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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved all the twists and turns and how it kept me on my feet. The storyline itself was done so beautifully. It flowed together nicely..
I'm a major sucker for serial killer stories and this is where this one was going for a minute . Overall the book kept you on your toes ready for more.

This book is shocking, creepy and disturbing … but I could not put it down. Brilliantly written and a great debut.

And There He Kept Her was thrilling and creepy. I could not wait to find out the ending and it was well worth the wait.

Loved this book from a new debut author. This book starts off where the reader knows who the "bad guys" are but the police are trying to figure it out. Two teenagers break into an older man's house and one of the teenagers is killed while the other is taken captive. From there the story unfolds about these teenagers as well as the police team trying to find them. You get many different perspectives throughout the book that are all intertwined. While this wasn't a slow burn, it also wasn't super fast-paced. I would say it falls somewhere in the middle. I kept reading because I wanted to see what would happen to the girl being held captive and the older man who killed her boyfriend. I definitely recommend giving this book a try as it was a highly enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more books from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Press Pen for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.

Well written and suspenseful. I look forward to more of this author’s work.
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

DNFed. For whatever reason, I couldn't get invested in this one. Fans of dark mysteries will enjoy this. It's a home invasion gone wrong story.

As a debut author, this was a serviceable thriller. However, as a seasoned reader, it didn't do much for me.

The story follows detective Ben Packard as he investigates the disappearance of two teenagers in a small town in Minnesota. The meat of the mystery - where are they and what happened to them - is downplayed by the fact that we see the story from dueling POVs - Packard's and that of the serial killer. All the mystery and suspense of the whodunnit is taken away. Once it is established who has the girl, all the tension falls out and things tend to fall flat. I did enjoy meeting the population of the small town, though. All the characters were their own special brand of odd that felt true to life in a small town.

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.

What begins as a straightforward burglary when two adolescents steal into a home on a lonely lake in pursuit of prescription drugs quickly turns into a nightmare for everyone concerned. Emmett Burr has been concealing secrets in his basement for more than 20 years, and he will stop at nothing to prevent the revelation of his history. The distinction between the victim, abuser, and protector becomes hazier as he gains the upper hand over his captors. Ben Packard, a former police officer, has returned to Sandy Lake, a tiny town in Minnesota, in search of a new beginning following a personal tragedy. Due to a family connection, Packard, who is now a sheriff’s deputy, is in charge of the investigation into the missing teenagers. As time runs out to save them and leads to a lack of new leads, Packard is compelled to come clean about his secrets and delve deeply into the history of the area he now calls home.

I should start by stating that this novel is gloomy. To my taste, it’s not overly black, but it’s still very gloomy and unsettling. I liked the atmosphere. It takes place in a tiny town. And I always like the atmosphere of little towns. They are lovely. I adored Detective Ben Packard, who was our primary character. Ben’s perspective and the villain’s perspective are both used to tell the story. The way Moehling told stories was fantastic. For a first author, his writing is quite good because it is simple to read. I adored Ben, our primary character. His character grew tremendously over the entire novel. And he’s gay as well. It seemed to be the cherry on top.

The small-town dynamics and an intriguing array of characters, including two neighbors who need police intervention to end their feuds, help the authors expertly weave in some humorous moments in the story! Some of the scenes are more than a little unpleasant, but the book does touch on some significant subjects, like drug misuse among youngsters, senior citizens’ safety, kidnapping, and sexual abuse. I’m crossing my fingers that there will be other volumes and that this is not the final installment.

Trigger Warning: There may be scenes of extreme violence, rape, sexual or physical abuse, or other horrific events that are difficult to read.

This book is a thriller thats hard to put down. I read this a few months ago but was not able to post my review then, yet I still find myself thinking about this story. Overall, I do not want to spoil or ruin this book but I will say it was great read and I recommend it for fans of thrillers and mystery. I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. 5 stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
And Their He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

2 teenagers decide it’s a great idea to break into the basement of an older drunk man in the middle of the night…..what could possibly go wrong?! Emmett has had enough and decides to take matters into his own hands. Ben, the local sheriff is tasked with finding out where the 2 missing teens have gone. Secrets are unraveled, captor becomes protector and lies are blurred in story!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book.

I DNF'd at about 40% I believe. Unfortunately, there was no mystery to this book. Since we follow both the main officer on this case as well as the 'serial killer' we already know what is happening with the girl that he is trying to find. Therefore, there was no sense of urgency or appeal to the mystery. I liked that we saw into the mind of the killer, but it could have been done in a way where we have that sense of panic or urgency for the well-being of the girl that gets captured. The killer also seemed like a cartoon villain in some instances.....lol.

The officer himself was kinda boring to read and the book in itself felt very lacklustre. The story was very slow with little to nothing actually happening.

This is one I went into blind and was absolutely blown away. There are several things going on with in here but each storyline is well developed and resolved satisfactorily. Ben Packard has returned to his small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake looking for a fresh start as a sheriff’s deputy, and he is one of my favorite characters in this book. Emmett Burr has lived a hard life with many secrets and wants to keep it that way. Two teenagers break into a house in search of prescription drugs, and things just fall apart from there.

This was gripping, dark, and quite a page turner. I read it in one sitting because I could not put it down. We are let in on what happens from the start but this in no way takes away from how good this book is, in fact it makes it better. To be able to see the POVs of both sides (Packard and Emmett) is absolutely brilliant, and is so additive to the story. I cannot say enough good about this one, it will most likely be in my top list for the year and you should add it to your TBR for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital copy to review.

Moehling is a fantastic storyteller. I was hooked from the very first chapter. There are so many secrets in the town of Sandy Lake. You never know who can be trusted and who can’t Any number of people can be the prime suspect. Who took the teens? Where are they? Just when you think you know, you realize you don’t.

Rating: 3.5 stars
Trigger Warnings: Mentions of Rape, Drug Use, Lack of diabetes medicine, kidnapping, and murder.

And there he kept her is told from alternating points of view of Emmett and Ben.

Ben is the new sheriff/detective in town and is dealing with having lost someone he loved
Emmett is an older man whose house keeps getting broken into and one night he gets tired of it and takes matters into his own hands. This is when everything starts happening. We learn both men's back stories and what has led them to be where they are now.

Overall this story was a lot at times. It’s gruesome it’s raw and it shows the downright worst that people can do. I was not expecting this one to get as dark as it did at times and because of that I did put it down and come back to it later. The last 50% of this book I couldn’t read fast enough once Ben was piecing all the clues together and talking to more people and trying to save the missing teenagers before it was too late. While this is a small town story everyone seems to know everyone to a certain extent but some people have more dark secrets than others.
The ending of this one is one that I was happy with considering all that happened.

I’m very interested to see what the author can come up with next as the ending of this one has the potential to turn into a series following Ben.

I really enjoyed this book! The twists and turns kept you guessing through the story. It was as easy to love Ben Packard as it was to hate Emmett. Glad for a happy ending.

*I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my honest review.*

Joshua Moehling's debut thriller is a must read for anyone who likes the thriller and suspense genres! This one kept me on the edge of my seat!

Ben Packard is the interim police chief in a small Minnesota town - a job he doesn't really want, but was forced into. When 2 teenagers go missing, it is reminiscent of past missing cases. Burr is a crotchety old man who has been terrorized and tormented by teenagers breaking into his house and stealing his pills and he is finally fighting back.

And the story unfolds from Ben's point of view and Emmett Burr's point of view. With a mix of how did things get to where are are now.

I can't wait to read the next in the series!

And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling is a puzzling thriller about a high school couple who goes missing and a detective who is determined to find them.

I'm not going to lie, I do not tend to pick up many thrillers that have the police procedural trope in them, but I couldn't help but be drawn to this cover and knew I wanted to read it. I had a really fun time! Is it my new favorite thriller? No, but I binged the book in less than 24 hours and was engaged throughout the entirety of it. I loved the rotating POVs and the unsettling parts from Emmett's perspective. Even though we knew who the antagonists were from pretty much the beginning, it was still intriguing to get the full picture and watch the case come to an end.

CW for kidnapping, murder, attempted rape, violence, blood, alcoholism, drugs.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling!

This suspenseful book is full of twists and turns. Really keeps you guessing almost to the end.
When Packard returns to a small town that he has fond memories of growing up, he doesn’t know what is waiting for him. He just wants a fresh start. But when a couple of teens turn up missing, he digs in and tries to untangle the few clues left behind their disappearance.
He can’t focus just on this case, because in a small town with a small force they are spread thin. He has several other cases as fill in sheriff to handle as well.
I have a feeling the end is leading toward another book. Not sure if I will read or not.
I would have rated this higher, but I am getting tired of the gay male themes. I am not a fan and especially when it is not obvious a part of the story. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. This did not affect the review I am leaving. I try to review every book I read.