Now available in paperback! This suspense mystery offers cleverly written characters and a plot that doesn’t rely on shocking twists or supernatural intervention. When a young couple breaks into an isolated house looking for prescription painkillers, they are caught in the act and the encounter sets off a disturbing chain of events.
The title and cover give away that the young woman is taken prisoner. In a technique similar to Carolyn Kepnes’s You, Moehling writes some of the chapters from the old man’s perspective, to chilling effect. Betrayed by his broken-down body, Emmett Burr moves through the machinations of taking a captive with the bitter efficiency of someone checking off their grocery list. This matter-of-fact delivery helps ratchet up the suspense between these chapters and the ones from the investigators’ perspective as they close in on the missing young woman and her captor.
Police officer Ben Packard has returned to the small Minnesota town in search of a fresh start, and Moehling gradually teases out details of why one might be required. Ben is so likable, and we root for his success in the investigation and in life. The cat-and-mouse format of the book propels the plot along to a satisfying, if not 100% pleasant, conclusion.
It’s hard to believe that this is a debut novel, and readers who want more will be happy to know that the second Ben Packard book is scheduled to be published in August of this year. I’ll be interested to see what’s next for the deputy and for Moehling. 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent spine chilling novel. The characters are brought to life and keep you constantly thinking about it when you have to set the book down.

I would recomend it to everyone!

A disturbing story that you can't put down. And There He Kept Her follows the actions of two teenagers who break into a house, one left for dead and the other locked in a hidden room. As law enforcement searches for the teens, the reader is immersed in the small town of Sandy Lake where secrets are everywhere. There is no big mystery as we meet the creepers in the beginning of the story.

From debut author, Moehling delivers a dark thriller told from the POV of the sheriff and the kidnapper. I hope to read more with Sheriff Packard in the future. Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for the complimentary copy of this novel.

Wow! Great debut for this author and a rare 5 stars from me for a new series. I could not put this one down and was riveted by the story and impressed by the excellent writing. I can't wait for the next one!

This book was mysterious, thrilling, dark, and just down right enchanting. I could not put it down. Really great character development and I loved the LGBTQ representation in the book. The plot was very well down and I could absolutely was intrigued by the writing. Very well done!

The plot line of the story kind of started out slow for me. It picked up midway through the book. Will definitely need to check out more titles from this author. I did like the character development and the story overall.

Wow, what a stunning debut.

When I first came across this book; the title alone had piqued my interest. Once I started, I couldn't stop. It took me a minute to pick it up, and I'm so mad at myself for waiting so long.

"And There He Kept Her" follows a case of mysterious disappearance in the small town of Sandy Lake, Minnesota. While I see some mention that the book didn't pick up, or that it seemed too slow paced, that's actually what I loved about it. In a way it was mundane, just like a small town would be. We learned about the eccentric personality of the locals and we learned how they interacted with each other. Every one knows every one in a way, and it made sense.

While I wasn't on the edge of my seat; I was nestled in the story. I wanted to know what was going to happen, because I was never really able to predict it, but the temporal flow of everything didn't have me on sharp edge. I liked this, and I would say this leans more toward being a mystery than a thriller.

Each character introduced had a distinct personality and something that made them flawed, in a major or minor way. I loved this because that's what made them so human. Even our "hero", Packard, isn't without his own faults.

I really, really enjoyed this and can't wait to see what will become of Packard in Moehling's next book.

This was actually a pretty decent thriller - the plot was very creepy sounding but I ended up getting highly invested in the characters, especially our detective. I will be on the lookout for more by Moehling!

This was a great debut, I loved the plotline - it flowed very well and the multiple POVs made it that much more interesting. I really like that we got to see the bad guy, good guy, and victim dialogue all at the same time - it made the picture bigger and clearer, and I couldn't stop turning the pgs to see what would happen next! I'm excited for the sequel, I see it's coming out Summer 2023.

Thanks netgalley for giving me the advanced pdf so that I can give y'all my thoughts and opinions 💛

This was a very good debut book. This author definitely knew what he was doing here. I love when a book pulls me in like this.

You'll root for both the good and bad. Yes that is right. Though you will catch yourself at times and say wait you're not suppose to root for the bad guys. It happened. I found myself with mixed emotions for these characters. You know right off who did it so it's not a mystery there. It's basically a story of survival in a way. In a small way maybe.

Well done Joshua Moehling.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

5 big stars.

The premise of this book was so incredibly creepy and the atmosphere and setting were perfect.

If you've seen the movie Don't Breath, the premise of this book felt very similar - a burglary on a "helpless" elderly man gone wrong. The main villain in this book is definitely villainous, and I thoroughly enjoyed unravelling the mystery from Ben Packard, the main detectives, point of view.

Overall creepy, satisfying ending, however I did feel like the book was missing something that I can't quite put my finger on.

A real pager turner and one that you will definitely get involved in reading through the pages. Two teenagers attempt to break into a senior citizen’s house to steal prescription medication only to be interrupted by the homeowner, Emmett Burr, who is armed and ready to take on the trespassers. When two teenagers go missing in Sandy Lake, Minnesota, Sheriff's Deputy Ben Packard (acting Sheriff on account of the previous Sheriff’s terminal illness), leads the investigation into their disappearance. Ben Packard has returned to the small community of Sandy Lake, Minnesota, and learns he’s next in line for town Sheriff. Keeping his personal life private is a priority. But in a small town like Sandy Lake? Good luck with that, Sheriff. The story is more centered around the main character and the sheriff's deputy, Packard, who is carrying his own secrets and trying to escape his past while searching for the two teens. It is a race against time as the anxiety increases and tensions rise between Carl and Emmett. The author successfully weaves in some light-hearted moments in the narrative with the small-town dynamics and an interesting cast of characters among whom are two neighbors who require police intervention to resolve their feuds. I’m shocked this is a debut. Brilliantly written, I was glued to every page from the start. Each character was superbly developed in full color. The storyline flowed at a perfect pace with the tension rising as the situation became more dire.

Thank you to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen and the author for this new thriller. Hoping it is a series!

And There He Kept Her is an intense, fast-paced novel that felt like it was ripped right from the headlines.
Ben Packard’s brother disappeared when he was a tween and he has been haunted by it ever since. He’s now the temporary sheriff in the small town where he spent his summers, and his cousin’s daughter, Jenny, goes missing.
Told from two points of view, this is a spooky dark mystery that would be great for Halloween reading.
Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Joshua Moehling for an advance copy of the book.

And There He Kept Her is the first book in the Ben Packard Series. Sheriff's Deputy Ben Packard is investigating the disappearance of two local teens, one of whom he has a personal connection to. The story follows the viewpoints of Ben and Emmett Burr, an elderly man who encounters the teens when they break into his home to steal prescription drugs. The two teens quickly learn Emmett is more than they bargained for.

I give this book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. The reader knows the plot of the story from the beginning, so we are just reading along as the people in the story figure out whodunit. It's not really a thriller or much of a page turner when you know so much of a story. I did like Ben and think he is a likeable enough character to keep the series going.

It was hard for me to believe this was a debut. Such a beautifully written book. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Very impressive for a debut author. Two teenagers, Jesse and Jenny - break into a home in a remote area to steal prescription drugs but the homeowner, Emmett Burr, is not the passive, disabled, old man they were expecting. When he finds them in the act, killing one and taking the other hostage; he does so to keep his past a secret. Ben Packard, Acting Sheriff, who has returned to the area where he spent much of his youth after a personal tragedy, is on the case and determined to find the missing teens. There all kinds of interesting things happening here - drugs, murder, abduction, police procedural, secrets. If this is the beginning of a series with Packard at the center, I'll be reading more.

I really enjoyed this book!
The main character, Ben, has secrets and is a deep complex character. I just loved him!
It was definitely a "darker" read, but it was well written and fast paced. Thankful for the ARC!

Looking for a change and to move on from personal tragedy, former police officer Ben Packard moves to Sandy Lakes and takes up the position of Deputy Sherriff. The small town is familiar to Ben, his family used to holiday there in there summers when he was growing up, but unfortunately it also holds sadness for Ben, it's the last place he ever saw his big brother Nick who mysteriously disappeared years earlier, presumed drowned.

Ben's cousin Sandra still lives in Sandy Lakes and when her daughter Jenny and her boyfriend Jesse go missing one night, Ben has his first case to solve.

Jesse is involved is small-time crime, stealing bottle of pain meds such as oxy to then on-sell to the kids at his local high school.

Unfortunately for Jesse, he picks the wrong person in Emmett to steal from one night and things soon going frighteningly wrong for he and Jenny. An overweight addict who lives on his own and is no stranger to crimes himself, Emmett is one sick and twisted individual.

The storyline is told through two main POV's, that of Ben and Emmett. Although there is no big twist or reveal to the story, you know from the very beginning what has happened I still found it really interesting to see how Ben worked through the clues while seeing how Emmett tried to reconcile with the situation he was in.

I got super frustrated with certain elements of the story, in particular the storyline between Jenny and Emmett. It just didn't seem plausible a lot of the time and the dialogue was enough to make me want to throw my kindle at the wall sometimes (I promise I didn't do that) but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this one and would love to see Packard's character developed into another book.

A huge thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this one.

Multiple POV’s with one being from the villain. I love getting into the head of the villain and while you know “who done it” while the investigation was still on going it kept me interested the entire time. It was a dark slow burn, but I thought it was written really well for a debut thriller. I liked Ben as a cop and how he handled the investigation. We got to see into his past as different evidence came to light. It was suspenseful but didn’t have the unexpected twists due to the POV, but the ending was satisfying and wrapped up nicely. I look forward to this authors next book.

Thank you @poisonedpenpress and @netgalley for the gifted copy.

If I'm to believe what I read (and that's mostly thriller fiction), there are a lot of super trashy weirdo kidnapper guys in small towns with drug problems. And I kinda do believe that seems like it could be accurate. But one of the first things that really struck me when I started reading And There He Kept Her, was that it was slightly reminiscent of The Last House on Needless Street. Or at least how that book started out (fyi, read it if you haven't yet.)

This is book is it's own story. For example, it mostly centers around Ben Packard, a good-looking gay man who has taken a job as as sheriff's deputy after losing his partner working in the city. He's probably one of the unlikeliest people to move to this small town, but childhood memories and family connections (paired with the desire to escape), have led him to Sandy Lake. And he's going to do what he needs to do to crack the case.

Now, the idea of some gross old man building a room in his dusty basement is just repellant. But I guess that's what psychos do. When two teens go missing and a young girl who he really never wanted to hold prisoner becomes captive in that room, it gets interesting. Packard works against the clock to bring the girl (a relative of his), home before she dies due to lack of insulin.

This one is fast-paced and a good story, if you can stomach the psychos. Special thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out now.