3.75 stars

At times, this book was just a lot. The plot was entertaining, but the way many of the characters were written grated on my nerves. The stereotypes were seriously real for a lot of the characters, the fatphobia was wild, and the homophobia was intense at times- FYI because I know sometimes people don’t want for read those things. Much of the story was told from the point of view of a cop, which I didn’t love; that was my own fault, though, as I guess it didn’t register back when I initially requested the book. There was a random loose end or two introduced near the very end, which was a bit weird, but in hindsight, it was probably intentional to set up a future series for the character(s). All in all, although I didn’t love everything about it, the story itself was pretty good, and I would be interested in seeing what the writer comes out with in the future.

Move over William Kent Krueger! Minnesota has got a new thriller author that needs a seat at the book store table!

I couldn't get through this book fast enough. Ben Packard leaves the Minneapolis PD and seeks a geographical cure by accepting a job at the Sandy Lake Sheriff's Department. Two local teenagers go missing and it's up to Ben and the entire force to find them.

Moehling was masterful at character development. I really loved the back story of why Ben left Minneapolis and who he was as a person. I felt empathy for his backstory with his brother Nick, his personal life and Ben's attempts at being accepted into a new role on the rural county Sheriff's department. I won't get into spoilers but we need a character like Ben represented in books.

Let's move on to Moehling's development of the "bad guy". He's despicable, gross, weak and I loved that I loathed him. But Moehling brings us one step further and introduces fears and threats that are directed towards the villain of our story. As a reader I had to wrap my head around hating the villain but also hoping that some plot elements turned out in his favor to further the story. How do we as readers hope for a horrible character to have something that works out?

The transitions that went back & forth between Ben Packard's point of view and that of Emmett our villain were seamless. There wasn't one point of view that I preferred over the other. I easily kept turning pages consistently between both perspectives.

I need more from Deputy Ben Packard. This simply can't be the one and only book in this series. This was a fabulous start to what I hope is an ongoing series.

The audiobook had a great narrator in Linda Jones. Initially, I wished that she had altered her voice to drop into a lower register when reading Ben or Emmett's parts. Then I realized that any alterations in her voice would have come across as perhaps hokie or comical. Midway through the book I was happy that there was no significant adjustments. She spoke clearly, wasn't rushed and actually helped me to stay grounded in a novel that had a female character in a harrowing situation. I'm obviously aware that the book is fiction but in moments of heightened tension it was good to hear a female voice. I hope to read more novels narrated by Linda Jones.

AND THERE HE KEPT HER
by Joshua Moehling

Don’t let the narrator choice fool you- this is a very rugged, masculine thriller.

Most of it feels like spending the day with your local small-town sheriff. A bit like living in his head and be forewarned, he has a lot of strong opinions.

In one pov we’re following Ben as he continues through his day as a sheriff deputy which includes a very personal missing persons case-his cousin and her boyfriend.

In the other pov we’re following Emmett who has more to hide than most. And he’d do anything to keep his secrets buried.

The interweaving of the two stories was intriguing and I wanted to keep listening to get back to the storyline I was most interested in.

Sometimes this back and forth works but unfortunately it was pretty lopsided in this book. Most of the action was in Emmets pov. I wish we could have lived in that pov more.

I also had a lukewarm feeling towards all of the characters. I neither wanted to know more about them but also didn’t really dislike who I was supposed to.

This mixed action and lack of caring led to tepid results and I ended at ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for AND THERE HE KEPT HER.

Thanks to Netgalley and Poised Pen Press, Dreamscape Media for the advanced copies!

A spine-tingling new thriller series by a debut author! I love having access to both the ebook and audiobook. The narrator is fantastic at gripping the audience with her sinister narrative of the horrifying story.

“He felt like he was staring into the mouth of something that wanted to swallow him.”

Ben Packard temporarily stepped into the position of sheriff in his hometown while his boss is getting Cancer treatments. Sandy Lake is where he spent his childhood but he left after his brother disappeared and didn’t plan on returning. But he needed a fresh start and he hoped this place would provide it. He’s not your typical sheriff and he’s easy to like!

This is a story in a story. Packard is hunting a vicious and depraved killer while looking into his brother’s disappearance. This debut series ends without revealing all the secrets. Will they be revealed in the next book? I hope Mr. Moehling is speedily writing the next book and it will satisfy my curiosity!

Thank you to everyone I tagged for providing this complimentary ARC! All opinions are my own.

#andtherehekepther #joshuamoehling #sourcebooksearlyreads #poisonedpenpress #netgalley #dreamscapeaudio #sourcebooks #earlyreads #psychologicalthriller #depravedkidnapper #murder

And There He Kept Her brings us a small town with a new sheriff. The new sheriff has his own back story (one that I hope is explored more in the future) but he has to figure out the stories behind all of the inhabitants of his town. That’s the thing about small towns, isn’t it? Everyone is supposed to know everything about everyone but then there are always secrets. Living in a small town, I sometimes wish it were more like they are in books.

Anyway, two young people go missing and it is time to see how everyone in town connects to everyone else. I like that the author was not coy with the characters. You now whodunnit. You even know why. That’s not really the issue. The real mystery is figuring out how everyone fits together and lead to the moment we see at the beginning of the book.

Joshua Moehling did this part in a fantastic way. He managed to show us multiple sides to the same people. Yes, many of them are still horrible and parts are hard to read. But the characters feel more fleshed out than simple victim or villain or hero. No one is one thing or easy to put into a small box on your thriller Bingo card. He wrote real characters in really horrible situations. I’m looking forward to what he does next.

A teenage girl and boy go missing, but we know who did it from the start of the book. I loved how it was told from the POV of both the deputy and the perpetrator. There was no crazy twists or turns, but I was still hooked. I’m hoping the author turns this into a series featuring Ben.

Thank you to Dreamscape media for the ALC

The story got right into everything and I really appreciate the speed in which the events transpired. I love that this is an LGBTQ+ inclusive book (the MC, Ben Packard, being gay). I loved Gary and Cora, their back and forth was funny.

I wasn't sure if I would like the audiobook narrator, but I ended up really enjoying Linda Jones' narration. I loved Joshua Moehling's writing as well and look forward to reading more by them!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press Sourcebooks and Dreamscape Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the debut novel by Joshua Moehling, wonderfully narrated by Linda Jones - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Acting Sheriff Ben Packard is back home in small town Sandy Lake, Minnesota, after a devastating personal loss. When his cousin's daughter and her boyfriend go missing, Deputy Packard is determined to find them. The two teens broke into an elderly man's house looking for drugs and met the homeowner, Emmett Burr, who was armed. Now Burr's fighting to keep the secrets found in his basement.

I loved this book - it's one of those stories where the crime happens right away and you go along with the police as they try to solve the case, while learning all the characters' backgrounds along the way. This was a gripping story, expertly written to make you feel contrasting emotions towards the perpetrator while despising the crime. In addition, despite the terrible nature of the crime, the author never made the violence gruesome and over the top, like so many books do. Readers are smart enough to fill in the blanks without it being so blatant. So bravo for a fabulous debut with fingers crossed that this was just the first in a series featuring Ben Packard (and Franklin!).

This was a dark and chilling debut by Moehling! I enjoyed how unique it was as it certainly more of a mystery than a thriller, maybe more of a shotgun mystery? I totally just made that up but it’s where we know what’s going on the whole time but we’re essentially riding shotgun alongside Sheriff Ben’s journey in uncovering the case of the two missing teens.

I enjoyed the eccentric small town in this crime fiction and all the secrets it’s inhabitants were keeping. Moreover, I liked how Moerling wrote Emmitt specifically. He’s unquestionably creepy and scary yet at times I found myself emphasizing with him as well? Well done! 👏

I detect we might get a series out of this one and if so, I’ll definitely be reading it!

"They thought he was a helpless old man. They were wrong."

WHEW what an opening chapter. We start And There He Kept Her knowing who the bad guys are and knowing what's happening to our two missing teenagers... but the Sheriff's Department and newly-returned-to-town Sheriff Ben Packard are still trying to figure it out. But we're still left with a handful of questions that make the book increasingly more suspenseful as it goes on. I found myself unable to put this down because I wanted to see how everything would play out. And There He Kept Her is a dark, disturbing, and spectacular debut. Linda Jones does a wonderful job narrating this book if you are into audiobooks!

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the ALC!

A KNOCKOUT! "June Pride Month Book Pick"

"Andy Griffith meets Schitt's Creek in this small rural Minnesota town of Sandy Lake— with wit, grit, long-buried secrets, and a well-developed cast of diverse, colorful characters that will have you drooling for a series. I LOVED IT! Prime for the big or small screen."

A STAR IS BORN! Joshua Moehling, the newest voice in crime fiction, is at the TOP of my favorite author list, and I predict he will be on the bestselling charts for years to come. An author to watch and an impressive debut.

SECRETS DO NOT STAY BURIED FOREVER!

From the dazzling character development, the artful blending of dark humor, suspense —and insights into the dark side of the human psyche, AND THERE HE KEPT HER is a well-crafted knockout psychological crime thriller debut! I cannot wait to see what comes next.

For fans of — A cross between Karin Slaughter/Lisa Gardner, Paul Cleave/Linwood Barclay/Michael Robotham, LGBTQ PJ Vernon/Catherine Ryan Hyde, Janet Evanovich/Sally Hepworth/Kaira Rouda/Kimberly Belle, and Allen Eskens/Heather Gudenkauf/John Hart (all favorites) with a winning Joshua signature style.

Hilariously funny, and hopefully, a new series featuring hunky new Sherriff Ben Packard (LGBTQ) Sandy Lake, MN, and the loveable gay Gary reminds me of Leslie Jordan (a favorite). Also, Gary's neighbor, the Bible preaching Cora with the evil husband, Carl. What a fun banter between Gary and Cora.

Gay, white Ben Packard is a new deputy (acting Sheriff) in the small rural town of Sandy Lake, Minnesota. He also has to contend with a not-so-bright and naive Barney Fife type. He is using the job as a mask to keep a low profile, but being the current Sheriff who has cancer, his role is getting more attention. He wants to keep his personal life his own business.

His former black lover-partner (cop) was killed in the line of duty, and he has been grieving and decided to take this job back in Sandy Lake and put his personal life on hold. He keeps to himself in his personal time, living on the lake and swimming daily. However, he might be ready to start dating again and his new pal, sidekick dog, Franklin named after his grandfather.

However, he is haunted by his brother's death years earlier, and I have a feeling much more to come in future books about this. What happened to Nick?

There is always drama in this small, complex town, and Ben is trying to make peace with an array of drama. Then you have the high school drug dealers stealing the meds of the crazy older folks.

Susan, (cousin of Ben) and mother of Jesse, and upscale restaurant owner— is a bit of an enigma and I think there is more to her backstory. Very intriguing. Then you have the monsters (one may be worse than the other) Emmett and Carl, who have been begrudging allies for years.

Jesse is a teen being blackmailed by Sam, a small-town teen drug dealer in town(wealthy parents and grandson of the sheriff, and threatens his sister if he does not pull off a drug deal. As the book opens, Jesse and his girlfriend, Jessica break into a remote lake house owned by an older man with known prescription drugs.

However, things do not go as planned. Emmett, the crazy owner, is a monster with guns, prescriptions, a prison cell/bondage set up in the basement, and dead bodies in the backyard going back for decades, and he will do anything to keep his dirty secrets. They have no clue.

Jessica has diabetes. If she does not get insulin, she could die. The niece of acting Ben Packard and daughter of Susan—wise, but can she outsmart Emmett and remain alive? A creative, quick thinker, brave, fearless, and tenacious.

THE TWIST: The author brilliantly showcases his talent when he turns the tables: a robbery victim into a retired serial killer, flipping the script from victim to predator. The lines blur between the victim, abuser, and protector.

Sandy Lake is one crazy and complex town. I cannot wait for the next in the series. Get this one on your TBR list! I cannot recommend this book highly enough and the author. This one will be in my Top 10 thrillers of the year and contender for best crime thriller of 2022. Yes, it is that good and then some! The summary description does not do it justice.

A BLENDING of rural small-town underbelly, dark, gritty, cop procedural, LGBTQ. A rural noir crime psychological thriller with loads of sarcasm, suspense, witty humor (which I adore) with lots of heart, entertaining morally complex, and multi-dimensional characters.

UPCOMING INTERVIEW: Stay tuned for an upcoming exciting June 14th Featured #AuthorElevatorSeries Interview with Joshua, where we go behind the scenes of the book and this exciting new talent. You can sign up for my newsletter to have it delivered to your inbox on pub day.

SPECIAL THANKS: To the amazing Mandy Chahal at Poisoned Pen for this fabulous recommendation (you know what I love) for a print and e-book ARC and also NetGalley to read, listen to, enjoy, and review.

I also listened to the audiobook by narrator Linda Jones, which was excellent. She gave an award-winning performance, and I highly recommend it. Thank you, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an audio ARC—You are the best!

Blog Review Posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JuditheDCollins | ##JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: 14 June 2022
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
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We know who did it. .. . the question is will they find her?

There is just something about getting inside the head of the killer, seeing their perspective. Emmett didn't let me down, his pov was tense and intriguing. It was disturbing the things he thought and things he had done previously but it was wild to try and understand what created who he became.

Detective Packard is good at his job and he's determined to find the girl. I found him sort of boring at times, there were mysteries surrounding him that would make for great growth and future books though! A gay cop in a small town made the rumors run wild! I love that he didn't feel the need to defend himself against it but rather let them sit with their curiousness (or nosiness).

The audio was good! She did a great job with the tone and when things shifted you could feel it through her voice. I got chills a few times.

Thank you so much to @dreamscape_media, @poisendpenpress, @netgalley and Joshua Moehling for the advanced copies!

This book was 4 star until the final 15%. I don’t know if it was the narrator or the author, but the gay characters felt so inauthentic and forced. I think it was both. The focus on their sexuality had nothing to do with the story and the “honey” repetition and “the cop is gay!” focus did not feel like they were needed in the story. Like ok, Gary is gay. Ok, Packer is gay. It did not need to be a big deal, as it was not the focus of the story. Also, everyone lacked the needed character development. Why did it seem like Ruth would play a bigger character? Jenny and her bf were not the sympathetic characters they should’ve, or should’ve not been, since her bf died instantly (what was his name? Why was a seemingly intellectual, introvert dating the school drug dealer?). Writing this review makes me want to change it to a 1 star because i was so disappointed with what could’ve been, but both the author and narrator did their best, and the idea was there.

Name of Book: And There He Kept Her
Author: Joshua Moehling
Narrator: Linda Jones
Publisher: Dreamscape
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: Today June 14, 2022
My Rating: 3 Stars!

Jesse and Jenny break into elderly Emmett Burrs house, thinking they will find prescription drugs.
However, Emmett is home and has secrets from twenty years ago and will do anything to keep his past from being revealed.
When he finds the teens he keep them hostage as was hinted by the title.

Sheriff's deputy, Ben Packard is a friend of Jenny’s family and is in charge of the investigation.
Packard left his old job when his longtime boyfriend was shot on duty. He has dealt with the negative comments about his sexual preferences and the negative talk behind his back. He left and is now
a gay man in a small, conservative, religious and is in charge of their safety.
There are two stories going on Packard dealing with his challenges and finding the lost teens.

Story kept my interest but sure could have done without most of the nasty language.

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Audiobook Publishing Date scheduled for June 14, 2022.

Wow! I loved everything about this audiobook!! The way the story was divided gives readers an advantageous perspective and increased knowledge on the goings on with the investigation, but also, the occurrences for the teen in captivity. Not only that, but the dialogue helped so much in creating a backstory for the villain in this story and I really appreciated that!

I didn't receive the audiobook until I was halfway through the digital copy, but this made an awesome companion for when I was driving - I could still pick up the story and follow the deputy sheriff's hunt for the criminals responsible for the missing teens.

I loved the small town setting where everyone kind of knows everyone, and it shows that even in small towns, maybe especially small towns, the polar haves and have-nots are explored and create even more dynamic tension in solving the case of the missing teens.

I could NOT stop with this audiobook. All I wanted to do was read Packard's story and follow him as he and his team of deputy sheriffs worked leads to solve the case. Looking evil right in the face and not even seeing it was one of the hardest parts of the story for me. The story is less about two teens breaking into a house to still prescription meds and more about starting over, going back to your roots, and finding your place in a new space - even after a tragedy. I wonder if the author will continue with this story as it is kind of left open for another investigation for Ben Packard.

It really makes you wonder, how many people we might interact with daily who have committed or are still committing truly heinous crimes? We could be living right next door to someone like that.

I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, as well as Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen and share my opinions on this audiobook. It's a 5-star read for me, and one that I will recommend to my fellow audiobook lovers!!

This thrilling debut is set in a small Minnesotan town. The story starts off with a bang as two teenagers break into a house and are surprised with secrets and surprises in the home of an elderly man. The teens disappear and leading the investigation is acting sheriff, Ben Packard. He finds himself searching for clues as the clock ticks down and he is forced to come to terms with his own secrets and his past.

This was a solid debut. The uncovering of clues and the suspense throughout the story was intriguing and well written. Ben was such an interesting character. His life was complicated but he was so like-able. The antagonist was disturbed and unsettling. The end was a little lack luster but it was a fun read. I am looking for more from this author.

The audio version was narrated very well

4 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #AndThereHeKeptHer #JoshuaMoehling.

I have mixed feelings about this book.
I really liked the main character and the way he was written. The story was intriguing and kept me listening. The thing I didn’t like about it though is that there were so many characters, I had a hard time keeping them straight. I found myself multiple times throughout the book wondering who it was they were talking about, which made me more distracted and not as into the story.

“And There He Kept Her” is fast paced mystery in which a small town cop is thrown into a case involving a missing girl and her boyfriend. At first everyone assumes it's simply a runaway but as detective Packard investigates he begins to uncover a more sinister series of crimes and murders. This book includes a dual point of view; one is Packards and the other is the old man who has been keeping the missing girl captive in his basement.

I really like Detective Packard. He's kind hearted but not perfect, good at his job and more than that, he wants to be better at it. I would love for this to become a series with him at the center of it. That way we could get to see him grow as a character. However my favorite moments tended to be from the point of view from Emmett, the bad guy. Those were the moments that I found the most disturbing and tense whereas Detective Packard's chapters were slow and almost acted as a way to relieve the reader from the tension. This was a quick read mystery with slight thriller elements. Overall I found this enjoyable for the most part even though it wasn't as scary or thrilling as I wish it had been (or thought that it was going to be).

Two teenagers named Jenny and Jesse break into an old man's house in rural Minnesota to steal his pain pills. They think he's a helpless old, obese man and nothing will happen - but then they come face-to-face with the barrel of his shotgun.

Acting Sheriff Ben Packard is relatively new to Sandy Lake. He's a handsome, tall, single man who tries to keep his personal life at bay, despite the fact that his brother disappeared in this town decades ago. He gets word that Jenny is missing from her mother, who also happens to be Ben's cousin - and he quickly starts investigating everything that could have led to this.

When I first read the description of the book, I was reminded of the movie Don't Breathe, which also features teenagers breaking into a seemingly helpless old man's house. That movie was an insane thrill ride that has you on edge the whole time - it's disturbing, action-packed, and a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse. I was expecting something similar from this book, but it's actually not that at all. There's very, very little action, and most of the book is actually spent with the sheriff, Ben Packard, than the old man and the girl. The chapters sort of rotate back and forth, and the chapters featuring Ben really make any tension from the old man's house dissipate.

Overall, I thought this was a solid procedural novel - not necessarily a thriller, but one that focuses on a solid investigation that Ben leads in trying to trace Jesse's drug dealing network and figure out exactly where he went. It is definitely a small-town mystery, not any big insidious plots, but more in the realm of Ben going to the high school and interviewing kids who bought Adderall, visiting former Meals on Wheels recipients, etc. Maybe slightly Twin Peaks vibes.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC via Netgalley!

A fast-paced and engaging thriller with solid narration. A recommended purchase in all formats for collections where the genre is popular.