Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Linda Jones does a fantastic job narrating this story and making it come to life!

This is book 3 in the Ben Packard series and its by far the best of the three! Ben is working security in the courthouse, a biting demotion after losing the sheriff election to his new "boss", who is incompetent and lazy. He is on duty in the courthouse when a party in a heated case presents a weapon and Ben is forced to fire and kill Robert Clark. Now, on administrative leave while the shooting in the line of duty is investigated, Ben is thrust back into his own past and must deal with some personal wounds that never healed. Ben's older brother Nick disappeared at the age of 16 and new evidence has come to light indicating the possible location of Nick's body.

I really enjoyed this installment as its well written and the characters are very well developed and relatable. The mystery is multilayered and well done. With 2 plot lines, a lot of authors would not be able to handle the challenge but Moehling does an excellent job. This can be read as a standalone as well.

Very interesting read...
Smallish town Sheriff is involved in a fatal shooting and needs to take some time off while the case is investigated/closed. So, he returns home to smaller town MN.
While there he hears about an old woman who fell down her stairs, apparently, while drinking...
As he investigates this (not his case, as he's not at work, but still...) he finds some things he does not like and thinks it might NOT have been an accident... But, every step of the way, he feels like he is being blocked...by one person or another...
As he starts to discover more deaths, he becomes more invested...

And then, there's the case of his little brother's death, MANY years ago...
This has always haunted him, and he's now looking a little bit deeper into this too.

And, the things he discovers, on both cases...just...might...shock...you!!

#ALongTimeGone by #JoshuaMoehling and narrated nicely by #LindaJones.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!!
Of Note: This is book #3 in the series, but I did not know that, and did not feel like I was missing out on any info...

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia for an ARC of the audiobook which was recently released on 2/6/25, so you should be able to find it on shelves now!!!

Thanks so much for checking out my review!!
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I didn't realize I was jumping into a series at book 3, but it turned out to be a really great read without the first two. This book was exciting and had a clever twist that tied back to something right at the beginning of the book. Now I want to go back and read the other Ben Packard stories!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

"Sometimes taking a risk was the only option."

"A death under mysterious circumstances. An empty bank account. A missing employee. These were not coincidences."

Ben Packard couldn't help himself. Though on administrative leave after a shooting incident at the courthouse, the clues to a death in his old house, the last place he saw his brother Nick alive over 30 years ago, had him investigating a closed case classified as accidental.

So begins the extraordinary 3rd, and I hope far from the final book, in the Ben Packard mystery series, A Long Time Gone. Since book 1, genius author Joshua Moehling, has intricately crafted, not just detailed suspenseful mysteries, but a beloved grab your heart character in Ben Packard.

Ben's been demoted to Deputy from Sheriff after losing the election in his small conservative town. He knew a gay sheriff would be a hard win this time around. But he's distracted, not only with a suspicious death, but with new leads to what happened to his brother the night he disappeared. There has been hints in the previous 2 books, but when the truth is revealed, it's one of the most heartbreaking moments I have experienced in literature.

I am so grateful that voice actress Linda Jones is once again our guide for the author's masterful storytelling. She knows Ben and relays his pain with raw emotion.

If you have read or listened to the previous books this story is essential. If this is a new series for you, enjoy bingeing the life of this gentle giant and his 3 legged Corgi, Frank. I just hope it's not a long time gone before my next Ben Packard fix.

Book 1. And There He Kept Her
Book 2. Where The Dead Sleep
Book 3. A Long Time Gone

I received a free copy of this book/ audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair & honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a book #3 in a series but it did not throw me off at all. It was very good and it was great as a stand alone. Reading this book does make me want to go back and read #1 and #2 though! Super happy I was able get this because it will go down as a favorite of mine!

★★★★★ 5 star review!
𝑨 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒂 𝑴𝒐𝒆𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈
Book 3 of the Ben Packard Series

✦ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 :
-police procedurals + crime fiction
-3rd book in a 5☆ series
-well developed characters
-LGBTQ+ rep
-witty, likable MC
-meddling moms
-3 legged corgi named frank 🐶

✦ 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 :
There’s a new sheriff in town, but it isn’t Ben Packard. I absolutely loved returning to Sandy Lake, Minnesota. This third installment picks up right where the 2nd left off, with the perfect combination of mystery & small town drama.

Ben Packard is one of my most favorite main characters to read about. He is so easy to root for. I love his dry humor & his honest, straightforward approach to his police work. We get introduced to some interesting characters too - I loved his mom & of course Frank the 3 legged corgi!

You wouldn’t expect for the end of a crime thriller to give you the warm & fuzzies, but there’s just something about Ben Packard & Sandy Lake that just feels comforting. I loved the way this story came together. Although the ending was very satisfying, I really hope we get another book!

I have to mention - these are some of my favorite crime thriller audiobooks. Linda Jones is the perfect narrator for these stories, I loved listening to every one of them.

Dare I say 𝑨 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆 may be my favorite of the series? Granted, all them were 5 stars, but still!

Thanks to @netgalley, @poisonedpenpress, @dreamscape & @jmoehling for the opportunity to read + listen to this arc!

I didn’t dislike this book but I wasn’t crazy about it either. I just felt like the multiple separate crimes being investigated made the story choppy and they didn’t blend together well. I was engaged enough in the story to finish, but not so engaged that I really cared what happened as it went on. I do like Packard as a character and the writing/narration was good, but the story itself just didn’t really do much for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This was such an interesting story. I love the detective and both cases that were being worked. The ending had me in tears I can't imagine waiting that long to finally find out what happened to your sibling. This was a great detective book and I highly recommend it.

I was intrigued by the premise—a haunted past, a missing brother, and a detective forced to confront old demons—but unfortunately, *A Long Time Gone* doesn’t live up to its potential. While Joshua Mowhling sets up an atmospheric winter backdrop and hints at a complex web of secrets, the story drags along more than it thrills. Deputy Packard’s internal struggles and the connection between the past disappearance and a new suspicious death feel underdeveloped, making it hard to fully invest in his journey. The pacing is uneven, with too many slow, meandering moments that dilute the tension rather than building it. Ultimately, despite its promising concept, the novel falls short of delivering a tightly woven, engaging mystery. Two stars for a story that might have been better executed.

Ben Packard lost the election for sheriff to his nemesis - the well-connected but lazy and clueless Shepherd - who demotes Packard to courthouse security. Packard must step in when a courthouse visitor brandishes a weapon, and now a long-time resident is dead at the hands of Packard. Never mind that, in doing his job, he saved the life of a town VIP. Now Packard is on leave so he decides to look into his brother’s disappearance. Plus, his mother, Pam, comes to see him. When they visit the house Packard’s grandfather built, there’s police tape up. The elderly woman who used to live in the house is dead from a freak accident. Or was it? Why didn’t Packard even know about this seemingly open-and-shut case? It was Shephard’s of course. Something about the stairs leading to the basement doesn’t sit right with Packard. But he cannot officially re-open and investigate this case…
Nor can he find out why that old man planned to open fire in the courthouse. I was almost as frustrated as Packard! There are a lot of story lines packed into this audiobook, which definitely keeps things interesting. More realistic too, because who has the luxury of working on only one thing at a time? I am already looking forward to the next installment (#4) in this terrific series!
My thanks to the author, publisher, Dreamscape Media, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #ALongTimeGone for review purposes.

A family mystery that has been looming over Ben for over thirty years, when he was a kid, his teenage brother disappeared and they never had closure nor did they find out what happened to him. Then, while on court duty, a man attempted to shoot another, so Ben reacted as trained and shot him before he could hurt anyone. The police department placed Ben on leave while they investigated the shooting. While on leave, he starts following leads that he recently received on his brother's case and he finds out a friend of the family had passed away, however, the friend of the family's death was suspicious, so Ben decides to investigate both.
I loved the mystery, the interconnectedness of everything, and the assembly of the pieces. This was a police procedural type of book, it's well-written and it keeps your attention!
They gave me the audiobook to listen to and review! The narrator brought the story to life with the tone and the voice fit the story! This was a great way to spend an afternoon enjoying the mystery as it unfolds and seeing how all the pieces fit together!
The story is a great mixture of family drama and mystery! It's engrossing grabs your attention, keeps you engaged, and piques your curiosity!
Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen and review this one!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

This was my first from this author, and it was a nice mystery thriller type detective story. While it wasnt my personal favorite style, i did enjoy piecing it together and how the layout of the investigation and conversations was.

I would definitely read another from this author.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a chance to listen to this novel and provide my view.

This was my first read of this author and I was impressed. Usually with a series I find you need to be invested in some of the characters, you want to know about their lives enough to keep reading. It’s a hard task blending that whilst also allowing readers to jump in to the third novel in a series and have similar connections to the characters.

The story surrounds a young detective, recently demoted from chief who is now working court security. A fairly mundane role until one day a man pulls out a gun in an attempt to shoot his opponent, fatally injuring others instead and facing his own timely demise at the hands of Packard. Whilst on leave, he utilises his time trying to figure out what exactly happened to his brother all those years ago. Whilst in the midst of this he stumbles across more and more crimes which are all intertwined. There were plenty of characters, lots of progression and movement without being too much to be confusing. The balance of his personal and profession life was well done I felt. I truly wasn’t sure where the story was going to lead but I enjoyed the journey. The overall ending of his brother’s story was frustrating to me, in some parts it felt a little simplistic and twee but it did fit the narrative of the character.

As an audiobook I enjoyed the narrator. As an American story, although a British voice it lend itself well to the telling. I personally am a fan of the British narrators over American ones.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would definitely listen to future instalments. If you enjoy a sort of police based crime story you may enjoy this one.

Another excellent entry in Joshua Moehling’s Ben Packard series. A Long Time Gone finds Ben demoted to court house officer checking women’s purses and briefcases, when he is forced to shoot an elderly man who starts shooting. While on paid leave during the shooting investigation Ben investigates his older brother’s disappearance that occurred when Ben was 12.
Fast paced, witty, and a thoroughly satisfying mystery.
I highly recommend this excellent series for all mystery readers.

3.5 Stars – A Solid but Conventional Thriller

I went into this book with high expectations based on the hype and glowing reviews, but I have to admit I was a bit underwhelmed. That’s not to say it was a bad book—far from it. The plot was well-constructed, the pacing kept me engaged, and the ending wrapped things up neatly. However, as a police procedural thriller, it was very familiar, and nothing about it truly stood out as exceptional.

The snowy, small-town setting adds to the atmospheric tension, and the intertwining of past and present crimes creates an engaging narrative. While much of the story followed a well-worn path, it did have a nice twist that added some intrigue. If you enjoy solid, traditional crime thrillers, this one delivers. Just don’t expect it to break new ground.

Thank you, NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Poisoned Pen Press, for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A Long Time Gone is the third book in the Ben Packard, mysteries by Josh Moehling, when the book begins, Ben Packard is working security at the courthouse, where a man has taken Councilman wolf to court over property wolf claims is his. When it doesn’t go the homeowner‘s way he pulls out. a gun and Ben is force to shoot him when he don’t comply with Ben’s orders. due to the shooting, Ben is put on administrative suspension and decides to take this time to look into his brother‘s case when he learns the previous sheriff and his mentor has left the map to where his brother is buried he shares the news on a zoom call with his family and this is how his mom winds up in Sandy Lake. when his mom gets nostalgic and wants to visit the new owners of his grandpa‘s Lakeside cabin, it begins another mystery that some at first called an accident, but when Ben is finished, a whole nest of crime will be uncovered and at the same time, he will solve a lot of his own problems. The case will also bring Ben to his old stompping grounds, and he will reunite with an old friend. this encounter will teach him in order to have a good friend. Sometimes you have to be one, but his traveling doesn’t stop there before. The story ends Ben Packard like a fish out of water will go international, but the trip will bring some hometown truths that may help solve Nick‘s murder.. I love these books and it just seems like they just get better and better. I really hope Ben and the “beer guy“ get together soon and I also love that despite the new sheriffs distain for Ben it almost seems as if he has a grudging respect for him and his intelligence when it comes to policing. I love these books and cannot wait for the next one… OMG love these freaking books! Of course, I listen to the audio with narration by Linda Jones, who has a stellar voice for this type of book. She always does so well can’t wait to hear the next addition.#NetGalley,#DreamscapeMedia,#TheBlindReviewer, #JoshMoehling,#TheBenPackardMysteries, #ALongTimeGone,

I love this whole series but this one, the third book in the series, is my favorite. Ben Packard is a wonderful, multilayered protagonist with a slightly inappropriate (and hilarious) mother. All of the characters are well developed except perhaps Lady Gaga Pinot Grigio Margaret Ann String Cheese Reid. But she is a dog so I’ll give the author some leeway on that one.

The narration was as wonderful on this audiobook as the two previous titles. I found myself sitting in my vehicle waiting until the end of the chapter more than once.

This could be read as a standalone as the author does give plenty of backstory, but the first two were so good! Do yourself a favor and read them in order. There is a long standing mystery solved in this title that we’ve been wondering about since book one.

I hope the author continues this series for a very long time. I will be waiting patiently for book four.

3.5 stars. I don't think I would have read this if I realized it was third in a series, since I usually like to start from the beginning, and I did feel like I was missing some back story here. But overall, you can understand this story without having read the previous books. Pretty good mystery here--I liked that it was based on a recent Minnesota fraud scandal, as I enjoy ripped-from-the-headlines stories, especially if they're local. Ben Packard wasn't a hugely compelling character to me, but again--I might feel differently if I'd known him for two books already, and I did start to get a better sense of him towards the end as the storyline about his missing brother wrapped up. I may go back and read the earlier books and see if I can connect with the series better that way.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc,
I didn’t realize it was book 3 in a series, I was going to listen to it anyway as it could be read as a standalone, when it got to gay men I stopped listening, I have no issues with gay people I just did not feel like listening about gay men! So I did not finish! I didn’t listen long enough to give the best review so I’m rating 3 stars!

This read like a cozy mystery, even though there was death and attempted murder, the tone of the book helped digest those details. I haven’t read the previous books, and this can be read as a standalone which was cool, but I’ll definitely check out books 1&2 now.