I could not put this down, it was beautifully written and intensely addictive.

I'm a sucker for chilly small town narratives and this one is excellent - the scene setting is superb and the story, not a whodunit but a race against time to stop yet more loss, is cleverly plotted and full of deeply drawn characters of the morally ambiguous kind.

The hero of our story, acting Sheriff Packard, is an engaging character who is relatable and focused, dealing with loss of his own in more than one way. He also manages to avoid all cliche which is a huge plus for this reader and I believe he'll be appearing in future novels which made me very happy.

The group dynamic and community vibe is enthralling and the author is cleverly insightful making you feel sympathy for both the good and the evil in this literary thriller, you occasionally have to shake yourself and remember who you should be rooting for.

Overall truly excellent. Likely to be one of my books of the year.

Pleasantly surprised as this is a debut novel for Joshue Moehling and he will continue to be on my radar. Plot was easy to follow, fast past, thrilling. Absolutely loved this!
This is my first thriller requested and approved and I’m so happy I decided to read this!
Jenny got it tough…. this is a gruesome read so if you are not into that this would not be a great option!
If you can handle the disturbing parts, I hope you enjoy like I did

Dark, disturbing and surprisingly fun! I enjoyed this book so much.

The premise alone made this book interesting to me when I saw it on Netgalley—I waited a few months for this to be approved and I guess the wait was worth it.

Jesse and Jenny went missing after breaking into an old man’s house in search of prescription drugs.

Emmet Burr is keeping a dark secret in his basement.

Ben Packard— the deputy sheriff of Sandly Lake has secrets of his own.

I just love the main character so much. I think the readers would appreciate the complexity and the realness of Ben’s character as they dig deeper into the story. There is a bit of unconfined cheerfulness in his personality that I find endearing. Although some parts of the story were dark and triggering, they were necessary in highlighting the depth of the crimes and the severity of a man’s wickedness.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy!

I loved this book from a new author to me and I read it in two sittings. It's propulsive and I felt glued to the screen. The plot is creative and has a lot of interesting twists and turns. The characters are believable and even the horrible ones have some redeeming qualities. The main character, Packard, was a joy to get to know and I hope Moehling releases another book soon so I can spend more time with him. He's definitely a good guy with some flaws he is aware of and working on. The small town setting was very real to me, a resident of one also. And I loved the ending, without giving it away, it was believable and not too sugar-coated.

This book was a great surprise! I had been in a reading slump due to the lack of fast paced, action packed crime thriller novels.

Then I stumbled upon a positive review (this book was not even on my radar) and on a whim requested a ARC from Netgalley and was lucky enough to be approved.

“And There He Kept Her” was exactly what I needed to bring me out of the thriller novel wasteland.

Highly recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put this down. This author did a great job of making the characters real with enough mystery and drama to keep you wondering how this all would play out. Ben Packard is the acting sheriff in a town that holds pleasant and sad memories for him. His job gets more difficult when two teenagers are reported missing. In a small town, everyone, everyone knows everyone and in this case one of the missing teenagers is related to Ben. The town has secrets and Ben has things he needs to figure out. The story wraps itself up with a possible lead to a future mystery. I would gladly see where that journey might lead. This is my first book by Joshua Moehling. I am sure it will not be my last.

And There He Kept Her by J. Moehling, published by Poisoned Pen Press, is a full length, stand-alone debut thriller of its finest.
This book kept me in suspense, breatlessly sitting on the edge of my seat right from the start til the last page.
Ben is a sheriff's deputy, in a small town he's starting over. And he leads the investigation of two missing teens.
Emmett is a dark soul who keeps his secrets in the basement of his house - nough said.
This dark read ticked all my boxes. The writing is excellent, the story complex, suspenseful, thrilling to read. I recommend the book.

This was a suspenseful and well-written story. I was expecting a mystery but I feel like it was more of a police procedural. Kind of disappointing at first but the level of suspense made up for it. It’s disturbing at times and could use some trigger warnings.
Overall, it was a great read that I think most thriller lovers will like it.

For a debut horror novel…god dammit this was IT! Congratulations to the author.
This book was gruesome, evil, disturbing and horrifying.
Thanks for getting me out of a reading slump and I will look forward for more about this author!

The much-trodden path of missing girl with a medial condition and the race against time to find her. But, in this instance, lifted above the norm in this excellent debut novel by Joshua Moehling. Yes, the acting Sheriff is a man with a secret in his past but it's not belaboured and he doesn't wallow in angst to the detriment of his job. As well as the investigation into the missing girl, Packard also goes about a variety of mundane tasks in the small town of Sandy Falls, thus allowing the reader to get a real sense of the man's dogged, principled persona.
Emmett Burr, about whom I can't say too much without spoilers, is a complicated, multi-dimensional character and I found my opinion of him varying from chapter to chapter. Although this is a fast-paced hold-your-interest read, alternating between a few different viewpoints, Moehling's strength is in his character building and I was pleased to see a little teaser at the end, intimating that we will be seeing more of Ben Packard.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. I could NOT finish this book of murder, mystery, and horror. It was terrifying to me at times...Although the story does move slowly, it does give the read an insight to the characters. I will try to finish it again.

Without question, I absolutely loved And There He Kept Her and can easily give it five stars! What a great page-turner. When life got in the way of my reading, I couldn’t wait to get back to the book. The pace was exciting and believable as the search for the missing teens took place.

I thought the author did an expert job at character development. It’s the complex story of a robbery gone bad, a couple murders, and a kidnapping, all among ordinary people. Ben was a conscientious detective who worked at being a stand-up guy, and I felt his angst at revealing his true self. I could picture the nosy neighbors of Gary and Carl. I enjoyed the interplay between Jennie and Emmett who kept her locked up and how that relationship roller-coastered. The description of overweight, out-of-shape Emmett had me visualizing everything that was described; well done. Some of the characters were ho-hum, some were interesting, and some were despicable; and it all worked.

The ending was wrapped up beautifully. This is one of those books that made me want to clap when justice was served at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review And There He Kept Her. It was truly my pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

P.S. Did I read somewhere that this is a debut novel? I tried to find that but couldn’t verify it. If so, I am most impressed and look forward to Mr. Moehling’s next endeavor.

Pretty fun read overall, read this in a single sitting because it was fast-paced and easy to get through. The plot was kinda predictable, though, and sometimes the POV switches didn't work that well for the story and made the story drag in certain points. Because of that, I was never really all that thrilled. I didn't really care what would happen to anyone, which was why it was missing suspense for me. The ending was good, though, and overall it was an alright story.

And There He Kept Her is a fast-paced and tense thriller, following both the investigators of a crime, its victims and its culprits. It well-balances those three points of view—I’ve often read mysteries where the culprit is given a POV and felt it detracted from it—and the variation adds to the story.

The plot opens with the attempted robbery of an old man by two kids. This becomes the catalyst for everything: that man imprisons them (or at least one of them), which spirals into murder and a lot more besides, all of it steadily being uncovered by the detective who is searching for the disappeared kids.

There was a lot to like about this book. The characters were sympathetic (obviously culprit aside) and the mystery was compelling. I read the whole thing in a single sitting and didn’t want to put it down. Which, for a book where you know who’s behind it from the start, is pretty good.

I think, in part, it managed this well because there was still a lot you didn’t know, even with the kidnapper’s POV. Joshua Moehling balanced very well what you did find out and what that character didn’t even think about, so that, when all of the reveals started happening, it was still a surprise.

If there’s anything I would say that wasn’t so great about this book, it’s simply that, while I enjoyed reading it, I never felt very much for it. I wasn’t thrilled. I wanted my heart to be racing at some points, and it just wasn’t. But that’s probably a me problem, rather than the book.

So, if you’re looking for a quick mystery to devour in only a few hours, then I would highly recommend it be this one.

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.

For a debut novel this is an exceptionally good thriller. Creepy story that moves a long at a very fast pace and keeps your on you toes as the action plays out. Some very well developed characters who in many instances are truly awful but also some that pull at your heart strings for what they are enduing. Sheriff Ben Packard is challenged as he struggles to find out who is behind the insidious circumstances, he is an honorable man with his own secrets who will struggle both personally and professionally through the book while he looks for justice for those involved.

I will definitely be looking out for more books from this author in the future, highly recommended. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling is a superb read with an engrossing plot and vibrant characters. Well worth the read!

Highly enjoyable albeit the plot was somewhat predictable. The author did an excellent job in both plot and characters development. Unlike many highly anticipated thrillers with dramatic twists and turns, "And There He Kept Her" was written in the style of the thrillers from the 80s and 90s. The nostalgic flavor and writing completely drew me in. Definitely was a pleasant surprise!

4.5 stars (rounded up to 5)

Two teenagers go missing when they try to rob an old disabled man in their area. He has a secret he’s been hiding and will do anything to keep it hidden.

When you pick up a book about kidnapping with a chain and padlock on the cover, you can assume it’s going to be a bit disturbing.. and it was, but it was also strangely uplifting as well. You really get to know the characters to root for them, especially the detective. You don’t often seen gay detectives in stories, but it was a great sub-plot. The bad guy in the story was especially interesting, different than most we see in modern thrillers. I loved the three legged corgi and am hoping to see him in another Detective Packard story.

“You didn’t have to be a copy and witness people on their worst behavior day after day to realize that pretty much everyone was capable of terrible things.”

And There He Kept Her comes out 6/14.

A disturbing plot that was surprisingly engrossing despite having quite a bit of gory content.

After the death of a loved one, Ben Packard has moved to the small town of Sandy Lake in Minnesota looking for a fresh start. In between taking down rogue bears, sorting out petty fights between the locals, and carrying out Acting Sheriff duties, he is faced with the task of searching for two missing teenagers, one of whom happens to be his niece. Though he is unperturbed at first, as the hours roll by with no word from the kids, Ben realizes there is something much more sinister going on and that he has to find the kids before they run out of time.

Though the storyline falls into the general trope of missing child/kidnapping, what makes the book stand out is its unconventional main characters. Ben Packard, the 'hot gay cop', was a fresh change from the standard straight protagonists that are usually portrayed. The antagonist, Emmett Burr, on the other hand, was a revelation. The helpless, 70+-year-old, obese man who suffered from chronic pain was so vile, it makes one shudder just thinking about it. The character of Jenny too, was quite impressive. Despite her young age and her predicament, she held on to life with her spunk and presence of mind.

The author's writing invoked equal parts of intrigue and dread. While I was invested in Ben's investigation, I had to skim read much of Emmett and Jenny's scenes. All the side characters have been depicted vividly enough to get a feel of the small town life. The ending was pretty satisfying and considering that Ben still has unresolved issues in Sandy Lake, I am wondering if there is a second book in the works.

Overall, a nail-biting read that I would have enjoyed more if it was a little less gruesome. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely riveting, nail-biting, and, yes, unputdownable. Characters are completely fleshed out and the pages simply fly by.