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Acting sheriff Ben Packard has run away from his true self by returning to his past. Packard is pulled into the case that brings back memories of a family tragedy when two teenagers go missing in Sandy Lake, Minnesota. In a race against time, the sheriff must put the pieces of the puzzle together before it’s too late for Jesse and medically fragile Jenny.

This gripping and suspenseful thriller is a page-turning read. Elements of true evil lurking in Sandy Lake come to light with violence and disturbing detail to create a dreadful sense of urgency you’ll not soon forget. Packard is a character in turmoil as he struggles to accept and embrace his LGBTQ identity and come to terms with the death of his teenage brother years ago while trying to find Jenny and Jesse. The townspeople are an eclectic cross-section of humanity that add interest to the storyline.

If you’re looking for an intense psychological suspense novel, this one will keep you reading to see what happens next. It isn’t easy to predict where things are going and Packard is a particularly interesting character with many layers who adds depth to the story. I did feel that a couple of plot elements in the missing persons’ arc didn’t seem in character, which made the wrap-up seem less plausible once I thought about them. But this is fiction, and sometimes people do out-of-character things in reality, so don’t overthink it and you’ll find this to be a satisfying thriller read.

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This book is riveting and enthralling! I love the twisty plot and the fleshed out characters. While I am not crazy about the name it certainly lets you know what to expect while the novel itself blows your expectations out of the water. The small town atmosphere felt real and well thought out as well as the situations one would encounter. The characters have depth and dimensions which makes them relatable and understandable. I can’t wait to read this author’s next book!

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This one isn't about the mystery. It's about the characters. Well written and complicated, these characters are the story. I also loved that the main character is a gay male in law enforcement. It's under represented in fiction and this story nails it. The community is a character in and of itself. With POV alternating between our hero and villain you get a depth to the case. I would love to see this become a series. Excellent read!

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Really great debut book!

Awesome characters, honestly enjoyed every single one. Packard is such a great character. He was complex and so so likeable! The writing was captivating and had me on edge wondering what would happen. There was definitely some pretty disturbing elements to this book. Definite trigger warnings but that often makes a great thriller.

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Thanks NetGalley for this thoroughly enjoyable read. Ben Packard moves back to Sandy Lake years after his brother Nick disappeared. Ben is now the acting sheriff. Two teenagers, Jesse and Jenny, have gone missing. Emmet Burr has Jenny locked in his basement. I was anxious to find out if Jenny would live. I like the dynamic between Ben and his co-workers. All of them, and most of the town knows he’s gay, he’s just not talking about it.

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Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Incredible debut crime fiction thriller by Joshua Moehling! WOW! Could not put this one down!! And There He Kept Her was dark, suspenseful, captivating! I still can't believe this is a debut. I thoroughly enjoyed Moehling's style of writing. The sheriff's deputy, Packard, was an interesting character. He's carrying around some crazy secrets of his own. Will he find the two missing teens before it's too late?

This book is such a page turner and a great read for summer!

Looking forward to reading what Moehling comes up with next!

Highly recommend! 4.5/5 stars

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*** - 3 Stars
Cheers to Joshua Moehling for his debut Book And There He Kept Her. Thank you to Netgalley for letting me get my hands on an Advanced Reader Copy for an honest review!

The first couple of pages really grabbed me in and I was ready for that ride with Ben Packard. But then I just felt like the book lost its steam for me. I felt like the book moved really slow and he may have had a reason for it but I found myself putting the book down more than I normally do.

The main Character, Packard has his hands cut out for him when he moves back to a small town in Minnesota where he used to vacation at his grandpa’s lake house. As acting Sherriff, he has his first big case as two teens go missing. One of the teens ends up being his cousin’s daughter.

You pretty much know whodunnit from the get-go. There was no real twist or turns throughout the book that kept me guessing or wanting me to read more. I was expecting more of a thriller (especially with that cover!)than dark and disturbing. Sometimes the disturbing stuff rubbed me the wrong way and seemed more disgusting.

I really liked Packard’s character and would love to see how he develops more as a character. I was also hoping to find out more about what happened to his brother who disappeared when they were growing up in the same town where the teens have gone missing. I think I was more interested in finding out what happened to his brother than finding the teens.

If you want a fast pace knock you off your feet thriller, this book is not it. I think he did a great job on his debut book, and I may give Moehling's books another shot. As I did like his writing style and I think he has it in him to be a good writer. But at this time this book did not do it for me.

The book cover would of grabbed my attention if I saw this at a bookstore.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/13442817?shelf=netgalley

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Happy pub day to one of my favorite books this year, and maybe even last year.

There are very few books that I read slowly on purpose - let alone detective novels (I can rarely get into them). I did not want to finish this book, because I loved it so much. I did not want to leave Sandy Lake. I did not want to stop hearing from Packard. I really, truly hope that we will get to meet him again, so that I can continue to experience his personal growth. I cannot recommend this book enough. The audiobook is also stellar, FYI.

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⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

• disturbing and fast paced
• captivating writing
• great characters -- even the secondary ones are so interesting!

I switched up between reading and listening because I was just devouring this book. And this is a debut, folks! It was a great balance of detective procedural and downright creepy scenes. Our MC is awesome and so easy to root for! Please tell me there is more Packard coming!

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley, @poisonedpenpress, @dreamscape_media, and @jmoehling for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC and audiobook! All opinions are honest and my own.

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A͜͡n͜͡d͜͡ T͜͡h͜͡e͜͡r͜͡e͜͡ H͜͡e͜͡ K͜͡e͜͡p͜͡t͜͡ H͜͡e͜͡r͜͡
b͜͡y͜͡: J͜͡o͜͡s͜͡h͜͡u͜͡a͜͡ M͜͡o͜͡e͜͡h͜͡l͜͡i͜͡n͜͡g͜͡

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I finished the book this morning and I enjoyed it! I liked the main male character. At the end, when he felt comfortable being who he was and no longer pretending to hide certain parts of himself was one of my favorite parts of the whole book.

It was a good steady paced thriller throughout the whole book.  You do need to have a bit of a stronger stomach for this one but I really like that aspect of it.

The author uses a lot of detail in a good way. It wasn't detailed to death (you've read those books) and sometimes the details made me giggle 😆 although I'm pretty sure that's not what the author intended.

I'd recommend this book and mark it is as a BARGAIN OR BORROW on the scale of Buy, Bargain, Borrow, Bud (audio) or Bust.  (Yes I came up with the scale. I'm oddly proud of it!)

Thank you @netgalley the author & the publisher for a copy of this book for my honest opinion.

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I really enjoyed this debut novel, the characters were very fleshed out, and the plot kept me interested throughout the whole novel! Would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a new author to try out!

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When two teens break into a house to steal drugs, they end up walking into a nightmare. After a string of break-ins, Emmett Burr is prepared to stop them this time, and protect the secrets he has kept hidden in his basement for decades.

Not long after Ben Packard returns to Sandy Cove and become acting sheriff, he gets a call from his cousin that her daughter is missing. While Ben and his cousin hardly have a relationship, he of course jumps to help her out, especially after learning her daughter is diabetic and without her insulin.

I loved how the chapters alternated between points of view of Ben and Emmett, with a few others worked in. I also liked how the storylines all came together in unpredictable ways, but that never seemed forced or too farfetched. The book built suspense at a perfect speed and kept me not wanting to put it down!

It seemed like the book was left open to a sequel and I would definitely read another book following Ben Packard and his team. Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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I found this to be dark and depressing. This is one of those where you actually feel sympathy for the "bad guy", and that's just pure talent on the part of the author. This is not truly a thriller, at least in my definition. You know what's going on and you're just waiting for the people who are trying to solve the puzzle to figure it all out and wonder how it's going to come together.

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I read this over the course of a day. It flowed quickly for me and I really enjoyed it. From the start, we know who did it, the question is if and how he gets caught. Police procedural and a lot of character development filled out the majority of the story, with a few small twists along the way. If you enjoy crime fiction, you’ll like this one. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for my eARC. And There He Kept Her is available today.

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I enjoyed this book - the characters were creepy. The story was engaging. The writing was spectacular - I was literally transported into the town and felt as if I interacted directly with the characters. There are no big twists or jump-out-of-your-chair moments - instead all secrets are revealed early on and we have to wait for all the pieces to come together. The book never felt boring, since the characters and storyline were so engaging.

Told in alternating perspectives - Emmett Burr has secrets kept in his basement that may be revealed when two teenagers break into his house. And Ben Packard, a sheriff who is leading the investigation on the missing teens, despite the family connection and personal tragedy he is recovering from. As the investigation continues, will Emmett and Ben’s personal secrets be revealed?

Happy Pub Day!

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy!

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What a wonderful debut novel and not cliche like so many thriller kidnapping stories. I loved how we knew who , what where and when throughout the story but yet still felt compelled to read on. I loved the characters and how we learned a lot about them and the small community they lived in. I loved that we had a gay lead character who was in a powerful prominent career position and he was learning to navigate his life and accept happiness after loss. I found myself not wanting to put the book down…..and would recommend this book to family, friends and my book club.

I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and all opinions are my own

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Too creepy and disturbing for me. I didn't finish it. I love thrillers but a line was drawn in this one that I wasn't crossing. Never heard of this author before but clearly not for me.

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This book was very average. The writing wasn't too deep and neither was the plot. The characters were basic cookie cutter back water roughneck hillbillies, smoking and drinking their lives away while their drug dealing kids run around town.

The mystery wasn't that interesting. This book was easy to skip through and still understand what was going on. Basically two junkie kids got it in their minds to raid the guys place for pills to sell and just got caught. Dumbass boyfriend dies and conveniently diabetic girlfriend is held hostage in the basement, which should've held a bigger threat since she's out of insulin but i didn't feel the urgency on that end. The "bad guy" Emmet wasn't threatening. I think Carl made for a better kidnapper/rapist asshole than Emmet. He was more an underling until he miraculously managed to kill Carl and get rid of his body. We all have murder in us, but it wasn't very climactic. So long story short, wife left Emmet, cuz he's a fat pervert that creeps on women and watches way too much porn for his own good so he partnered with another low life who lives out his fantasies.

The detective was meh. Honestly none of these characters were very likeable which made the pace slow and boring, much like the town this takes place in.

Overall a meh story. I expected better considering the title and cover. Something Criminal Minds-esque instead of this tepid "thriller."

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A thriller set in his own hometown in Minnesota is the setting for debut novelist Joshua Moehling’s And There He Kept Her. Two teenagers have gone missing and acting Sheriff Ben Packard is on the case. Initially believed to be a romantic tryst, the investigation reveals more sinister possibilities. After his own personal tragedy, Ben moved back to the small community of Sandy Lake, once the fond site of his childhood family holidays. As the complications of the case unfold, Ben is forced to confront his own nature and small-town gossip. With an entertaining flowing narrative, building tension and a complex hero revealing the ambiguity of victim, abuser or protector. A polished first novel of a town with its own dark secrets and a protagonist struggling with his own meaning of self. A fine new addition to crime fiction with its three and a half star read rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

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Errrmmmm .. unpopular opinion coming in hot!

I went into this one totally blind. The cover looks creepy, the title sounds intense, it’s listed as a thriller. That was more than enough to sell me. I read the synopsis AFTER I finished reading the book and I am just left shaking my head. If you read the synopsis along with only chapter 1 , done , you basically have read the whole story. By only reading the synopsis and chapter 1, you know who the killer is, you know what happened to the teenagers, leaving absolutely no mystery throughout the story, no plot twists, nothing.

I hate to say this but I was beyond bored. The story is more of a detective investigation where nothing is shocking ... because again, we already solved the case in chapter 1 as the reader… 😑

Also there was just so many eye-roll moments … picture this … you are in a small town , a girl gets kidnapped and she is a type 1 insulin dependent diabetic … obviously this girl is going to run out of insulin … so what does the kidnapper do ? Well he just walks in to the pharmacy of course and gets himself some insulin from the pharmacist . 😑 wouldn’t you be a TAD suspicious about this grungy, sweaty, nervous man coming in and asking for insulin and will pay with credit card when it’s literally posted on every block and in the news that A GIRL WHO IS INSULIN DEPENDENT IS MISSING. And since when can you get insulin over the counter with no prescription? Especially in a small town… pull up that customers file .. hey .. you don’t take insulin …smh. After that I just wanted to start skimming. Was totally over it.

I could go on and on about this one, but I think I’ve written enough. Blegh. I don’t recommend. 5 stars for chapter one. 2 stars for the book itself as a whole.

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