A very good story that caught me from page one. What was supposed to be a fairly easy in and out house burglary for two teens turns into a deadly surprise when the owner shows up unexpectedly and the teens go missing. What follows is a story filled with mystery, mayhem and a little look back history. Just when you think you have all the pieces in front of you, a one goes missing.
Detective Ben Packard leaves his big city job and returns to the place of his summer visits as a child and becomes acting sheriff. He is the man in charge as the search for the missing teens evolves. As he follows the leads, glimpses into both his youth and his more recent life experiences adds a touch of intrigue to the evolving story of the search for the teens. As he goes about searching and is faced with some of the seedier sides of life in his town, he draws some parallels between life today and what he knew as a young boy summering here, when his brother disappeared. He cannot help but see some similarities, when dealing with the mother of one of the missing teens, who also happens to be a cousin of his and the anxiety and fear faced by his own family when his brother Nick disappeared.
Characters were well developed and relationships defined. I could not help but feel that Ben Packard has a future ahead of him here.
I would be happy to continue unraveling his story.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy of this ARC!

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Joshua Moehling! I thought the writing was excellent. Thrillers can lack character development for me at times, but not this novel.

I enjoyed the main character, Packard. I hope the author continues his character in future novels. I liked how he is, what some may considered, an unconventional main character in a thriller/police procedure drama. I will recommend this book to fellow friends when it comes out!

I was selected for an ARC of this book. The title and cover interested me so I decided to go for it and I’m so glad I did! This is hands down the best book I’ve read this year. I didn’t expect this much from a debut author but i couldn’t put this book down. The characters were interesting and well planned out. I hope this is a series! I highly recommend reading this book!

What a good story. Some plot twists and lots of tension. Loved Packard. Down to earth and steady. Grwat idea making him a gay cop in a small town. Great supporting characters. Read this book in one sitting. Quite the page turner. Hope this becomes a series.

This thriller was utterly unique. There are no whodunnit questions, no big reveals and no surprising twists and I absolutely loved that about it. We, the reader, know everything going in and are taken on the journey of investigating with the police. This was such a refreshing change of pace and so uniquely done. What I loved the most was the cover with just the title and author name....no claims of "The most shocking thriller with a twist you won't see coming!" This book delivered on its promise of a dark, complex mystery and then some. It was dark and complex and very disturbing and it made for a gripping, tense read. As a parent the thought of anything happening to a child can bring you to your knees. I loved how the author didn't pull any punches but at the same time didn't give us gratuitous sex and violence...that takes talent. I appreciated that the author knew his readers were intelligent enough to be able to use their imagination. A horrifying and fascinating read in equal measure. Kudos to Mr. Moehling for a brilliant debut. All. The. Stars.

I've read some other reviews about this book in which readers complained about how disturbing and over-the-top vile this book is. I didn't find it to be overly graphic, which maybe says something about me. I didn't dislike this book, but I did have problems with it. My biggest problem was the antagonist, Emmett. Emmett is a monster and his buddy Carl is even worse. But for some reason he decides that Jenny is different and he needs to protect her. Or that because she's only 16, he can't abuse her like he's done with his other victims. I get that the circumstances were different; Jenny broke into his house, while he chose and kidnapped his other victims. But it just seems strange that he's going to make that distinction. His thought process is basically, "I may be a disgusting, rapist, serial killer...but I'm not a pedophile."

I'm not an expert in the psychology of serial killers, but this seems odd to me as someone who has read a ton of murder mysteries, some of them even more twisted than this one.

I also find it funny that Emmett considers himself a "retired" serial killer. Which in Emmett's case just means too fat and handicapped to go prowling for victims. So when Jenny and Jesse break into his house to steal pills, one would think that he would consider that the equivalent of "Serial-Killer Christmas Morning."

I did like Ben Packard as a character and would say that if this is going to be a series, I would continue just to see how his life progresses.

I'll give take a couple of stars off just for my dislikes, but add half a star for Ben. 3.5 stars overall.

The title “And There He Kept Her” is a sufficient summary of a creepy nightmare happening in a small rural town. Two teenagers go missing in northern Minnesota and we get to know immediately why they disappeared — the rest of the novel is a dark thriller that slowly exposes what has happened. At its heart is a decent man, Deputy Sheriff Ben Packard, a guy with a dark connection to the town as well as one of the victims. Ben is trying to unravel the disappearance and getting to know more and more about the townsfolk. He’s the heart of the story — he’s the acting sheriff (the actual sheriff, also with connections to the victims, is dying of cancer). The atmosphere is totally small town creepiness, but it has a hero worth rooting for and villains that you despise immediately. Mr. Moeling has crafted more than the usual police procedural — it’s a suspenseful thriller with a central character worthy of a full series. 4 stars!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES That’s Jenny, one of the missing teenagers.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO It’s the beginning of May when there are few leaves on trees but some tulips are springing up as they should be.

I have to say that when a debut author blows me away, I'm always so darn excited for what comes next. Make no mistake, And There He Kept Her was that book and I can't wait to find out if we will get more of Ben Packard. There were so many layers to his story, and I feel like we just got a taste of a few of them. Sign me up for a series but if this is standalone, it was hard to put down.

Ben moved to Sandy Lake after a personal loss leaves him wondering what comes next in his life. He spent summers here at his grandfather’s house until tragedy struck his family. Now he is the acting sheriff and when his cousin Susan calls stating her teenage daughter is missing, he will have to learn the ins and outs of this small town if he has any hope of finding her. Not only did Jenny sneak out of the house she also left behind the medicine that she needs to survive. This adds an extra layer of tension as time is truly running out to find her.

While it is not a mystery to us the readers what happened to Jenny, Ben is starting his investigation with no clues or witnesses. The kidnapper or kidnappers have done horrific things in the past and I kept crossing my fingers that Ben would find Jenny in time. No jaw-dropping twists, just a very good character-focused story about the monsters that hide in plain sight and their victims.

Good debut by Joshua Moehling. Very, very dark. It's a police procedural with a highly likeable acting sheriff that I am looking forward to learn more about in the next installments. It's definitely set up to be a series.

It was a quick read, great pacing throughout.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. I offer my review freely.

Wow wow wow. Can I give this more than five stars? Please? This book was PHENOMENAL.
Two teenagers go missing; Ben Packard is the acting sheriff on the case. Packard works tirelessly to try to connect the dots that connect these missing teenagers to the suspicious drug activities of others in the small town of Sandy Lake. The synopsis does not do this book justice. A story of personal journey, victimhood and abuse– this novel hits all the emotions.

This book was incredibly well written. Absolutely one of the best books I’ve read in months. Moehling’s character development is BEYOND excellent, making the reader worried for the victims while still (almost?) empathizing with the abuser. How many authors can do that? Not many. This was a page turner, for sure. Every moment of the day I couldn’t wait to get home and read it. As a fan of thrillers, I found this one to be top notch. The best part about this book is that nothing was too “far fetched”. The twists and turns were optimally organic, and it read like a gorgeous jigsaw puzzle being placed together. When the book finishes, it feels like you’ve put that last piece of the puzzle in and can sit back and enjoy it. I’m also hoping that Moehling continues with a Ben Packard series… this novel was so good, I think we’d all enjoy more!

I highly recommend And There He Kept Her for any lovers of crime, thrillers, suspenseful books, or fiction of all types. Special thank you to NetGalley, Joshua Moehling, and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Two teenagers, Jesse and Jenny, break into a house - unfortunately, the homeowner Emmett Burr is home and shoots the boy and imprisons the female. The acting sheriff Ben Packard is contacted by his cousin Susan Wheeler to report her missing daughter Jenny. Concern increases when it is revealed that Jenny is a diabetic and requires insulin to stay alive. The investigation reveals that Jesse was a drug dealer and the race is on to uncover his supplier and clients. Hopefully, information will lead to finding Jesse and Jenny. It is revealed that Emmett has a special room that he has used to keep a woman chained up and has yet to decide Jenny's fate.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy.

Brilliant, Jesse and Jenny are missing being teenagers people think they have run away together this is not so, Ben Packard is new in town he is a police officer, he has bad memories from this youth when he and the family used to holiday here, Sandy Lake is a small town with secrets, this is a debut novel from this author and I honestly believe he did a great job and looking forward to reading more of his books

A classic girl goes missing, police looking for her, shady dudes doing messed up stuff and a good ending. Great for a quick, fast-paces afternoon read! Kept me interested from beginning to end!

If you like mysteries set in small towns enveloped by secrets, this one is for you. Is there anyone in Sandy Lake who doesn't have a secret? Well, you'll just have to read And There He Kept Her to find out. You certainly won't be disappointed. It's a well-paced debut with a good plot. I was pleasantly surprised. The final act is especially well done. This book displays enough promise that you'll come back for the next one. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the advance reading copy! #AndThereHeKeptHer

I really enjoyed this book. Well, enjoy? I am not a fan of gore or violence against women but it was well done and kept me reading to see what happened next. I was most intrigued by the characters who were an very interesting group from Ben, the Sheriff to Emmett, the criminal and how the author developed the story and the characters. Most intriguing were their complex personalities and the struggles between good and evil, as well as their relationships with their co-workers, friends and family.
I look forward to the follow up novels!

ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review
I am pretty taken aback by how quickly I was sucked into this book and how much I enjoyed it. This book felt just like watching an intense but horrifying episode of Criminal Minds. The author builds a dual perspective story told via the POVs of both the MC, the local small town Deputy (but really, acting Sheriff) and the villain. At times the amount of characters got a bit confusing but it didn’t take long once invested to differentiate between most. With the MC doing so many interviews and meetups with locals those minor interactions helped not only build the setting but also provide identities to a select few townspeople. I’m thinking a lot of this is also stage setting for a larger series, to which I’d be fully on board to read.
After a young girl and her boyfriend go missing MC Packard takes on the case working in lieu of the sheriff whose out while receiving cancer treatments. Packard is new to the town but visited when he was younger so he does have his own roots linking him to the town. What I really liked about Packard was his intelligence. His reasoning and on the job skills not only led me to see him as a reliable and trustworthy cop. Honestly the fact that the missing girl is his niece does little to challenge his perspective and he behaves like he gives every case his all.
The book does touch on heavy subjects so if you can’t even watch any crime shows on tv this will really not be for you. If you’re in the mood for an excellent detective novel, with adventure, mystery and some pretty creepy moments this should definitely, at the very least, land on your radar. Really intense and exciting read. Great debut and hopefully the first of many in a new series!

Wow! This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Hard to believe this is a debut novel by Joshua Moehling; it blew me away! It was fast paced, thrilling and wonderfully written. I loved the characters, especially Gary and Susan, they just added some humor to the mix, which was a nice addition to the whole story. I can't wait to see what the author has in store for us next, hopefully something more from our small town of Sandy Lake.

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press Publishing for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Woah! This is a super creepy, dark and somewhat disturbing mystery/ thriller. In a small dusty town of Sandy Lake, two teenagers Jesse and Jenny break into an older man´s house in hopes of finding pills. They presumed he was as helpless as he was elderly. Holy smokes were they wrong. What happens next will have your jaw on the floor! We also meet the Sheriff, Ben and the story unfolds around him. There is so much suspense and on edge feel! I loved every minute!

Wow!  Joshua Moehling is a name to know!  And There He Kept Her is a suspenseful police procedural with a heart.  The novel's characters are fully outlined and people you can know and love after just a few pages.  I am very glad this is the start of a new series because I want to read more by Moehling about Packard and Sandy Lake.

This book had me hooked from page one. Every character comes alive on the pages. The main character seems to be someone I want to read more about. The story progressed quickly and is a real page turner. You find yourself absorbed in the pages and hoping for the best outcome A well
Written mystery that the author weaves easily and keeps the reader wanting more. Run out and get this one. You won’t be sorry. .