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!).
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