Packard. Loved the characters, the writing, the ambiguity of right/wrong, motives. It was by turns funny, horrifying, suspenseful. I loved that the villains do some good things so it's not entirely possible to hate them. So well done! Highly recommend.

"I look like Jackie Onassis, the nursing home years," she joked.

P.S. Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC.

“𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍.“

This debut from author, Joshua Moehling, is somewhat of a departure from what I’ve been reading lately. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this story, which is told in a fairly linear timeline with a few different POVs. Although we do hear from multiple characters, we really get to know Ben Packard, acting Sherriff in a small Minnesota town, and Emmett Burr, victim of a burglary and keeper of dark, twisted secrets. The reader is blessed with touches of mystery and suspense but what’s different here is an early reveal. From the very beginning, we know the who, the how, and the why.

“𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗‘𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚘.“

Moehling’s masterful use of descriptive prose creates a world that the reader can see,
 
“𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚢𝚎𝚛.“

hear,

“𝙾𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍.“

and touch.
 
“𝙰 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕.“

Through a slowly building narrative, we are introduced to characters that we really get to know and appreciate. All are flawed, as is in life. Moehling deftly creates confusion and unease through shifting expectations of what it means to be a victim/a killer/a hero. None of these labels feel solid here and that throws the reader off balance.
 
“𝚆𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎?“

The conclusion of this story leads me to believe that a sequel is in the works. I hope this is the case because I look forward to another visit to Sandy Lake, Minnesota!

I finished reading the book at the 100th page. I'm sorry about that, because until then, the story was interesting, and the lead detective was sympathetic. However, both in real life and in books, I love human relationships that are authentic and acceptable to me, and not ones that I don’t even like to imagine, yet they push into my face. I know these human relationships are fashionable today and almost mandatory in every book and movie, but I prefer to avoid them. I may be conservative and not modern and liberal enough, but I reserve the right to read only and like only what is still acceptable to me. Therefore, although the publisher may not tolerate my opinion, I find this book unreadable due to the aforementioned problem.

The title alone had me hooked! This was a very well written book with lots of details and very interesting and sinister characters.
"They thought he was a helpless old man but they were wrong"
Dark and disturbing but definitely one of those books that you just cant put down.

In a boring tourist town 2 teenagers decide to break into an old mans house to steal his narcotics. But they are quickly face with the owner of the home and a shotgun. What happens after this sends Ben Packard the small town sheriff, who has secrets of his own.

Highly recommend! This book was thrilling and kept me on the edge of my seat. I read this in one sitting which is rare for me! The story is full of unexpected twists and I found it impossible to put this one down. My first book to read by this author but I cannot wait to read more!

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. Good debut book by the author. This book has some dark and disturbing parts. Unfortunately, the war on prescription drugs is very real in today's world, and I could see this book becoming a realty. Some suspense, some parts were slow. Almost hit too close to home for me though in my personal and work life.

Really enjoyed this book. I was gripped from the beginning. my only criticism was that i felt the last couple of chapters were rushed. highly recommended.

I could not put this down, it was beautifully written and intensely addictive.

I'm a sucker for chilly small town narratives and this one is excellent - the scene setting is superb and the story, not a whodunit but a race against time to stop yet more loss, is cleverly plotted and full of deeply drawn characters of the morally ambiguous kind.

The hero of our story, acting Sheriff Packard, is an engaging character who is relatable and focused, dealing with loss of his own in more than one way. He also manages to avoid all cliche which is a huge plus for this reader and I believe he'll be appearing in future novels which made me very happy.

The group dynamic and community vibe is enthralling and the author is cleverly insightful making you feel sympathy for both the good and the evil in this literary thriller, you occasionally have to shake yourself and remember who you should be rooting for.

Overall truly excellent. Likely to be one of my books of the year.

Pleasantly surprised as this is a debut novel for Joshue Moehling and he will continue to be on my radar. Plot was easy to follow, fast past, thrilling. Absolutely loved this!
This is my first thriller requested and approved and I’m so happy I decided to read this!
Jenny got it tough…. this is a gruesome read so if you are not into that this would not be a great option!
If you can handle the disturbing parts, I hope you enjoy like I did

Dark, disturbing and surprisingly fun! I enjoyed this book so much.

The premise alone made this book interesting to me when I saw it on Netgalley—I waited a few months for this to be approved and I guess the wait was worth it.

Jesse and Jenny went missing after breaking into an old man’s house in search of prescription drugs.

Emmet Burr is keeping a dark secret in his basement.

Ben Packard— the deputy sheriff of Sandly Lake has secrets of his own.

I just love the main character so much. I think the readers would appreciate the complexity and the realness of Ben’s character as they dig deeper into the story. There is a bit of unconfined cheerfulness in his personality that I find endearing. Although some parts of the story were dark and triggering, they were necessary in highlighting the depth of the crimes and the severity of a man’s wickedness.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy!

I loved this book from a new author to me and I read it in two sittings. It's propulsive and I felt glued to the screen. The plot is creative and has a lot of interesting twists and turns. The characters are believable and even the horrible ones have some redeeming qualities. The main character, Packard, was a joy to get to know and I hope Moehling releases another book soon so I can spend more time with him. He's definitely a good guy with some flaws he is aware of and working on. The small town setting was very real to me, a resident of one also. And I loved the ending, without giving it away, it was believable and not too sugar-coated.

This book was a great surprise! I had been in a reading slump due to the lack of fast paced, action packed crime thriller novels.

Then I stumbled upon a positive review (this book was not even on my radar) and on a whim requested a ARC from Netgalley and was lucky enough to be approved.

“And There He Kept Her” was exactly what I needed to bring me out of the thriller novel wasteland.

Highly recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put this down. This author did a great job of making the characters real with enough mystery and drama to keep you wondering how this all would play out. Ben Packard is the acting sheriff in a town that holds pleasant and sad memories for him. His job gets more difficult when two teenagers are reported missing. In a small town, everyone, everyone knows everyone and in this case one of the missing teenagers is related to Ben. The town has secrets and Ben has things he needs to figure out. The story wraps itself up with a possible lead to a future mystery. I would gladly see where that journey might lead. This is my first book by Joshua Moehling. I am sure it will not be my last.

And There He Kept Her by J. Moehling, published by Poisoned Pen Press, is a full length, stand-alone debut thriller of its finest.
This book kept me in suspense, breatlessly sitting on the edge of my seat right from the start til the last page.
Ben is a sheriff's deputy, in a small town he's starting over. And he leads the investigation of two missing teens.
Emmett is a dark soul who keeps his secrets in the basement of his house - nough said.
This dark read ticked all my boxes. The writing is excellent, the story complex, suspenseful, thrilling to read. I recommend the book.

This was a suspenseful and well-written story. I was expecting a mystery but I feel like it was more of a police procedural. Kind of disappointing at first but the level of suspense made up for it. It’s disturbing at times and could use some trigger warnings.
Overall, it was a great read that I think most thriller lovers will like it.

For a debut horror novel…god dammit this was IT! Congratulations to the author.
This book was gruesome, evil, disturbing and horrifying.
Thanks for getting me out of a reading slump and I will look forward for more about this author!

The much-trodden path of missing girl with a medial condition and the race against time to find her. But, in this instance, lifted above the norm in this excellent debut novel by Joshua Moehling. Yes, the acting Sheriff is a man with a secret in his past but it's not belaboured and he doesn't wallow in angst to the detriment of his job. As well as the investigation into the missing girl, Packard also goes about a variety of mundane tasks in the small town of Sandy Falls, thus allowing the reader to get a real sense of the man's dogged, principled persona.
Emmett Burr, about whom I can't say too much without spoilers, is a complicated, multi-dimensional character and I found my opinion of him varying from chapter to chapter. Although this is a fast-paced hold-your-interest read, alternating between a few different viewpoints, Moehling's strength is in his character building and I was pleased to see a little teaser at the end, intimating that we will be seeing more of Ben Packard.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. I could NOT finish this book of murder, mystery, and horror. It was terrifying to me at times...Although the story does move slowly, it does give the read an insight to the characters. I will try to finish it again.

Without question, I absolutely loved And There He Kept Her and can easily give it five stars! What a great page-turner. When life got in the way of my reading, I couldn’t wait to get back to the book. The pace was exciting and believable as the search for the missing teens took place.

I thought the author did an expert job at character development. It’s the complex story of a robbery gone bad, a couple murders, and a kidnapping, all among ordinary people. Ben was a conscientious detective who worked at being a stand-up guy, and I felt his angst at revealing his true self. I could picture the nosy neighbors of Gary and Carl. I enjoyed the interplay between Jennie and Emmett who kept her locked up and how that relationship roller-coastered. The description of overweight, out-of-shape Emmett had me visualizing everything that was described; well done. Some of the characters were ho-hum, some were interesting, and some were despicable; and it all worked.

The ending was wrapped up beautifully. This is one of those books that made me want to clap when justice was served at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review And There He Kept Her. It was truly my pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

P.S. Did I read somewhere that this is a debut novel? I tried to find that but couldn’t verify it. If so, I am most impressed and look forward to Mr. Moehling’s next endeavor.