Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For a debut novel, I think this was a good book. I quickly realized I was not really the target audience for it, but it was still an easy enough read I didn't want to DNF it.

Unfortunately, I found the book to be overall very emotionless and linear. However, I can see the talent Moehling has for telling a story and I do think that he will only improve with time - this was just a fairly basic debut novel.

The relationships between the townsfolk were really interesting and really painted a picture of a nosy small town which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was nice to see Packard starting to grow from his past after all these years of hiding as well. Though you'd think he would have more care for the fact that the missing person is his literal relative and not just a random townsfolk.

The chapters with Emmet, however, mostly served to confuse me. There were times where it felt like Emmett and Jenny were just casually chatting in a way that felt unrealistic to the situation they were in... However Emmett's overall character was interesting. He never really felt like what he was doing was Wrong and felt he deserved some kind of sympathy or was Owed something because of his hardships.

Ultimately, this book was forgettable for me. It wasn't a bad book, and if it sounds interesting to you I think its worth checking out.

This book had a well paced plot with solid character development. An quick and enjoyable read wi the multidimensional characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joshua Moehling for the advanced readers copy. Here is my voluntary and honest review of And There He Kept Her/

Two teens, breaking and entering, and drugs- what could go wrong? Oh, so much. This story was a rollercoaster ride, however I had higher expectations. The synopsis gave me all the creepy kidnapper vibes but what I got was a sweet, and caring kidnapper (which is quite common in the true crime world) but when reading a fiction psychological suspense, I don’t want the kidnapper to be caring. I was sick and twisted. I felt like the action and creep factor was lacking. The ending was anti-climactic in my eyes. It seemed quite slow, and the big reveal just didn't do much for me.

However, what saved this book for me was the police officer and his POV. His character was great, and I loved his passion for the case and his job. So as an aspiring lawyer, I love good Cop POV and all the case specifics and dramatics.

Have you ever seen an old man and wondered if that person is anything but an old man? You should, always.
And There He Kept Her comes as a breath of fresh air in the world of thrillers. Fantastic plot!!

This one was tough to get into. Not sure if it was the cast of characters in this small town. Or the pace. I pushed through but didn't enjoy.

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book took me a minute to really get into, and I think it's because the chapters are very long. That being said I am glad I stuck with this because I ended up really enjoying it.

Emmett is such a sad character, so much so that I began to really feel bad for him even though he's not a good man at all. He was so well written that I could close my eyes and actually feel like I was there in his (disgusting) house, watching things go down. I feel like this would make an excellent, creepy movie or show.

Some aspects seemed a little far fetched, but all in all this was a great thriller that once I got into, I couldn't put down. I would definitely pick up more from Joshua Moehling in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

I really liked this debut novel by Moehling. I particularly liked the main character, Ben Packard, who is the acting sheriff of the small town of Sandy Lake. You learned a lot about and including the fact that he's gay (which apparently netted some 1 star reviews from unsuspecting homophobes). I particularly enjoyed all the other characters that you can easily see coming back in a sequel, which I would love to see.

The plot centers around teenagers who go missing. We see this story from all sides so there are no big gotcha moments but quite a few a-ha moments of how pieces start to fall into place. I love that the bad guy is multi-faceted and while unquestionably a bad guy you see him questioning some of his life-choices. You see the victim using her wits to stay alive. And Ben Packard being emotionally and physically pulled in all directions just trying to do his best. And Gary, he is a peripheral character, but provides some great comic relief (he's also gay so be forewarned).

This book isn't really a thriller/mystery in the typical sense of the genre since you know the who and what but and you're learning the how and why of it all which depends on the diverse cast of characters that Moehling has put together.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I usually stick to romance as my preferred genre to read but the title and cover caught my attention. To learn that this is the authors debut, I have to say I am quite impressed with his work and I can't wait to read more from him.

First of all, I could not put this book down. Living in a small town I could picture this story taking place. We really don't know who are neighbors are and sometimes even know who we live with. I loved all the characters in this story - well I guess not the bad guys. I think this was a little different because from the beginning we know who the kidnapper is when in other suspenseful books of this sort we are left guessing until the end.

If you are into thrillers or even if you aren't this is a great book to pick up and read.

I listened to this one on audiobook and it was a quick read that I couldn't stop listening to. The story starts off quick right away setting the storyline to come. You go back and forth from the cop investigating the missing teens to the monster that’s responsible. This one is disturbing in that you never know what monster is lurking behind a seemingly harmless face. It was gritty action packed and fast paced. I finished this one quickly. I enjoyed the characters and I also think this book can be turned into a police procedural series and I hope it does!

I sat down the other night to read this & before I knew it, I flew through the entire thing in a single sitting. It’s extremely bingeable as it’s got quick chapters, a very disturbing, yet intriguing storyline & I truly was so invested in figuring out how it played out.

While the cover is what initially grabbed my attention, this story grips you from the very first few chapters. It bounces back and forth between the perspective of sheriff, Ben Packard & villain, Emmett Burr, revealing secrets from both sides to keep the reader hanging on.

If you’re into crime thrillers, I think you’d enjoy this debut from @jmoehling!

Thanks so much to @netgalley for this e-copy! This one is out now! ✨

This was a good read but I did expect better based on the title! From the very beginning we know who is holding the girl hostage which already is not my favorite because there is no mystery in that other than if she will get rescued or not! There were some twists and turns and the progression of the book makes it seem like it would be a very good crime series. The characters were great and relatable and I loved the feel of the small town. I especially loved the mention of my favorite Norwegian author, Jo Nesbø. But this wasn't a 5 star read for me because I was not captivated, nor did I want to keep reading to figure it out.

And There He Kept Her, by Joshua Moehling. Wait until you get a load of this book. Uh, it was fantastic! While reading I anxiously awaited to the end to see how it all comes together. Packard and his team were awesome.
I clung to every ending chapter as I quickly turned the page waiting for the gasping surprise of suspense. Emmett’s character was magnificent. Oh my gosh his character was like a love hate character for me. Emmett’s character was considered and written exactly for this book. Carl was a whole another load of beans that scared the crap out of me.
You will absolutely love Gary’s character. He was written so well. I could actually visualize him walking around the kennels with his glasses. The suspense was very thrilling. I loved the realism and the intense entertainment.
I can not wait to read the next book. Until next time my fellow readers… read on!

received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. A good thriller and solid characters. Emmett holds captive a young girl. However, she is not her first. He hides under the radar for years. Is this the time for him to get caught?

And There He Kept Her – Joshua Moehling

In sleepy Sandy Lake, Minnesota, two teenaged kids break into a home looking for prescription drugs, only to be taken completely by surprise when the homeowner, an obese elderly man, catches them in the act – he’s clutching a double-barreled shotgun, which he fires…twice…

It is acting Sheriff Ben Packards’ day off, although he’s already had to put down a nuisance bear, when he receives a call from his cousin, Susan. Ben learns that his niece, Jenny, seems to have disappeared. Upon further questioning, he learns that Jenny, a Type 1 Diabetic, was last seen last evening, doing her homework in her room. When Susan went to wake her for school, she wasn’t there. As she has been caught sneaking out before to see her boyfriend Jesse, Ben & Susan aren’t terribly worried at first. But as time goes by and there’s no trace of or communication from either teen, that changes rapidly.

As Ben mulls over where Jenny and Jesse may be, he heads out on a complaint call – part of an ongoing conflict between a flamboyantly gay middle-aged male, Gary and his older, very straight-laced Christian neighbor, Cora. (These two characters and their exploits provide some laugh-out-loud hilarity for readers!). Upon negotiating a truce, sort of, Ben visits Gary’s rescue kennel, and for the first time since his dog’s recent death, considers adopting another. A hint of Ben’s backstory becomes evident here and will be explained to the reader throughout the story.

Emmett Burr is an older resident who lives on the outskirts of town, who pops narcotics like candy for his chronic pain and is glad to have finally caught the kids who have been stealing his drugs. But nothing has helped much today after he pulled something trying to move the Jesse’s body out of his basement, while stashing a seriously injured Jenny in his ‘pink room’ - a hidden area of his basement he built years ago. As he waits for his meds to finally provide some relief, and his buddy Carl to arrive and help him clean up, he reminisces about the first girl he kidnapped, all those years ago…

As the days go by, Ben and his team begin digging deeper into the kid’s backgrounds and learn that Jesse was peddling pills around the local high school. As the story slowly comes to light, and the police get an idea of where the kids may have been going, their search expands. As a result, Emmett is getting desperate to be rid of the evidence, and again calls on Carl for help, with the two hatching out a macabre plan. But in return, Carl wants Jenny…

This book was AWESOME!! I was plain sucked in from the first paragraph and could not put this book down!! Ben’s character is very well-developed, likeable, and all around interesting. Ancillary characters are equally engaging with very colorful personalities. As the reader learns about Ben and what brought him back to Sandy Lake, it becomes clear that there’s more to his story that’s yet to be told…so I am fervently hoping that we’ll be seeing much more of Ben and these fascinating townsfolk sooner rather than later!! I can’t say enough about this novel – just a fantastic read!!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

This is a decent mystery with a likable detective that could easily turn into a series. Two teenagers are missing and at first no one except Jenny’s mom is very concerned. It soon becomes apparent that this is not a run away case. Jesse and Jenny are going to rob a house of some prescription drugs but things go wrong. Jesse is dead and Jenny is being held a prisoner. There are no clues and it looks like the man responsible may get away with the crime. No one has any idea where the teens could have gone in the middle of the night without their phones. Acting sherif Ben Packard is on the case. His first leads go no where because the murderer has employed another man to get rid of the one person that knew the teens destination that fateful night. Sometimes cleaning up loose ends raises more questions than it hides will Ben find the teens in time?.

A story that kept me interested, for sure, even if it wasn’t perfect. A new acting sheriff has a big time case for a small town- the disappearance of two teenagers. The reader knows what happened to the teens immediately, as part of the story is told from the person involved with their disappearance, but gets to see the story unfold from the sheriff’s eyes. There may have been a few unnecessary characters in the book, but I was genuinely curious to see how it would end.

So this one was interesting. We know from the start who the bad guy is and we wait and watch while the police work through the case and figure it out. I feel like the book starts off with a bang. I was hooked from the first scene but then things taper off a bit and the middle drags before it comes together in a solid way. I'm keen to read more by this author though.

Review of And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

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I really enjoyed this dark thriller. First can we talk about how creepy the cover is? I knew I had to read this one based on that alone. I thought it started strong. I found it a tad slow during the middle but then the end was fast paced and great. I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the small town by the end. I loved the main character, Ben, and can’t wait to hear more of his story and that of his town and it’s unsolved mysteries in the sequel.

Quick synopsis: Ben has returned to his hometown after the loss is his significant other and has been made the acting sheriff of the small town. When two teenagers go missing (one being his cousin), he is determined to find them. The reader knows they have broken into the home of an older man who is most definitely the wrong choice of a victim.

Thanks so much to @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for the ecopy and physical copy of this one.

Loved this! Strong 4.5 stars. SO creepy. I had trouble sleeping while reading this! The creepiest thing was how real the story felt - it felt like something that could be based on a true story. So dark. Loved the character development. Sheriff Packard is great and I'm hoping this might be the beginning of a series? One potentially problematic element for some fans of psychological thrillers is that there's no who-dunnit here - you know exactly where the missing kids are and who the bad guys are right from the beginning, but you're watching the good guys stumble and process the clues and what seems obvious to the reader, the author does a great job of building tension and just the right amount of reader frustration by gradually leading Packard to the conclusion - but does he get there in time?