This is just an awesome addition to an equally awesome series!! I love Ben Packard! I was so excited to see this become a series. This is Book 3. I suppose it can be a standalone, but you will miss all the great character development and understanding. Ben is a deputy in Minnesota. He walks to beat of his own drum and does things his way, which is usually the best way. He will beat a case to death until he solves it, which can rub people the wrong way. He also manages to be totally likeable (at least to me) while doing this. Ben has run for Sheriff, lost and is now checking bags at the local courthouse. Ben stumbles upon a suspicious death case while investigating the case of his missing brother who disappeared as a teen. What follows is just a good old-fashioned mystery without all the smoke and mirrors and AHA! moment plotting that we get so often now. I loved it! I hope there is a Book 4, but this is a nice ending. Also, the atmosphere alone is worth the read. I am over here in Texas where we freak out if the temp gets down to 30. I loved reading about a Minesota winter!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Joshua Moehling and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Instagram and other social media and retail sites upon publication day of February 4th, 2025.

Thanks Netgalley for a review copy of this book. This is the third in the series. It picks up where the last one left off. Ben Packard has lost the election to be sheriff and is now on duty at the courthouse. This is not what he signed up for. Early in the book, Ben shoots an armed man in the courthouse and gets put on leave while the BAC decides if he was negligent. Ben now uses this time to search for his lost brother, with help from former Sheriff Shaw, who left him a note after his death. Ben also is curious about a woman who recently died in the house his grandparents owned and where he last saw Nick. This would be a good book for book club. The characters have their struggles but they are not so complex that you get annoyed, and the story is not so convoluted that you will wish the book was done. Get this one and thank me later!

A Long Time Gone is the third book in the Ben Packard series. Ben is a gay deputy living in Minnesota and wrestling with the challenges that come with that. There's a lot going on in this book, an officer-involved shooting at the very beginning, Ben discovering information about his older brother who went missing decades earlier, the murder of a family friend, and despite that, the pacing is really slow. It was a struggle to continue. I really enjoyed the first book in the series, but this one not so much. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

I love this series! The stories, the characters and a new favorite author.

Ben Packard was just a boy when his older brother disappeared. Ben watched him walk out the back door of their grandparents' house and into the cold night.

His brother was never seen again. - from Amazon

There was a lot going on in this book, I felt like I needed a murder board. I really had to keep track of all the moving parts, thankfully It does come together in the end and makes sense. This is book 3 in the series and I do recommend you start with book 1 because of character development and character introductions. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I look forward to the next book in the series.

The last few chapters made the most impact on me. I wish that kind of writing was in the first 75%. Nevertheless a good story and the answers we were waiting for revealed.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Netgalley and Joshua Moehling for the ARC!

A lot going on at the moment…Ben Packard may no longer be acting sheriff, but after an incident at the courthouse, he finds himself on leave. And in that time, he begins to look deeper into the disappearance of his older brother, Nick, as well as another recent case. The author did a fabulous job at conveying Packard in a vulnerable, contemplative state as he had a lot of time to think by himself. But there were multiple storylines going on here - that of his brother in the past and more recently, a case that has a seemingly suspicious death. I loved seeing this side of Ben Packard - brooding, quiet, and contemplative - and I loved his relationship with his adorable mom.

It’s hard to put into words what I felt as I read that end of this story, where Packard found out the truth about his brother. It was as though I was watching a movie and everything had just gone quiet, and I had tears in my eyes. I hope this series continues for a long time!

“Long Time Gone” releases February 4, 2025. This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

My first book by this author and I loved the book. Thought provoking, captivating from the beginning, and filled with well thought out and developed characters. A must read! And now I will have to read the first two books in the Ben Packard series! Thanks for the ARC.

Ben Packard is a cop who lost his brother when he was young. the case was never closed. ben finds himself on leave from work and uses his time off to follow a new lead in his brothers case. the new lead leads to another case entirely and he works both as he waits to be able to return to work.

i’ve enjoyed other books in the series but this one fell flat for me. I wasn’t as invested, wasn’t as eager to pick it up. there were some intricate plot weavings with some characters that left me having to think through who people were again since it took me so long to get through it. overall, it was too sluggish of a pace for me and just was underwhelming.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ben Packard is one of my absolute favorite characters! I was so excited when Mehling made a sequel and now there’s a 3rd!! The last one left on such a cliffhanger, I couldn’t get to this fast enough! It is such a well done police procedural series, that aren’t typically my favorite! This one is packed with so emotion and suspense and the series has such perfect character development throughout! I feel like this one dove deeper into Ben Packard and the reader gets a lot of closure.

Another great Ben Packard installment. I have read the other two and was so happy when this one became available.

Ben was a young boy when his older brother left home on a snowmobile and never came home. While trying to find his brother, Ben finds himself suspended from his job because of a shooting. While on leave, he dives into the possible murder of an older lady who lives in the house that Ben’s grandparents owned and that he visited every summer. Memories of his childhood and his brother keep him motivated to try to find out what happened to the new owner. He soon discovers that the death leads to a much larger criminal case with more dead bodies.

This story doesn’t let up from the beginning to the end. I enjoy the author’s character development and the way he weaves a police procedural and a family drama together and both become as important to the finality of the story and the other. I was happy that the story of Ben’s missing brother was finalized even if Ben discovers a truth about his brother he didn’t know.

All the stars!!! What a conclusion! This has to be my favorite in their series. I often think of the first one and recommend it to friends and colleagues. I just love how he was working while on leave, and the only thing I wanted to see that didn’t happen was the bad sheriff being fired. But we can’t have it all.

Ben Packard is back once again, in this 3rd row installment of the series. This time Our main man Ben, is desperate and determined to final getting answers to his brothers' death that happened when he just a child. While trying to get to get answers, Ben must also deal other issues in his life both professional and private, when an on the job incident forces him to a leave from work, he must deal with limited resources and a race against the clock to hunt down not one but 2 killers.

4.5 stars

I’ve been here since book one, and they just keep getting better. Each book we get to know the characters a bit deeper, and the mysteries are solid. This is not a stretch to say, but this has become my favorite series that I’ve read over the course of the last 7-10 years. I have no patience for the next book, yet I dont want this to become like Alex Cross where we get one every other week and it loses its magic.

Final thoughts is that Moehling is a gem to be treasured in the mystery/thriller world. And this is a great addition to the series. Keep ‘em coming!

This is the first book that I have read from this author or series. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

This had so many storylines and it left me guessing the whole book. I loved the story of Ben and how his past was woven into the current storyline. This book made me think of how things were as a society from my childhood.

Great mystery and thriller! Great family storyline as well! I highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest review.

#NetGalley #alongtimegone #JoshuaMoehling

At the beginning, I enjoyed that Ben uncovered some clues regarding Louise’s death and that the case was reopened. But then as page after page gave remarkably next to no new clues, I soon lost interest and didn’t really care who murdered Louise.

It was the same regarding looking for what happened to Nick. It was talked about way too long with nothing happening. About halfway through the book I started reading only the first two pages of each chapter to see if the story was picking up. The book was extremely slow-moving. It wasn’t until the last few chapters that I became interested. The ending was engaging, which is why my rating became three stars instead of two.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review A Long Time Gone. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books (both five stars) of the Ben Packard series. I wish this review were more favorable.

To say I was thrilled to receive an early copy of this book would be a giant understatement. I was so impressed with Where the Dead Sleep, the prior book in this series, that I started checking for information on book 3 shortly after the release of book 2. This did not disappoint! Joshua Moehling has once again, with this release, landed on my list of favorite books of the year, and it's an easy choice.

First of all, I adore Ben Packard. He's likable, relatable, and follows his own moral compass, no matter the personal cost, in his pursuit of justice. Each addition to the series reveals a new layer and more complexity to his character.  I'm invested in his story to a degree I rarely feel with a character. He's one of my favorite fictional detectives, and I didn't want my time with this story to end. 

A Long Time Gone was everything I love about crime fiction with its realistic, well developed characters, strong sense of place, well plotted, intricately intertwined mysteries, and multi layered villains. There are moments of brutality, sadness, nostalgia, humor, and insight into the struggles of being human. All told in a narrative style that maintains a fine balance between dark and beautiful. This is a series getting better with each installment.

I absolutely love this series. This was a great addition to the series. This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Joshua Moehling’s A Long Time Gone is the kind of book that sticks with you. It finally answers a long-lost question, and it doesn’t rely on crazy twists or over-the-top drama to keep you hooked. The story is smart, intriguing, and feels real from start to finish.

What really stands out is how it brings in different viewpoints and moments of genuine empathy. It makes you connect with the characters on a deeper level. This is one of those books that proves you don’t need flashy plot twists to tell an unforgettable story.

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an early copy of this one which is book 3 in this author’s series which includes the main character, Ben Packard. Book one, And There He Kept Her, and book two, Where the Dead Sleep. I practically devoured A Long Time Gone in a couple of days, but another book got in the way.
Book two found Ben on admin leave and here in book three he is back on duty, just not at his regular job, which really irked Ben, especially since … well, you have to read book two to know that part. In book three, Ben finds himself involved in a situation at the courthouse that leads him down a road he wasn’t expecting to follow, but it woke up the detective part of his personality so down the road he went. This road led him down some meandering paths, which led him back to the main road.
The thing about Ben is he asks questions, and he keeps asking questions until he gets the answers he knows exist. Some of his questions irk other folks, even those who are purportedly his superiors. They just don’t like him looking too hard at things.
Ben still maintains his friendship with Thielen … they have such a dry banter sort of relationship as partners. It’s quite entertaining to read them bantering back and forth.
While I still think book one is the best in this series, book three is a close runner-up. I found myself chuckling at some of the scenes, some of the dialog the author used throughout this one. I am enjoying the fact that the author is starting to show his personality, his humor, his voice in this series. Oh, and Ben’s mom? You need to ‘meet’ her! She’s one of those moms who doesn’t hold back and tells Ben like it is, even when it comes to relationships. In this one, Ben also finds himself discovering some truths, some that he was not expecting. I can only imagine what Ben will get involved with next.

Joshua Moehling is an author that, as he keeps writing, it just gets better and better. I fell in love with his writing with his first book in this series, And There He Kept Her, where we were first introduced to Ben Packard. Moehling's form of story telling, makes you want to read anything he has to write and I find myself gravitating to looking for his next book, only to be disappointed in the fact that he writes only one a year, but am always recommending to people when given the chance. Though the books should be read in order and the events from the previous books are talked about in this one, you don't have to read them in order to read this book, but it owuld make it easier to understand some of things talked about. I highly recommend, not only this book, but the whole series. 4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy of A Long Time Gone by Joshua Moehling in exchange for my honest review.