Cold to the Touch by Kerri Hakoda is an intense murder mystery and police procedural set in Alaska. I loved that they kept the characters diverse and multicultural, much as one sees in everyday Alaskan towns and cities.

Detective Beans finds himself needing to solve the murder of a barista that he ordered coffee from on most days. Initially, Beans is disturbed by the autopsy findings and the brutality of the murder and what the animals scavenged before she was found. Then, the murders multiply, and it becomes clear that he’s on the hunt for a serial killer, and with his little sister newly hired as a barista while also having the same profiled features of most of the other victims, Beans must race to find this killer before it’s too late for his sister.

I couldn’t put this book down, and I know that you’ll love it, too. There are so many twists and turns and breath-holding moments, that it will keep you at the edge of your seat while you finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio ARC!!

Kerry Hakido's crime novel is set iamidst the snow and freezing temperatures of the beautiful Alaskan location with its breathtaking beautiful wilderness and woods, and I must admit it was the primary reason I chose to read this. In fact, I listened to the audio, approximately 10 hours and 10 minutes long, wonderfully narrated by Eric Fox and Abigail Reno, who brilliantly captured the high levels of menace, tension and suspense so well, the serial killer drama keeping me gripped from start to finish. Anchorage PD DeHavilland Beans is a homicide detective, who makes his regular early morning stop for coffee, only to find the beautiful barista he knows, Jolene, has not opened her stall, his niggling concerns are horrifyingly realised when her dead body, ravaged by the local wildlife, is discovered in the snowy woods, a rose carefully placed in the vicinity, So begins an intensely dark and bleak investigation that is to take its toll on his mental health, experiencing constant nightmares, living in fear of the next young barista's turning up, it all becoming all too frighteningly personal with his sister, Piper, working as a barista too.

After the second killing, and the case no further forward, the forensic aware murderer leaving no evidence to provide any meaningful viable leads,, a FBI agent and profiler joins the grateful police team, Additionally, aiding the team with her specific wilderness environment skills is Raisa Ingalls, with whom Beans has a complicated personal relationship, she is working with the medical examiner and, Raisa is currently keeping her distance from Beans. Desperately understaffed, Beans allows socially awkward bus driver, Cam, on the autism spectrum, help in going through the huge amount of CCTV, a task no-one else is keen to undertake, requiring attention to detail and patience, this painstaking work by Cam is what finally breaks the case, as at long last the police begin to close in on the brutal and ruthless killer who has just abducted another woman. will they be able to save her?

Hakido writes a well plotted and vivid atmospheric Alaskan crime story in which the location is a strong central character in itself, and a compelling central protagonist in Beans, with his strong familial ties, but struggling when it comes to personal relationships, and with the vision to see just how Cam could fit in team. We are given a constant insightful glimpse in the narrative of the killer, and the missing women and what is happening to them. I am not sure whether this is going to materialise into a series, I really hope so. I can recommend this to readers of crime and mysteries, this is a great read and I can particularly recommend the audio. Manuy thanks to Dreamscape Media for an ALC.


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This was a decent police procedural mystery - especially the last third when the action really picked up. I think people who enjoy that genre will love this. The two narrators were very good too, particularly the male narrator since there was just more for him to do.

That being said, I think this book fell short for my enjoyment. This is probably a personal preference, but I just didn't care for how sexualized and appearance focused the female characters were. I mean the male MC is a peaceful Buddhist whose first thought about an incoming FBI agent is that she has a nice butt. Also, bikini baristas???? What?????

I do hope this is the start of a series, it really felt like it was setting itself up for being one. I would like to know more about how it develops (not least the cat and dog situation). The family relationships work, the setting itself is intriguing - I would like to see how that plays out more. The coffee bunnies never heard of them before, - then I went down a rabbit hole (pardon the pun) and found out that Alaskans really love their coffee - just not sure about the coffee bunnies.

Back onto the story - well written the crime made sense and played out well.
The book was well narrated and as I said looking forward to more - first exposure to both author and narrator.

A procedural with a diverse cast set in the cold Alaskan landscape.

I enjoyed this book but would have sworn this was part of as series. This book read like it was book 5 in a series and I’m really confused to see that it’s (as far as I can tell) a standalone? I don’t necessarily see that as a negative thing, but that changes how I view some parts of the book. Like the areas where the main character is remembering things that happened in a pretty “info-dumping” type of way. I let it slide because I was thinking, well naturally we’d be filled in like this, it’s a series and the author is catching us up on what happened before. But…it’s not a series? Maybe I’m missing something…

Anyway, I appreciated the diversity of the cast and the feeling I got while listening/reading was that I really was in the inescapable cold of Alaska. I think there was equal measure mystery with thriller parts woven in, I liked the alternative POV’s of the girls, as well as the life aspects of the main characters.

I think in all, it was a good read but I’m still convinced it’s part of a series LOL.


Note: Language in this one and some references to adult situations

My rating: 3.8*

Thanks to Negalley for this advanced listening copy. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.7 stars

Young female baristas are getting murdered. Detective Beans is trying to solve the murders.

Solid narration by Eric Fox and Abigail Reno.

Someone is murdering young baristas and leaving their bodies to be devoured by wolves. Detective Beans and his crew of very diverse characters race to figure out who is killing these young girls before there is another victim.

I enjoyed this police procedural and the cast of characters. As I said- it is a diverse group in all ways- race, gender, neurologically, etc... I was impressed by this debut and the author set this up well for a series.

The story is mainly told from the POV of Beans, though it does briefly switch to another character from time to time.

Eric Fox and Abigail Reno narrate the audiobook. Primarily Eric Fox, as this is mostly told from Beans's POV. The only fault was that it was a tad slow. I ended up listening at 1.75.

I received an advance audio book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this time is of the essence thriller! I would highly recommend reading or listening to this book! Imagine a cold winter in Alaska, and a killer is lose looking for young, beautiful women. Will the cops find the murder or just more victims? Guess you will have to read or listen to find out for yourself! I listened to the audio version and the narration was fantastic! This book is so well written I didn't want to stop listening even for a minute! I also loved that the author included a young man with ASD, and his diagnosis was included in the book, as well as his attention to detail. It's not often you find a book that's inclusive to the ASD community!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Eric Fox; and Abigail Reno, both of whom do a great job! I really enjoyed the audio version and recommended it.

This is a solid police procedure story featuring DeHavilland Beans, a local cop. Beans is investigating a string of barista murders in his small Alaskan town. The FBI is called in along with a game expert who happens to be Beans former girlfriend.

This is a well written story with several subplots expertly woven through the story. There are several colorful characters that are well developed and enrich the story as well. The pacing ticks along and despite seeing the ending coming, I did not care. Hopefully this is a new series and we will read more about Beans.

Highly recommend!

Cold to the Touch by Kerri Hakoda
Narrated by Eric Fo, Abigail Reno

Homicide detective DeHavilland Beans, named after airplanes just like his four siblings, is based in Anchorage, Alaska. He'll be on the case of the murder of a barista he knows/knew when her murdered body is found, destroyed by animals who feasted on her. Not long after, there is another body of a young woman and then one more, all women murdered and left in areas where their bodies could be easily discovered.

Soon the FBI is on the case and the race is on to keep more young women from being murdered. It doesn't help Beans' peace of mind that his own younger sister has taken a job as a barista and she has the mindset of many young people, of being invincible when it comes to something bad actually happening to them. Bean is also juggling other family matters, an old girlfriend (how did that relationship end exactly?), and attraction to more than one of the attractive women in his line of sight. And he's having nightmares which get worse with each body that is found.

Beans is a likeable man and so are the many interesting and flawed characters in this book. The characters are so well developed that this book aches for a sequel or more. Beans has adopted a huge cat and is planning to adopt a puppy, he has at least one romantic interest, a family that has him worried at times, and a job that can keep him hopping for weeks on end. Eric Fo does a fine job of narrating the majority of this book while Abigail Reno narrates some very important and disturbing parts of the story. The murders are brutal and we get to know the victims in a way that makes you wish you could turn back time.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.