Joshua Moehling’s terrific first novel, AND THERE HE KEPT HER, featured a unique protagonist who is openly gay. Deputy Ben Packard is back in this intriguing follow-up, WHERE THE DEAD SLEEP, which again takes place in the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake. Life changes significantly for Packard when he learns that the current sheriff has passed away following a lengthy battle with cancer, which means that he will take over as acting Sheriff.

"...[an] intriguing follow-up [to AND THERE HE KEPT HER]... The beauty of WHERE THE DEAD SLEEP is that Sandy Lake essentially acts like another character in the story."

Packard is woken up after a tryst with the drummer of a cover band he enjoyed at a state fair with news of a bloody homicide. When he arrives at Bill and Carrie Sandersen’s house, he finds Bill shot to death in his bed. According to Carrie, Bill had come home late after meeting a friend and potential business partner; later that evening, she heard a large popping sound. She confesses to Packard that they slept in separate bedrooms due to his snoring and the need to wear a CPAP machine.

Being the thorough investigator that he is, Packard follows each clue as he receives them. He first talks to Roger Freeman, the friend with whom Bill allegedly met. But Roger maintains that he did not see Bill that night. Packard then learns about the buffalo wing joint that Bill and Roger intended to open and the issues they had in raising the capital for it --- especially since Bill was tapping into the money they already had earned. This included absconding with $20,000 for untold reasons. When Carrie indicates that Bill was trying to get money from her as well, Packard immediately suspects that gambling could have played a major role in the homicide.

It turns out that Bill was famous for spending time at the local casino and may have gotten involved in a top-secret, top-dollar poker game at an undisclosed location. He is directed to the home of Leon Chen, who ran the game. The players there knew that Bill had some financial issues, but they didn’t care. He was an easy mark who they fleeced, but he left owing them nothing, so they had no reason to kill someone they could milk again. When a random person fires on Chen’s residence while Packard is there, Packard realizes that he must be getting dangerously close to uncovering something big.

Bill was a complicated man who also was having sexual relations with his ex-wife, who just happened to be his current wife’s sister. When pubic hair is found on him that is traceable to his ex-wife, Packard confronts her about what she did with him the night he was murdered. It seems that with each layer he is able to peel back, he exposes another nerve that should have remained hidden. The trouble is that the closer he gets to the truth, the closer he gets to some dark local secrets that someone would kill to keep from getting exposed.

The beauty of WHERE THE DEAD SLEEP is that Sandy Lake essentially acts like another character in the story. In this case, it looks pleasant enough on the surface but has a dark underbelly that is as chilling as anything one would find in a big city. Ben Packard is a complex character who still feels like an outsider but is the only beacon of light and morality capable of saving the town from itself.