<b>Note:</b> I received an advanced copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley.

When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he's been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he'll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector.

Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff's deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.

This is on a sickness scale that is truly terrifying. I can and I can not believe that this ould actually happen but I have read too many serial killer stories.

And There He Kept Her is crime drama at its best. Ben Packard is the acting sheriff of the same small town his brother disappeared from 20 years ago. When 2 teenagers disappear, he tackles finding clues with intensity. Dealing with some of the local crazies, including one of his staff, make small town detective work a little trickier than big city detective work. The pace of this book kept me glued to my book all day. I cannot believe this is a debut novel and I cannot wait to read Packards next investigation.

I could not put this book down! While it was different than I was expecting, it was still so enjoyable. I adored Packard, the main character and I am hoping we see more of him in books to come? Fingers crossed!

This book is a good mystery suspenseful story that kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was happening. Sometimes I felt like the book dragged on a bit, but overall, I enjoyed it, and considering it a debut, I was super impressed!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I will leave a review on Amazon and B&N on June 14th

This was a new author for me, and I really enjoyed the book. Two teens are missing in a small community in Minnesota, and the acting sheriff Ben Packard is trying his best to figure out what has happened to them. I would recommend it to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and am under no obligation to leave a favorable review the opinion expressed here are my own.

Rating: 3
Author: Joshua Moehling

This one was okay. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t great. I feel like it was way too long even when I turned the speed up to 3.0 on the audiobook. The narrator felt one note which made it hard to connect to the characters. I never truly felt any emotion from anything happening in the story.

I think the main issue I have with this book is there is nothing to figure out and it has zero suspense. From reading the synopsis as well as the title of the book the reader knows what happened. The chapters switch between what’s currently happening with Jenny and the police officer Packard who is trying to figure out where she is. While I liked Packard’s character I didn’t care about his chapters. Again, I think it’s because as the reader I knew where Jenny was and so it made Packard’s chapters feel very repetitive. I did, however, find Emmett and Jenny’s interactions to be interesting. I feel as though if the story focused more on Emmett’s conflicting feelings then I would have enjoyed this one more.

Overall, it’s an okay book to read if you have nothing else going on. This is definitely one that you will have to try on your own. Just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean you might not love it!

Thank you so much @dreamscapemedia & @poisonedpenpress for the #gifted copy on #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book Review:

And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

There are people who seem like killers and then killers that fly under the radar because they are just average people. This is a great example of the latter. I loved this book, but given recent world circumstances if the kidnapping of a high school aged girl is too much for you then skip this one.

Emmett Burr didn't mean to kidnap the girl...this time. When two teens break into his basement to steal his pills, the boy is shot but he keeps the girl until he can decide what to do with her.

I really liked the character development that happened for many of the characters. From beginning to end you felt like you understood Emmett or Office Packard much more than the beginning of the story. Such a good story but very disturbing at the same time.

If this sounds like a book for you, make sure to check it out when it releases June 14th!

Thanks to @poisonedpenpress
And @netgalley for this advanced reader!

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Whew! And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling was a page turner that left me breathless through all the sections with the teenagers who were missing. The parts of the book with Ben Packard, sheriff's deputy/acting sheriff were not only well-written and entertaining, they explored facets of lives rarely explored; I am not going to spoil the specific issues Ben is facing in his new small-town, but I enjoyed thinking about it and pondering if small towns really are that much different from bigger cities in dealing with differences or if they are just magnified because of the size of the town making everyone's attitudes more on display. Though this isn't a typical book club type book, some of the community issues that were highlighted in the novel would certainly make for good discussion topics.

So the thriller portion of this novel revolves around two missing teenagers. In the first pages of the novel, the reader learns what happens to them: They robbed the wrong guy and paid a steep price for doing so. The book follows three different POVs: One of the two teenagers, the main police officer (Ben), and the old man who was robbed. Each POV was fascinating and made the story so much more well rounded than it would have been without it. In fact, in addition to the three narrators, I absolutely loved so many of the secondary characters in And There He Kept Her. The main standout for me was Gary, the LGBTQ+ truck driver/former porn-star/former prostitute/animal rescuer was a trip. He and his feud with his religiously zealous neighbor was a welcome comic relief.

All in all, I REALLY liked this book and would give it 4.5 stars for entertainment and enjoyment.

This book by a first time author to me started with a bang...literally. Two teenagers are shot as they break into someone's basement. This fast paced book kept me reading from the beginning. I usually have two or three books going at once, but this is the one I kept returning to. Investigations are led by Packard, a gay cop (really just an under current in the story) who is struggling with some past history and learning how to accept himself for who and what he is. During the investigation and the search for the missing teenagers, we are taken into the world of people selling drugs, kidnapping and murder. By the end of the book, it seemed like the author was leaving himself an opening for another book, this one possibly about a cold case he has a personal interest in. If so, I would definitely read it. I will be looking for more of his books.

What an epic debut thriller!
I truly don't have the words to do this justice. This was fast paced, disturbing in all the right ways and based on a children's riddle...CREEPY!!!

I really enjoyed this debut suspense from Joshua Moehling! It was well-plotted, well-paced, and the characters were interesting and well-developed. Although you know all along 'whodunnit', it was interesting to follow the investigation to see if they'd rescue the victim in time. I also found it fascinating to see into the mind of the abductor, specifically how he justifies his own actions and shifts the blame onto others until the very end.

This was a great suspense read that felt like the first in a series. I would definitely read more!

And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

Published: June 14, 2022
Poisoned Pen Press
Pages: 337
Genre: Thriller
KKECReads Rating: 5/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Joshua Moehling works in the medical device industry by day and writes at night. And There He Kept Her is his first novel. He lives in the Twin Cities.

“There was no hurry.”

Ben Packard moved to the small town he visited as a child and worked as a sheriff's deputy. It is a long way from the streets of Minneapolis, but he was drawn to the area, despite the traffic loss he experienced there. When his cousin's daughter and boyfriend go missing, it’s a race against the clock to find the kids alive.

I loved this book so much. There were so many beautiful themes and scenes. The plot moved quickly, the characters were bizarrely human, and the twists- honey!

I adored meeting Packard. I loved the weight of his past trauma mingling with his current woes. I loved that while he is a gay man and accepting of that, he isn’t ready to be out for fear of how that could impact his career.

I found the way Joshua humanized each of his characters absolutely brilliant. From our hero, Packard, to the villain.

I enjoyed the alternating narrators and the fact that there was humor woven throughout. The storyline was feasible. Having lived in a small midwestern town (I went to college in Grand Forks, ND), I found the descriptions accurate.

I always enjoy reading novels that take place in places I have been, and this was no different. From the way the town is described to how the small town folk behaves, the accuracy was spot on.

I loved that we knew who was the guilty party from the start. That aspect added such a twisted sense of shock to the storyline.

I would love to see this become a series. I loved Packard and think he should get his happily ever after. Also, we have to hear more about life with Frank!

One day read - had to see what happened!
Great first novel - hope to see lots more - especially more of Acting Sheriff Packard. Really good characters and depiction of small town, rural life. Plot moved a a very good pace. Enough action to keep you guessing

This book had small town vibes and true crime like elements which made it a very quick paced read!

It’s up to Acting Sheriff Packard to determine whether two teen lovers are off on a rendezvous or if there’s something more sinister at play. What he uncovers unravels secrets of this small town, and eventually the whereabouts of the missing teens.

Expertly paced thriller. Great debut novel. Who's the victim? Who's the criminal? Is it possible to be both, depending on the circumstances? Interesting characters, most of whom are well-developed and three dimensional.

"'They thought he was a helpless old man. They were wrong.'

When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he's been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he'll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector.

Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff's deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home."

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a good mystery suspenseful story that had my detective cap on trying to figure out what was going on.
Author Joshua Moehling wrote this book well and knew how to keep the reader captivated in finding out the outcome of this story.

Totally enjoyed this book.

The story takes place in Sandy Lake Minnesota. Two teenagers break into a house to steal drugs from Emmett Burr, but Emmett has more than drugs concealed in his house. Ben Packard is in charge of the investigation of the missing teens and he has his own reasons for returning to Sandy Lake.
This mystery is not all it seems at first as we learn that everyone has an agenda.
I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Read this debut novel in two days!!

I so enjoyed Joshua Moehling's first novel "And There He Kept Her." Really well-plotted suspense, race-against-the-clock, will the good guys save the kids? Or will deeply disturbed evil win out? The central character is so likable, and I found myself cheering Sheriff Packard on the whole way. Already looking forward to what happens next for him. And if you like gruesome, there are a couple of scenes towards the end that will really satisfy. :)

Will easily recommend this book. 4/5 stars.

One of the best thrillers I've read lately. The depth of character development, which is very important to me, alongside a plot that never plods yielded an extremely satisfying read.

I loved the inclusivity and variety of characters. I didn't like how the only Native character was also the one on the sex offender list. But it made more sense later as to how some people are unfairly targeted.

My litmus test for a great book isn't always how I feel immediately after finishing the read. It's also how the story and people linger days afterward. What has stayed with me is how the acting sheriff finally realized he had built a relationship up in his mind and worshipped the idealization of it, which kept him from opening up to those around him. Also, the one who seems to be purely evil could be a protector too. These are people I would love to see carry on with their lives in other books. I would love to see how they grow and change.

Kudos to the author!

Just because a homeowner is a senior doesn't mean that it is safe to break into their home. Jesse and Jenny thought that this would be a perfect break in for the drugs that were in the house b/c Emmet Burg at the age that he was on prescriptions but little did the robbers know that he was home at the time. Emmet confronted them and this is when all the problems started more so for the robbers than Emmet. Would these teenagers get out alive or will Emmet have the last laugh. Who do you root for the Emmet or the robbers. A page turner for sure.