I definitely think I am in the minority here in not enjoying this book. I’m super excited to see a debut book get a lot of good buzz early and hopefully a lot of people enjoy it. 

I was seeing a lot of early reviews really praising this books for being dark and twisty which are always my favorite types of thrillers. I like ones that mess with your head for days after finishing them. This was unfortunately not that. I did not think it was that dark. I think it tried to be very dark but ended up feeling very strange as far as the tone went. You mostly follow a police detective/stand in sheriff of a small town (which I’m not a huge fan of police procedural thrillers) while he is living his day to day life when he gets a call from his cousin that her daughter is missing. Upon further investigation, the daughter has vanished along with her boyfriend. At first the detective isn’t too worried, teens run off all the time and lose track of time. But then they notice that she has left her insulin and her phone, two things she literally and figuratively cannot live without. So the investigation starts. 

The synopsis literally gives away what happens so read that at your discretion. I would say go into it blind to have the most fun reading it. The twist of the situation was what propelled me into finishing this book. But just barely. I felt like some of the conversations this book was as trying to have were done very poorly. There is a lot of homophobia in the town this book is based in, which I know is common for small towns. I live in a small town. I see it every day. But it was how gay characters were treated that bothered me. There is a dog shelter owner who is gay and the way he is treated is over the top and cartoony. 
There is also a morbidly obese character with chronic pain and I felt like it was just beat into your head that this character was big. Over and over and over again. Which, again, I know if someone is really obese with a lot of pain, that is something they are constantly having to deal with. But I feel like it was almost used in a way to make this character more likable but it became his biggest personality trait. And if you have read the book, you know he is doing a lot more than just being big. 
There were a few reveals in this book. Nothing super shocking. There was one character relationship towards the end that I wasn’t expecting that surprised me on how two characters were tied together, but that was about it. 
This book tried to have conversations about pill abuse, generational trauma, homophobia, and small town politics but I don’t think it really fleshed out any of those topics. 

All in all, I think if you like police procedural books, you may love this one. I do think for the right audience, this could be a really good book. But it just wasn’t for me. I felt like it really could have been better if it didn’t try to have a million things going on at once.

This book was just okay for me. The premise sounded amazing but a few things that bothered me was that there was no guessing who the bad guy was or what had happened to the two teenagers. You knew right away what was going on. Other than that, it was a bit slow to get into the story and the characters as well. It's worth a read, but again, it was just okay.

I didn't hate the writing in this book, and I thought the premises of the story was great, it is what caught my attention. I did not like that I went in knowing what happened and who the bad guy was. That made it a bit of a slow read for me. There were no twists or turns, just the two points of view, Emmett's who took us through what was happening in the basement, and Sheriff Packard who guided us through the police investigation.

I think I expected more of a thriller and I got a police procedure book, which has never been for me. I think people who are heavy on detective reading will find this interesting, but for me, it was a slow read.

When two teenagers break into a man’s house they will get more than they bargained for with tragos consequences.  Acting sheriff Ben Packard is living in the town of his childhood vacations. In Sandy Lake he is running from and returning to tragedies from his past. When his cousins daughter goes missing he takes on the challenge of finding her. I enjoyed the the mystery and suspense of this story.  There was a lot of set up surrounding Ben and I could easily see an additional novel coming from this story.  This will be a good beach read this summer for people looking for some suspense and mystery.

Very good book I was very lucky to get to read this book so early it is definitely worth reading it is very sad in parts also it would be interesting to see if he is going to write anymore books about the main character I would love to see how much more he could write about this character very good book thank you again for letting me read it early

Just a middle of the road book. I kept wanting more, but the book lacked character emotion, and I couldn't get invested.
Ben Packard is a police detective returning to a small community in Minnesota. Soon a big case breaks, where two teens, Jesse and Jenny, break into a house and go missing.
As the reader, there are no mysteries in this book. From the beginning you know Jesse has died and Jenny is being held hostage. You know Emmett, the man responsible for the death and kidnapping, has a dark past. There are no twists throughout, and knowing the whodunnit from the beginning didn't make this book any more exciting to read.
If you're wanting a book with a lot of excitement and twist & turns, this isn't it.

This is such a great book. I love the characters and the small town setting. Such a great story. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

3.5 stars
The storyline is definitely interesting (and also often very disturbing). Several loose ends left so makes me think the author is hoping to write a series. Im interesting in several of the characters, so I’d read the next one.

A couple of teenagers breaking into a home and the worst thing happens. The home owner is there with a gun! Now to find out what happens, how everyone in a small town is tied together.. Joshua Moehling did a great job in engaging the reader. He had all our emotions in play, at points we felt sorry for the victims and for the perpetrators. I look forward to reading more books in this series (that is a hint this needs to become a series).

I cannot believe this is a debut novel. The writing was tight, the pace was intense, I had a hard time putting it down, and read it in a weekend. The premise starts out simple enough - two teens break into a house to steal prescription drugs. The owner is old, in ill health, and probably easy to control - or so the teens mistakenly thought. And that's when all hell breaks loose. One of the teens ends up dead, and the other is held captive. One of the teens' mothers is the cousin of the new Sheriff in town- Ben Packard. Ben is juggling his own struggles.

The rest of the book highlights Ben's search for the teens as he learns more about the drug culture in town. I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful read. I was given a copy for my honest review, but that doesn't affect how highly I am rating this novel. I'd definitely read more by this author.

When teenagers Jenny and Jesse break into Emmett Burr’s home planning to steal his prescription drugs, they get a lot more than they bargained for. Emmett, an elderly man, has been living in solitude for a long time, with dark secrets to hide. Jenny’s cousin Ben happens to be a detective, who recently moved to the small town to leave behind personal tragedy of his own. He will stop at nothing to find the missing teens, even if it means exposing a secret of his own.

Some parts of this book were hard to read; it reminded me a lot of an episode of Law & Order SVU. I love that show, so I didn’t mind the dark twists in this book. But it definitely is not for everyone; trigger warnings of abuse and imprisonment. I really liked Ben’s character in how he was trying to find his own place in this town while investigating his cousin’s disappearance. Without giving any spoilers, Ben was compelling in his own right in how he fit into a small town that was gossiping about him.  Also, most of the characters were battling demons of their own - I thought in a way that made them more relatable. Jenny and Emmett’s dynamic was interesting as well, as it explored that even the worst of people can have the tiniest bit of goodness within them. Definitely a book that will stay with you, as parts of it were downright disturbing. But if you can get past that, it’s worth hanging in for the end.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks and Joshua Moehling for the ARC! “And There He Kept Her” releases May 14th.

This reciew will be posted to my Instagram blog books_by_the_bottle shortly 😊

Two teenagers break into the home of an old man to steal something from him. He catches them in the act, kills one and holds the other captive. His name is Emmett and he has other secrets he's keeping. The teens are presumed missing and Deputy Sheriff Ben Packard begins to investigate where the teens ran off too. Thus begins a cat mouse chase.  Will Packard find the answers before it's too late?

I really enjoyed this story. Being from Minnesota I could vividly see the description of the town of Sandy Lake as it reminds me of all the little towns in northern Minnesota. I didn't know the story took place in Minnesota so it was a pleasant surprise.  I also loved the main character, Ben Packard. I thought the story was fast paced and suspenseful. The storyline in a way has been done before, mystery to solve and detective searching for clues, but there is a market for that and people who like these types of stories will love this one. Overall I really liked this one and I would definitely read more books with Ben Packard which I think that was hinted at in this story. I hope I'm not wrong!

It took some time for me to get into the story, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading.   While slightly predictable, I enjoyed the characters and felt like everything moved quickly enough to keep the story flowing.    I would recommend!

3.5 ⭐

I usually don't like police protocol stories unless it's Karin Slaughter but my favorite thing is the main character, while the story itself was super creepy/disturbing which is also a thumbs up in my book! I loved the writing as well! 

It fell flat for me for the plot but it was still a good read

No huge mystery or twist, but this book is one that keeps you on your toes. It has just enough suspense to keep you reading more and more. 

This is a perfect novel for those who enjoy a good story from start to finish, because the entire time something is happening. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC 📖🤍

Ben Packard moves to a small town where he used to summer as a child to become the acting Sheriff and get away from the city where he was a cop.  In this town two kids break into a house to commit a robbery and soon go missing.  Ben’s niece is one of those kids and he promises his cousin that he will find her.  She is kidnapped and held in the basement of Emmet Burrs.  This is a dark story, a thriller but not a mystery.  Great character development, especially with Ben.  You get to know and feel the characters.  The writing is very descriptive and makes the story flow.  Since the reader knows at the onset what happened, it is more me wondering who was going to live and who was going to die.  Really intense!

I found this to be suspenseful enough. 

Two teenagers break into the home of an older man with a bunch of health problems, many of them compounded by Emmet’s heavy drinking and terrible diet. He’s sickly, but he can still make terrible decisions.

There is more than one horrible human being in this novel, and I feel like the author tried to downplay the nightmarish behavior of what these people did. With Emmet, he’s in ill health physically and mentally, but he’s not a complete sociopath in that he sort of gets why his behavior is evil. 

In terms of pacing, this novel works. Yes, the teenagers made a bad decision, but their punishment far outweighed the crime. I like the acting sheriff Ben Packard, who came to this small town to get away from bad memories. I also liked his interactions with reliable cops and a lazy cop.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 14, 2022.

Great book, not at all what I expected when I finished the first chapter. This story makes all the characters relatable, even the bad ones. It gives voice to the evil ones, and you almost, see their point and concerns. This is a great read for someone wanting to find something new to read. I also feel this would be an excellent book for a book club, especially in the fall of the year.

Page turning and distubing, And There He Kept Her is well written.    It's a fast read, and hard to put down.

Two missing teenagers, a questionable victim, and the emotionally damaged cop tasked with connecting the dots. I was granted early access via @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress to read and review this book, and while I generally enjoyed it and the plot advanced at a good pace, some moments needed work. I think overall the characters are really strong and enjoyable, especially the main character and “villain,” it is just evident that the storytelling could be more consistent in spots. 3/5 for me. #netgalley