This book was a dark mystery that kept me engrossed until the end. It’s not for the faint of heart and definitely has some dark ties are everything is unraveled

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

3 for neutral, was unable to access my netgalley account for months, until today. Because of this, I was unable to see which books I needed to read. I apologize for the inconvenience and hopefully will not have any more issues in future.

Whew! This was one of the most unique books I've read in a while, and I could not put it down! From the small town setting to the well-drawn, intriguing characters, I was hooked from the first page. Loved every bit of it!

And There He Kept her by Joshua Moehling is a well written and intense thriller. The story is set in a small town and told from two POVs - sheriff's deputy Ben Packard and a villain Emmett Burr. This is not really a fast paced story but I could not put it down wanting to know what was going to happen with the characters. Spooky and disturbing = perfect Halloween read. Highly recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thrilling and on edge of your seat performance. This is not he typical thriller which made it even more entertaining. A good start for a debut. The Audio narrator made the thriller even more intense and able to keep the readers attention.

By all means, this was a pretty good book. Though it took me months to actually finish and I'd leave it constantly for other reads, so how good could it have really been? I dragged my heels through the first 50 percent of this book, the last half took only about a day.
As a reader, there is no mystery to this book, no unknown perpetrator, crime, or motive. You sit on the sidelines as Packard, the acting sheriff, meanders through life while trying to find his cousin's daughter. The issue I had with this book is there was little to no emotion wrapped up in it. All the way up until end I couldn't care less whether the kids lived or died. Same goes for the other side characters involved. Sure, I was horrified by what was going on but Moehling never welds that connection between the reader and characters. I never took it personal.
It was a story, that's all. Not awful, not great. Entertaining for a short amount of time. Which is partly frustrating because Moehling is a great writer. I loved the filler, it was entertaining enough and personable. A really great story could have come out of this, the foundation just wasn't all there.

This was not for me. I like crime fiction for mystery and suspense and this had neither for most of the book. It’s not a whodunnit (or even a why or how dunnit) because the was crime committed early and we know its details. I guess you could wonder what he was going to do next? But there wasn’t really suspense in this. I got bored of them trying to solve a crime we knew the deatils of. The only question was would they catch him in time? Following the police officer wasn’t as interesting to me because we already knew the answers he was looking for. So I didn’t care how his investigation was going. There’s no mystery to it.

I don’t want to stereotype but the writing felt very masculine… it was a bit crude, with male fantasies and classless thoughts. I felt disgusted by most characters and didn’t really care about the others. I could appreciate the spectrum of moral qualities in a few characters but none of them were very interesting.

All I cared about really was if he learned more about what happened to his brother disappearing but I guess that’s to come in a future book given the hint of foreshadowing at the end.

And There He Kept Her is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out And There He Kept Her today.

From my blog: Always With a Book

There is nothing I love more than discovering a debut novel and then finding out it is the start of a new series. To me that is the jackpot! And let me tell you – if the rest of this series is anything like this first book, I’m all in!!!

I love small-town mysteries and I especially love when we get to discover all their secrets and schemes and that is what seems to be at the heart of this new series. But be forewarned – this is an unsettling, creepy read – but what I loved is that you know who did it right from the start. We know that Emmett Burr is our villain – and he just happens to be 70 years old. Why did he do what he did? That is the mystery and that is what makes this book so haunting and chilling.

The other appealing part of this story is the detective, Ben Packard. He has returned to Sandy Lake not necessarily by choice. He definitely has his share of secrets and baggage and while some of that is revealed in this first book, I am definitely looking forward to learning more about him. He is someone that is easy to root for and I have a feeling he will quickly become a favorite character as the series progresses.

This series has gotten off to a great start. This was an addicting, suspenseful read and I cannot wait to get my hands on book 2, which is due out next year!

Really enjoyed this one! The story was taut, the characters well-developed, nothin*felt unnecessary. I’m hoping to see Packard back in another novel soon!

Everybody in town thought Emmett Burr was a helpless old man, so two local teenagers broke into his home to swipe some of his prescription meds. Burr murders one and holds the other in his basement which contains his darkest secrets. Police officer Ben Packard is leading the investigation for the missing teenagers while also dealing with demons of his own past.

Creepy and disturbing are the best words I have to describe this book. There were some parts that had more gore than I typically read but I was truly engrossed in the suspense of this book. I appreciated diving into the backstory of Packard but at times I wondered how necessary it was to the true development of the story. Overall, I would highly recommend this book, but be prepared to have trouble sleeping at night.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

Teenagers Jesse and Jenny break into the house of elderly, sickly Emmett in hopes that he has a large selection of pain medication that they can sell. Because Emmett lives in a secluded location, it's the perfect place to rob as they won't be seen.
What they don't know is by the end of the night one of them will be shot dead and one will be kidnapped and kept prisoner. And it's up to sheriff deputy Packard to find out what has happened to the teens, while juggling personal issues of his own.

This was an exceptionally well written and well paced debut novel. I enjoyed that it was very character driven. I can't wait for the second novel and hope it focuses on finding out what happened to Packards brother as he has been missing since they were children.

4 stars.

Two teens, Jenny and Jesse, go missing after they break into a man's house in an attempt to steal prescription medications.
Ben Packard, the new acting Sheriff in Sandy Lake, Minnesota, is tasked with finding the teens while dealing with losses of his own. Packard is a really interesting character who is complex and real. I'd like to see this become a series with Packard as the lead.
Readers know where Jenny and Jesse are and who has them. There are no real twists or surprises, but it's interesting to follow the leads Packard gets to solve the case.
Sometimes dark and disturbing, I would recommend this debut novel to readers who like police procedurals.

*ARC from Netgalley for an honest review*
And There He Kept Her is pretty much a typical thriller. It was a good book and kept me hooked, but it was not a fresh idea. It was very similar to the Don't Breathe movie with a side quest of seeing the detective's side who is trying to find the girl being held hostage.
Two teenagers break into a home to steal Opioids when things turn bad for the two. They end up being in Emmett Bur's house, a grumpy old man who has some secrets, particularly in his basement. (Sound familiar)? I did appreciate the depth that the author created for Emmett. He had real feelings and emotions where he played bad guy, but also kind of a good guy. I also appreciated the real-life possibilities that occurred. It was not one of those books that make it so unbelievable; there was a lot of attention to detail.
The story is intertwined with sheriff Packard who moves back to the town to solve the case of the two missing teens and a prescription drug scheme. While I appreciated his story, I would have preferred less of it. I hate thrillers that include any type of love scene. Can we please just leave it as a killer/thriller book and not add in completely unnecessary parts. I chalked it up to the author's dedication to details. It was a pretty fast-paced book, and maybe the ending was a little too quick, but overall, it was a great cat & mouse type book. I will definitely check out what else Moehling has to offer.

A disturbingly dark read, which I couldn’t get enough of. It was so unpredictable and gripping, and had me hiding behind my fingers at some parts! So good.

Jesse is breaking into a ramshackle house through the basement, his penlight shining on an inexplicable pink room, odd furnishings, decrepit conditions. As he climbs the steps, Jenny joins him, trying to get him to drop the plan but "he" has threatened Jesse's sister. As they start up the steps, a fat naked man with a double barrel shotgun confronts them and everything goes to hell.

And There He Kept Her is a fast paced, well-written thriller about a small tourist town's seamy side. Ben Packard, the Acting Sheriff of Sandy Lake, Minnesota left his twelve year career as a Minneapolis police officer after Marcus was killed. Who Marcus is and how he is connected to Ben develops throughout the novel. We quickly understand that Ben's job is varied. It ranges from helping people confronted by an aggressive bear, to serving legal papers, to mediating a dispute between a gay man who stayed in his mothers home after she died and his pious neighbor who wants him out for who he is. The central theme of And There He Kept Her is the disappearance of two high school students who are in a relationship, Jesse and Jenny. That Jesse and Jenny. Ben starts an inquiry a little more quickly than he might because Jenny's mother is Ben's cousin. They are not close. When a detail comes up that makes it clear that the pair did not intend to be gone so long, the inquiry becomes a desperate search.

There are ways this is a classic story in a classic setting. For those who find stories about sexual deviants and violence problematic, this is a trigger warning. Don't read this. For those who appreciate incredibly well drawn characters, with strong background stories, interconnections that are endemic to small towns, problems that are universal, lost people, good people and more this is for you. The plot is well written, the ending uncertain and the danger real. Highly recommend this debut writer and plan to look for sequels.

And There He Kept Her introduces us to the new sheriff in the town of Sandy Lake, Minnesota. Ben Packard's family used to summer vacation in the little town, up until the moment his big brother drowned in the local lake. Or apparently drowned. His body was never found. This ended the family's vacationing in this spot, and eventually ended his parent's marriage. They never returned to the town and the only family member left is Ben's cousin Susan and her daughter. Susan runs a local restaurant and his first case on his new job involves a search for Susan's missing daughter and her friend.

The reader knows from the beginning what has happened to the two young people. An air of suspense and mystery is maintained through the sheriff's slow but steady unraveling of the disappearance. We know that Emmett Burr is a more dangerous threat than the two teens realize. To them he's just a morbidly obese old man with a lot of pain pills to steal. They don't realize that he has a dark and dangerous past.

I thought the author did a really good job fleshing out his characters in this book, both the good and the bad. He even gives his main "bad" character, Emmett, flashes of humanity, even though he is definitely not a good person. He makes Sheriff Packard a sympathetic and intriguing character. He is a handsome gay man, living in a small, conservative town where it is impossible to keep secrets. I thought the author really captured the feel of these small towns, riddled with drug use and not a lot of opportunity available to the young people.

I have read several mysteries lately where the two timelines are employed to tell the story. While that can be a very effective device, it was enjoyable to once again read a story with a linear timeline. I think the aughor has more plans for Sheriff Packard, and I for one would look forward to his next case!

I would rate this 4.5, but I'm going to give it 5 stars because I think it's a great effort for a debut!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Let me preface this review with the comment that everyone of my friends reviewed this book as 4 stars. For me, I couldn’t get past the stereotyping of the characters. The story itself was not horrible however the cliched characters did me in. I simply couldn’t get past it and it made this a very difficult read. There are zero reasons it should have taken me to read this book. It really wasn’t that long.

Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

Jesse and Jenny break into a house hoping to score some pain killers but instead are unexpectedly met by the owner of the home, Emmett, who is armed and ready to protect his turf….and his secrets.

When it’s noticed that the two teenagers are missing, the Sheriff knows he must work quickly to try and find them.

The story is written from Emmett and the Sheriffs POV. I found it more of a police procedural than a thriller. You pretty much know the basis of the plot from start, you’re just filling in what’s in between. There weren’t really any twists or unexpected occurrences. If you like police procedurals and aren’t looking for a thriller, then this book might work for you.

Thank you to NetGalley + Poisoned Pen Pages for the ARC. This released on 6/14/22.