I didn't know this was the third in a series. While I'd prefer to have read the others first, I don't believe it took away from this book. Ben Packard is a likeable character who is devoted to his career and to find out what happened to his brother Nick who went missing 33 years ago. Ben finally gets the closure he's been searching for.

Thank you Dreamscape Media & Joshua Moehling for this read!

I was lucky enough to get both the ebook and audiobook of this so I alternated between the two.

I haven't read the other books in this series but I felt like I was able to join in with this book without being left too far behind. I do feel the others would obviously give better pictures of the characters and world but I still enjoyed this book as a standalone!

The plot was good and I was intrigued about the unsolved case and how everything was connected! I feel the character building was good and I felt part of the team trying to find the answers.

The narration was well done and really bought this story to life!

Despite being a bit slow in some places the pace was fast enough to keep you hooked from the start. Overall an enjoyable read and I would definitely pick this series up from book 1 to get the full effect but you can still pick this up fine as a standalone.

I really enjoy the Ben Packard series! This is the third book in the series and it tied a few things together nicely. You receive answers for a couple of questions from other books while still getting the feel of a new case. The author does a great job creating character develop and plot lines that you keep you interested.
It's been years since Ben Packard's brother went missing. There was no indication that what happened to his brother would come to light. Packard finally found where his brother's body could have been buried, but it's the dead of winter so they will have to wait until spring to see if it's true. This left Packard with more questions than answers and he's hating his duties at the courthouse. After an officer involved shooting, he is officially on leave. But he can't just sit around and do nothing while they complete their investigation. He just happened to stumble on a murder that needs investigating and he finally has a clue about what happened to his brother. Packard is determined to find the truth even when no else is.

Moehling is one of my favorite finds for 2025. I read his previous 2 books before picking this one up and I am glad I did. Moehling's protagonist is a Minnesota deputy who is tormented by the loss of his brother thirty years ago. As he attempts to seek answers, he uncovers some small town corruption that has him fighting for his life. Moehling writes with heart and conviction. His characters leap off the page and the mystery itself is a damned good one. I will enjoy selling this series. Fans of Steve Hamilton and Paul Doiron should enjoy this.

Thank you to the author, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the delay in posting, I had several familial health challenges to contend with in the past months.

This is the third in a series, and the first book I have read by this author. Set in small-town Minnesota in the depths of winter, the main character is a local policeman - recently demoted from acting sheriff to deputy - who gets caught up in a shooting at the local courthouse. Step by step, one thing leads to another and new facts turn up about an intensely personal mystery - the disappearance of the deputy's brother as a young teenager. This all happens against a background of rot, corruption and greed, which also comes to light as we dive deeper into the developing and multiple mysteries. Both the main and the secondary characters are finely drawn and the plot is classic police procedural, with a strong personal element - I ended up quite taken with the deputy and his family, I do love insight into the personal story of main characters. I need to go find the first two books in this series!

A Long Time Gone by Joshua Moeling was well written. I gave it a 5 star review! I love the way the author developed the characters in the story. The Packard family lost their son/brother and needed answers as to what happened to him the night he disappeared. I like that this story was not the main focus but was still concluded at the end of the story. A lot of action took place in the sleepy little town called Sandy Lake. Bodies kept turning up dead with the victims being shot in the head. Leaving this all to ex sheriff, Ben Packard to solve the crime. Packard had been put on leave from the sheriffs office so he had nothing better to do than solve the mystery of the death of an 80 year of lady who’s death was said to have been caused by an accident. When Packard realized this was no accident, that’s when the story started to unfold. One clue led to another, leading Packard to the murderer of 3 people in this town.

If you’re looking for easy read, with lots of twists you should read, “A Long Time Gone!” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Sometimes taking a risk was the only option."

"A death under mysterious circumstances. An empty bank account. A missing employee. These were not coincidences."

Ben Packard couldn't help himself. Though on administrative leave after a shooting incident at the courthouse, the clues to a death in his old house, the last place he saw his brother Nick alive over 30 years ago, had him investigating a closed case classified as accidental.

So begins the extraordinary 3rd, and I hope far from the final book, in the Ben Packard mystery series, A Long Time Gone. Since book 1, genius author Joshua Moehling, has intricately crafted, not just detailed suspenseful mysteries, but a beloved grab your heart character in Ben Packard.

Ben's been demoted to Deputy from Sheriff after losing the election in his small conservative town. He knew a gay sheriff would be a hard win this time around. But he's distracted, not only with a suspicious death, but with new leads to what happened to his brother the night he disappeared. There has been hints in the previous 2 books, but when the truth is revealed, it's one of the most heartbreaking moments I have experienced in literature.

I am so grateful that voice actress Linda Jones is once again our guide for the author's masterful storytelling. She knows Ben and relays his pain with raw emotion.

If you have read or listened to the previous books this story is essential. If this is a new series for you, enjoy bingeing the life of this gentle giant and his 3 legged Corgi, Frank. I just hope it's not a long time gone before my next Ben Packard fix.

Book 1. And There He Kept Her
Book 2. Where The Dead Sleep
Book 3. A Long Time Gone

I received a copy of this book/ audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair & honest review. All opinions are my own.

★★★★★ 5 star review!
𝑨 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒂 𝑴𝒐𝒆𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈
Book 3 of the Ben Packard Series

✦ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 :
-police procedurals + crime fiction
-3rd book in a 5☆ series
-well developed characters
-LGBTQ+ rep
-witty, likable MC
-meddling moms
-3 legged corgi named frank 🐶

✦ 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 :
There’s a new sheriff in town, but it isn’t Ben Packard. I absolutely loved returning to Sandy Lake, Minnesota. This third installment picks up right where the 2nd left off, with the perfect combination of mystery & small town drama.

Ben Packard is one of my most favorite main characters to read about. He is so easy to root for. I love his dry humor & his honest, straightforward approach to his police work. We get introduced to some interesting characters too - I loved his mom & of course Frank the 3 legged corgi!

You wouldn’t expect for the end of a crime thriller to give you the warm & fuzzies, but there’s just something about Ben Packard & Sandy Lake that just feels comforting. I loved the way this story came together. Although the ending was very satisfying, I really hope we get another book!

I have to mention - these are some of my favorite crime thriller audiobooks. Linda Jones is the perfect narrator for these stories, I loved listening to every one of them.

Dare I say 𝑨 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆 may be my favorite of the series? Granted, all them were 5 stars, but still!

Thanks to @netgalley, @poisonedpenpress, @dreamscape & @jmoehling for the opportunity to read + listen to this arc!

Snow can hide a multitude of secrets.

The ugliness of barren ground. Footprints, made by any number of creatures. Patches of ice. Entire frozen lakes, even.

Small towns are no slouches at hiding secrets, either.

Keeping things from outsiders, sure... but also, sometimes, from others within the community... when someone decides they don’t need to know.

Joshua Moehling’s latest entry in his Ben Packard series, A Long Time Gone, sees the small-town cop dealing with way too many secrets in the midst of another frigid Minnesota winter.


Recently an acting sheriff—but since demoted to deputy status, and assigned to the inglorious job of metal-detector duty at the courthouse—Deputy Ben Packard has had better days (months, years), than today.

The day he’s confronted with a desperate man who’s somehow managed to sneak a gun into the courthouse... and aims to use it, in the name of “justice”.

Ben does what he has to do—preserving as many lives as he can—yet still winds up in the doghouse, again, on leave pending the findings from the investigation into his heroic actions.

And it’s within that murky state of disillusionment (with the system), that a new issue arises.

Or... make that, a very old issue, once again rearing its head.

Ben learns of new info regarding the decades-old disappearance of his older brother... still unsolved.

It’s a wound that his family has never “gotten over”... one which splintered his parents’ marriage, and left him and his remaining siblings in a state of confusion and loss.

An old detective, now dead, left behind a clue that could point to a buried body.

But there’s only so much that a downgraded deputy—on indefinite leave, no less—can do, only so many favors he can call in.

Capricious fate is hardly done tormenting Ben, though.

An elderly woman—someone who’d purchased Ben’s grandparents’ home after their passings (but was really only known to Ben’s mom)— had met her end by falling down a set of steep basement stairs.

Ben only learns of it when his mom is visiting, and wants to visit the home she’d grown up in.

And what they find, the remnants of the scene of the tragedy? Don’t add up at all, not to Ben.

The problem is, that case is closed—“accidental death”—and everyone Ben talks to seems determined to keep it that way.

With the department’s files and databases off-limits, during his absence—and the new sheriff (who beat Ben in the election) dead-set against him—Ben’s options are limited.

But what no one seems to appreciate about Ben is how resourceful and determined he is...


A Long Time Gone is the first time I’ve read Moehling—but it certainly won’t be the last.

It’s actually the third in a series, though, so I (briefly) wondered if I’d feel as though I’d been dropped into the middle of something, but that wasn’t the case, at all. A Long Time Gone can easily be read on its own.

And reading it, I highly recommend, because this is a really good book.

Ben is a fully-realized character... middle-aged, not too young or too old. (And by that, I mean he’s already lived plenty... but also realizes he still has a long way to go.)

He’s also gay... which is dealt with realistically. Does he face ostracism and bigotry in the small town he’s relocated to? Absolutely, every day. Did he also have issues with publicly acknowledging his orientation when he was previously a detective in Minneapolis? Yep, that, too.

It’s a sensitive portrayal of how middle-America views and reacts to “other” lifestyles and preferences... from the viewpoint of someone just trying to live his life.

It’s also a real look at family—particularly, one that’s been splintered by tragedy—and how people try to make sense of their new realities, and of trying to still be a part of the world.

Drama. Sadness. Selfishness. Brutality. Grief. Frustration.

And, in those pockets in between, moments of joy and freedom and redemption.

In short, there’s nothing I don’t recommend, wholeheartedly, about A Long Time Gone. This one is so worth your time.
~GlamKitty

[My sincere thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are, as always, entirely my own.]

Really enjoyed this book, and I sure hope this isn’t the end of books in the series! The main character is one of my favorites, and I love his interactions with the public.

This is the third book in the series. And what a great read.We pick up from the second book where Ben Packard has lost his bid for sheriff and been demoted to court security. But life will be anything but dull, a man is being sued for a piece of land and he doesn't take it too kindly. He brings a gun into the court house and tries to shoot the plaintiff. Unfortunately for him Ben has to take him out, in the aftermath Ben is put on suspension till he is cleared of wrong doing.With some time on his hands he keeps looking into the death of his brother.
Moehling is a great writer with many twists and turns, great character development and adds visual depth to his writing.Love the characters and that life doesn't get wrapped up in a bow. Its messy just like us.

This is the third book featuring Ben Packard and it’s another fantastic read.
I have been lucky enough to have been sent all of these books as early e-books and I managed to get a physical copy of book one. I will eventually add physical copies of books two and three to my shelves.
If you like a good thriller with a very likeable main character who’s trying to discover what happened in his past as well as cope with life in a new community then pick up these books.
Books one and two are available on kindle unlimited.

3.5 Stars – A Solid but Conventional Thriller

I went into this book with high expectations based on the hype and glowing reviews, but I have to admit I was a bit underwhelmed. That’s not to say it was a bad book—far from it. The plot was well-constructed, the pacing kept me engaged, and the ending wrapped things up neatly. However, as a police procedural thriller, it was very familiar, and nothing about it truly stood out as exceptional.

The snowy, small-town setting adds to the atmospheric tension, and the intertwining of past and present crimes creates an engaging narrative. While much of the story followed a well-worn path, it did have a nice twist that added some intrigue. If you enjoy solid, traditional crime thrillers, this one delivers. Just don’t expect it to break new ground.

Thank you, NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Poisoned Pen Press, for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

"A Long Time Gone" by Joshua Moehling is an outstanding addition to the Ben Packard series. The writing is exceptional, skillfully weaving together the plot of Packard’s brother’s disappearance and the intense circumstances that lead to his administrative leave. The suspense is palpable, and I found myself eagerly turning the pages to discover what would happen next.

The characters in this book are truly multidimensional. They are well developed, and the dialogue feels natural and engaging. I appreciated the perfect balance of humor interspersed throughout the story, which made me chuckle even amidst the more serious moments.

As the story unfolds, the mystery surrounding Ben’s brother’s fate is heart-wrenching. The emotional depth of this discovery left me with a heavy heart, highlighting Moehling's ability to evoke strong feelings in his readers. Overall, "A Long Time Gone" is a gripping read that expertly combines suspense, character development, and a touch of humor. I highly recommend it! 4.5/5 ⭐

Thank you to Joshua Moehling, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to be an advance reader.

God, I love these Ben Packard books. Auto-request, every single one. Between each one, I somehow forget how much I enjoy them, then it's like a punch in the face when I start a new one.

Where to begin? The characters, the small town, the mysteries, the resolutions. This book absolutely kept me on my toes, kept me turning pages late into the night, but was also incredibly beautiful. The story of Ben's brother - heartbreaking. Loved this whole thing so so much.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The 1st book hooked me, the 2nd did not disappoint, the 3rd book I loved, loved, loved.

Ben Packard is demoted to court security after loosing the election for sheriff and you call tell he hates it. When a shooting occurs in the court house and Ben is put on administrative leave the twists & turns begin. It seems like there are multiple plots, but they are entwined together and bring clarification of things that happened in the previous books, including finding out what happened to his brother who disappeared 30 years ago.

This series/author have become my favorite mystery/suspense series. Hopefully this is not the last that we see of Ben. I recommend that you read the series in order to get the full picture of the characters and storyline.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy provided for an honest review.

A Long Time Gone is the third book in the Ben Packard series. It can be read as a standalone but the two previous installments are worth reading. The series, a police procedural has the added attraction of characters that are so authentic, they jump-off the page. The action starts rolling in the first chapter when Ben, demoted to a courthouse deputy is involved in a shooting. He finds himself waiting for his departments investigation, temporarily suspended from his duties. With time on his hands, and some new clues, Ben investigates a cold case, the disappearance of his brother. Ben also finds himself skeptical of a woman's accidental death and begins uncovering a web of crime. There are many police procedural series, but the excellent plot, pacing and characters land this series on the top for me. The story is riveting and the end was perfect. I am anxiously waiting for book four. Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Rounded to 4.5 stars.

This fantastic series appeared on my radar before the first book in the series released, and I have been an avid reader of each new book in the series, never getting enough of this complicated officer of the law and the background issues in small town Sandy Lake, Minnesota.

There are some series where books can be read standalone and you can jump in anywhere without finding it too hard to pick up the thread. This isn’t one of those: you need to read the books in order to fully grasp what is happening, because small town mystery elements run through each book but also as an overarching storyline throughout the series.

Ben Packard is such an intriguing character to follow. He’s got a clear moral compass, yet has struggled with his own sexuality and internalized homophobia. As a gay man who works in law enforcement, he felt unable to come out while working in Minneapolis and dating a fellow officer, leading to complicated feelings of grief upon the man’s passing. This was his impetus for moving to Sandy Lake, a small town where he spent summers at a lake house with his family until his brother disappeared one night.

Upon his return to Sandy Lake as acting sheriff, he started tracking down the lead of what might have happened to his brother all those years ago. In this book, everything changes. At the beginning, Packard is no longer acting sheriff and has been demoted to court security officer by Shepard, a deputy who didn’t really meet the standards and capabilities to meet the demands of his new role as sheriff.

The book starts out with Packard working his usual shift at the courthouse, when chaos breaks loose and he’s forced to shoot someone in the lobby of the courthouse. While the department investigates, Packard is placed on leave and makes it clear that so much of his identity is wrapped up in his job when he isn’t able to just relax and enjoy some time off. It doesn't help that his mom comes to town and he spends a few days hanging out with her, only to embarrass him by making comments about his lack of dating life and suggestions for who he could ask out on a date. I also really loved that this book incorporates some really witty lines and conversational banter, some of which made me laugh out loud and startle my dogs.

As his free time drags out in front of him, he tries to find ways to fill the large open spaces in his schedule—working out, walking his three-legged Corgi named Frank, only to realize that this would be the perfect time to look at the file the department kept on the cold case of his brother’s disappearance. Nick’s disappearance was long thought to be an open and shut case, with the snowmobile by the lake, and one glove on the shore of the lake, and Nick thought to have fallen through the ice and drowned in the lake. Except, his body was never found, and new information has come to light which may direct searchers to find Nick’s body.

Packard is forced to cool his jets on that case, and finds himself doing a fair bit of introspection over the course of the book. I liked that he never lets a petty behavior slip at work, and stays professional and focused on his goals throughout. Even as he’s given an intentionally terrible, boring job, he still treats it as just as important as when he was acting sheriff. But in this story, we get to see a side of him where he continues to maintain cordiality and professionalism even when speaking to a superior who he doesn’t respect. It made me like him even more, as the kind of guy who can both talk a good game and back it up.

Over the course of following up the new leads, he steps right into another case that someone doesn’t want him investigating. I got pretty caught up in both mysteries, and while the mystery of what happened to Nick was something I wanted to know after reading about him for years, I was also quickly sucked into the current investigation that Packard stumbles into. Despite the scheme being quite complex, it was presented slowly enough for a reader like me to follow all the moving parts.

This is such a great story, and I really liked the way that readers are treated to a bit more of Packard’s emotions and how the past has impacted him in ways he is only beginning to realize. I always like seeing a character slowly peel away the layers and reveal more of who they are over the course of a series, and Packard is a character who is a genuinely good guy, so naturally I want to see him solve every case he comes across. But I’ll have to settle for knowing what happens to Nick and then come up with the most wild ideas about what is going to happen in the next book, because I really hope there’s a next one. I highly recommend those who enjoy reading police procedurals without seeing toxic masculinity from everyone with XY genes, queer people thriving in traditionally queerphobic jobs and locales, and settings that evoke a cold winter with heavy snow, and those who simply enjoy a well-written mystery.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s the third in a series and you really learn to love the characters of this small town. Ben Packard is a cop returning to the town where he grew up and also where is older brother disappeared many years ago. I loved to read more of the town characters and the people he works with. There is a mystery that he’s trying to solve while trying to get the answers for his family. I liked that part but I really wanted the answer from his brothers disappearance and we did get that. I would definitely read more by him!

ve this whole series but this one, the third book in the series, is my favorite. Ben Packard is a wonderful, multilayered protagonist with a slightly inappropriate (and hilarious) mother. All of the characters are well developed except perhaps Lady Gaga Pinot Grigio Margaret Ann String Cheese Reid. But she is a dog so I’ll give the author some leeway on that one.

This could be read as a standalone as the author does give plenty of backstory, but the first two were so good! Do yourself a favor and read them in order. There is a long standing mystery solved in this title that we’ve been wondering about since book one.

I hope the author continues this series for a very long time. I will be waiting patiently for book four.