Ben Packard is the temporary sheriff in a small town where he spent summers as a kid. His brother disappeared when he was a tween and he is still haunted. His cousin lives in the town and when her daughter, Jenny, goes missing, she calls Ben first.

Jenny's boyfriend Jesse is a bit of a petty thief but quickly got in over his head when he broke into the wrong man's basement. Unfortunately, Jenny was with him. Now Ben needs to find Jenny and save her before she it's too late.

This book felt like it was taken from a headline, good writing, fast pace, interesting characters who a reader will care about - the good ones that is. I really enjoyed the book.

This was clever! Twisty and a ride and a half, This was my first by this author and won't be my last! It was twisty enough to keep me wanting more . Fantastic Read! 3.5 stars

When two teenagers break into Emmett Burr’s home they don’t realize this may be the biggest mistake they’ve ever made. Emmett has secrets that he will do anything to protect. Acting Sheriff Ben Packard is “new” to Sandy Lake, the small town he spent his summers in. After leaving the big city in Minneapolis after a tragedy, small town life might be just what Ben needs, but Ben has a secret past that he wants to move on from and start his life per fresh. When Ben’s cousin Sandy comes to him about her missing daughter, he’s determined to find her and not let her disappear like his bother did all those years ago.

This was such a great read. The suspense and race against time kept me wanting to read more. I really like the way the main character Ben Packard was written.. Very well written character that was not stereotypically written. Definitely recommend this read. Thank you NetGalley and The Poisoned Pen for this ARC.

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

This book felt like part thriller, part mystery and I was really drawn in right away.

Two teens go missing in the middle of the night, with little to no evidence surrounding their disappearance. Unlike most mysteries, we actually learn the villain’s identity early on, and while the town’s Sheriff is trying crack the case in real time, we are left to wonder how one person could become so twisted and evil over the course of their life.

Loved the premise of this one, but the execution fell just a little flat. I really enjoyed Emmett’s chapters, but felt like I was trying to rush myself through Packard’s. I enjoyed the ending though!

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-ARC of this novel to read and review! Better late than never, right?

I love a good dark mystery. This book paced well for me. I found myself creeped out at times. It was perfect and I can’t wait to read more from this author. Well written.

Thank you Netgalley & Poisoned Pen Press for an eARC of And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling!

What’s it about?
Two weeks break into a house looking for drugs - and the situation quickly turns into a nightmare. Emmett Burr has been hiding secrets in his basement for more than two decades, and he’ll do anything to keep them. Former police officer Ben Packard has been sent to Sandy Lake for a fresh start. Now he’s leading an investigation into missing teens and finds himself forced to reveal his own secrets while discovering those of the town he now calls home.

A great debut novel by Joshua Moehling. I love a book that gives a creepy, chilling and atmospheric small town vibe, and this one delivers on that. A unique, dark book with dual POVs that will keep you turning the pages - If you’re looking for a fall or winter read, this one will have you hiding under the covers.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Absolutely yes! I really enjoyed reading this novel. The characters were fun, it held my interest, and provided an escape from reality. I would definitely recommend!

This book was a dark mystery that kept me engrossed until the end. It’s not for the faint of heart and definitely has some dark ties are everything is unraveled

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

3 for neutral, was unable to access my netgalley account for months, until today. Because of this, I was unable to see which books I needed to read. I apologize for the inconvenience and hopefully will not have any more issues in future.

Whew! This was one of the most unique books I've read in a while, and I could not put it down! From the small town setting to the well-drawn, intriguing characters, I was hooked from the first page. Loved every bit of it!

And There He Kept her by Joshua Moehling is a well written and intense thriller. The story is set in a small town and told from two POVs - sheriff's deputy Ben Packard and a villain Emmett Burr. This is not really a fast paced story but I could not put it down wanting to know what was going to happen with the characters. Spooky and disturbing = perfect Halloween read. Highly recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thrilling and on edge of your seat performance. This is not he typical thriller which made it even more entertaining. A good start for a debut. The Audio narrator made the thriller even more intense and able to keep the readers attention.

By all means, this was a pretty good book. Though it took me months to actually finish and I'd leave it constantly for other reads, so how good could it have really been? I dragged my heels through the first 50 percent of this book, the last half took only about a day.
As a reader, there is no mystery to this book, no unknown perpetrator, crime, or motive. You sit on the sidelines as Packard, the acting sheriff, meanders through life while trying to find his cousin's daughter. The issue I had with this book is there was little to no emotion wrapped up in it. All the way up until end I couldn't care less whether the kids lived or died. Same goes for the other side characters involved. Sure, I was horrified by what was going on but Moehling never welds that connection between the reader and characters. I never took it personal.
It was a story, that's all. Not awful, not great. Entertaining for a short amount of time. Which is partly frustrating because Moehling is a great writer. I loved the filler, it was entertaining enough and personable. A really great story could have come out of this, the foundation just wasn't all there.

This was not for me. I like crime fiction for mystery and suspense and this had neither for most of the book. It’s not a whodunnit (or even a why or how dunnit) because the was crime committed early and we know its details. I guess you could wonder what he was going to do next? But there wasn’t really suspense in this. I got bored of them trying to solve a crime we knew the deatils of. The only question was would they catch him in time? Following the police officer wasn’t as interesting to me because we already knew the answers he was looking for. So I didn’t care how his investigation was going. There’s no mystery to it.

I don’t want to stereotype but the writing felt very masculine… it was a bit crude, with male fantasies and classless thoughts. I felt disgusted by most characters and didn’t really care about the others. I could appreciate the spectrum of moral qualities in a few characters but none of them were very interesting.

All I cared about really was if he learned more about what happened to his brother disappearing but I guess that’s to come in a future book given the hint of foreshadowing at the end.

And There He Kept Her is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out And There He Kept Her today.

From my blog: Always With a Book

There is nothing I love more than discovering a debut novel and then finding out it is the start of a new series. To me that is the jackpot! And let me tell you – if the rest of this series is anything like this first book, I’m all in!!!

I love small-town mysteries and I especially love when we get to discover all their secrets and schemes and that is what seems to be at the heart of this new series. But be forewarned – this is an unsettling, creepy read – but what I loved is that you know who did it right from the start. We know that Emmett Burr is our villain – and he just happens to be 70 years old. Why did he do what he did? That is the mystery and that is what makes this book so haunting and chilling.

The other appealing part of this story is the detective, Ben Packard. He has returned to Sandy Lake not necessarily by choice. He definitely has his share of secrets and baggage and while some of that is revealed in this first book, I am definitely looking forward to learning more about him. He is someone that is easy to root for and I have a feeling he will quickly become a favorite character as the series progresses.

This series has gotten off to a great start. This was an addicting, suspenseful read and I cannot wait to get my hands on book 2, which is due out next year!

Really enjoyed this one! The story was taut, the characters well-developed, nothin*felt unnecessary. I’m hoping to see Packard back in another novel soon!

Everybody in town thought Emmett Burr was a helpless old man, so two local teenagers broke into his home to swipe some of his prescription meds. Burr murders one and holds the other in his basement which contains his darkest secrets. Police officer Ben Packard is leading the investigation for the missing teenagers while also dealing with demons of his own past.

Creepy and disturbing are the best words I have to describe this book. There were some parts that had more gore than I typically read but I was truly engrossed in the suspense of this book. I appreciated diving into the backstory of Packard but at times I wondered how necessary it was to the true development of the story. Overall, I would highly recommend this book, but be prepared to have trouble sleeping at night.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

Teenagers Jesse and Jenny break into the house of elderly, sickly Emmett in hopes that he has a large selection of pain medication that they can sell. Because Emmett lives in a secluded location, it's the perfect place to rob as they won't be seen.
What they don't know is by the end of the night one of them will be shot dead and one will be kidnapped and kept prisoner. And it's up to sheriff deputy Packard to find out what has happened to the teens, while juggling personal issues of his own.

This was an exceptionally well written and well paced debut novel. I enjoyed that it was very character driven. I can't wait for the second novel and hope it focuses on finding out what happened to Packards brother as he has been missing since they were children.

4 stars.