Family drama but make it twisty with all sorts of unknowns and the aching need to understand it all. From opposite sides of the tracks but recently engaged, Theodora and Connor head to Connor’s powerful and wealthy family’s vacation home. What is supposed to be a relaxing, unplugged retreat turns into the unraveling of secrets from both his family and her past, connecting them in ways that neither of them saw coming. This bingable psychological thriller immersed me in its bit of satire, few twists and a whole lot of drama.

Kate Alice Marshall has once again crafted a tense, atmospheric thriller that pulls you in from the very first page.

Theodora Scott believes she’s building a new life with Connor Dalton, a wealthy and charming heir from a powerful family. But when she joins him at Idlewood, the Daltons’ isolated winter retreat, cracks begin to show. Threatening messages, footprints outside the cabin, and a chilling discovery—a childhood photo of herself taken at Idlewood—leave Theo questioning everything she thought she knew about her past.

Marshall’s writing is sharp, immersive, and moody, perfectly suited to the snowbound setting. Idlewood itself feels like a character: cold, eerie, and claustrophobic. Theo makes for a fascinating protagonist, haunted by a complicated past and torn between her new life and the fragments of memory she begins to recover.

What stands out most is the constant sense of unease—readers are never sure who Theo can trust, and the family’s secrets unravel at just the right pace. It’s a solid thriller, full of suspense, atmosphere, and twists that keep you guessing until the very end.

Kate Alice Marshall continues to prove she’s one of the most underrated voices in suspense fiction.

Theo goes with her boyfriend to his family's isolated winter home, only to start having memories from her childhood. She didn't have a lot of memories of her childhood but familiarity of this place starts to bring it all back, then finds a photo of herself there as a child. She starts to deal with warning messages and doesn't know who to trust.
I absolutely love this author and I cannot believe it took me so long to start reading her books. I simply must read them all. This is only the second one I've read, but I can't wait to continue. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a thriller!

I LOVE KATE ALICE MARSHALL. Every book I've read so far is so good. I love the survival elements thrown into the thriller. The setting is dynamic and makes you feel like you're there. The characters feel real, they're flawed but not unrealistically so.

This is one of my favorites of hers. I will continue to look forward to more books by KAM.

I really liked this one! I'm so glad that I didn't read the synopsis beforehand because it totally gives away way too much. Since I didn't know what was about to happen, I definitely had an "oh sh!t!" moment. One particular part of the book grabbed me and made me want to binge the rest of the book so I do recommend going into this one blind if you can.

I also love messy rich families and "lockedish" room thrillers so this one checked all the boxes. The book was just tense enough with enough reveals throughout to keep me super engaged. I'm glad I had both the ARC and ALC so rotate between so I could always keep the story going until I finished. The narration by Karissa Vacker was great, as always!

Thank you Flatiron Books, NetGalley, and Macmillan Audio for my ARC/ALC.

A slow burn mystery in an atmospheric and isolated environment. Loved the old money rich people drama and just how deep loyalty and protecting the family image will push people.

Reading A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall was a chilling, edge-of-your-seat experience that left me tense and completely absorbed. The atmosphere was thick with dread, and every twist made my heart race. Marshall has a way of building suspense that feels almost suffocating—in the best possible way. I found myself second-guessing every character and couldn’t stop turning the pages, needing to know how it would all unravel. It wasn’t just a thriller; it was emotionally charged, with moments of vulnerability and grief that hit unexpectedly hard. By the end, I felt both haunted and deeply satisfied.

Thank you to NetGalley, and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

@netgalley
@flatiron_books
@kmarshallarts

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Theodora is invited to her wealthy fiance’s family retreat to meet the in laws. She realizes they are hiding a terrible secret. She finds a photo of herself as a child taken at this exact house. She doesn’t remember ever being there. It was a thrilling read with lots of family drama!

#read #booksbooksbooks #books #akillingcold #secret #thriller #suspense #bookworm #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookish #netgalley #flatironbooks #bookstagram #bookcommunity #bookrecommendations #tbr

This was an insane ride of a novel with twists and turns that had my head spinning. My first book by KAM and it won't be my last. She knows how to write toxic characters! The ending was crazy!

Great wintry read for fans of Lisa Unger or Lucy Foley. Orphaned young and with little memory of her "before" childhood, Theo is nervous about meeting her fiance's powerful family over the holidays. Turns out, with good reason. As soon as they arrive at the Dalton compound, Theo immediately feels familiar, and several members of the family and staff feel the same about her. Does she have a connection to these people? And will she figure it out before whatever happened to her mother repeats?

Okay, so this is getting to be a trope. Destination holiday at rich boyfriend's family enclave. Throw in battling the elements for some locked-room suspense, and voila. But it really works here, and the twists were ... twisty.

a fast pace thriller with twists and turns! What more could you want! I definitely did not see the ending coming and that’s fantastic to me. Thanks to this book for convincing me not to marry the rich man I just met.

Orphaned Theodora Scott is on the way to spend the holidays with her wealthy fiancé, Connor, at his family's compound. She receives a text: Stay away from Connor Dalton. Furthermore, she follows some footprints in the snow leading to an abandoned cabin on the property. Inside, she finds a photo of herself as a child. She realizes that she has been at this compound before.
This book is a suspenseful thrill ride through a forgotten childhood, family politics, and murder. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading this one!

I read this with my bookclub and I really enjoyed it. It was binge-worthy and we had a lot to talk about. I heard that the audio was excellent for this as well.

This was a great mystery with good pacing however (stop reading for spoilers) I do not care for endings that have like 17 different reveals. Like oh actually it was this person. But wait, Sike, it was this person. No. There are so many characters to keep track of also.

If Knives Out had a sinister love child with The Bourne Identity and raised it in a snow-covered family estate packed with secrets - A Killing Cold would be that unsettling, twisty little thriller.

Kate Alice Marshall has already made a name for herself as a master of moody, atmospheric suspense, and with A Killing Cold, she doubles down on the psychological whiplash. This is the third book I've read by her, and she's cemented herself as one of my go-to authors for a reliably wild ride.

The story kicks off with Theodora Scott, swept off her feet by Connor Dalton and whisked away to meet his "you-may-never-be-good-enough-for-us" family at their remote estate, Idlewood. But things start going sideways immediately. An eerie photo, footprints where there shouldn't be any, and a hint of forgotten memories suggest that Theo's past might be tangled up with the family she just met.

It took me a little while to get grounded - there are a lot of Daltons to keep straight, and everyone's got secrets on secrets. But once the story found its rhythm (about a quarter in), I was in! Marshall excels at creating morally ambiguous characters who are compelling even when you want to throttle them. It was impossible to know who to trust - just when I thought I'd figured someone out, BAM - twist!

What I particularly loved about A Killing Cold was how well the final act paid off. Marshall stuck the landing and had me turning page after page, desperate for answers, until the very last word.

So, if you're into family drama, memory gaps, and a protagonist you genuinely want to root for, A Killing Cold is definitely a thrilling story worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for an advanced reader's copy; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

🤔 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝔻𝕚𝕕 𝕀 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕥: I am a huge fan of Kate Alice Marshall especially when it comes to her adult novels, so of course I had to grab her newest release.

🍿 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴: There is nothing I love more than rich people behaving badly and mixed together with a winter wonderland and a girl whose memories aren’t fully intact makes it a recipe for disaster. The mystery of Theo’s past along with Connor’s overbearing family drove this plot at a very quick pace and the snowy setting just amplified the atmosphere further.

👏🏼 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈: The atmospheric qualities of this book were utterly fantastic, and unlike certain books I have read recently, I felt like Idlewood was a character in itself along with the woods surrounding it. The secrets were one of my favorite parts of the book as well as the mind-blowing twists I never saw coming. These were some of my favorite unlikeable characters to read about and I had a mantra going in my head telling Theo to watch her back. I also loved the fact that the storyline felt very unique, especially with the inclusion of Theo’s strange nightmares.

🫤 🇹‌🇭‌🇪‌ 🇳‌🇪‌🇬‌🇦‌🇹‌🇮‌🇻‌🇪‌🇸‌: Marshall didn’t do me wrong with this one and I personally could find no fault in it.

🎧 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒩𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃: Karissa Vacker is one of the most talented narrators I have ever had the pleasure of listening to and she gave these characters the vibrancy they needed and deserved. She was very engaging to listen to, there were no audio issues, and her voice was the perfect fit for Theo.

💭 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴: The pacing, cleaver plot, and a mix of themes kept tension high in this story of forgotten identity and the revelation of secrets and lies was only the tip of the iceberg. A Killing Cold is definitely my new favorite by Marshall and if you like endings that are wrapped up in a neat bow (like I do), this is for you.

T͏h͏i͏s͏ B͏o͏o͏k͏ i͏n͏ 5͏ E͏m͏o͏j͏i͏’s͏ o͏r͏ L͏e͏s͏s͏: 🧣📷🌲🤐💲

𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm a huge fan of Kate Alice Marshall and was so grateful to receive this book! A gorgeously atmospheric and twisty thriller, it's not my favourite of hers (that spot is reserved for 'Rules for Vanishing', but this kept me turning the pages at speed, losing myself in her world as always.

Another winner from an excellent writer.

Kate Alice Marshall is an auto buy author for me! I was so excited for this one set in a snowy landscape – unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me.

When Theo Scott falls fast for the charming, wealthy Connor Dalton, she doesn’t expect a snowy retreat with his powerful family to turn into something sinister. But Idlewood isn't just a remote getaway—it's familiar. Too familiar. And when Theo discovers a childhood photo of herself taken there, her forgotten past begins to surface. Someone at Idlewood knows what happened all those years ago—and they’ll do anything to keep it buried. As snow falls and danger closes in, Theo must uncover the truth… before it’s too late.

It was definitely more suspense and family drama than thriller and I figured it out pretty quick. Though I enjoyed the fast paced nature of the book it did drag a little in the middle due to the secluded landscape and limited characters.

A real page turner! The setting has an eerie feel to it that I could feel. The mind is a mysterious thing as proven in memories or lack of them. Loved following the discovery of the past and the secrets that have been kept.

PHENOMENAL!!! Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

MIND BLOWING!! INCREDIBLE!! ADDICTIVE!!
Kate Alice Marshall delivers once again!! "A Killing Cold" is an utterly gripping, chilling, and atmospheric psychological thriller that I could NOT put down! It had me on the edge of my seat, constantly wondering who I could trust. Just when I thought I had it figured out, another crazy whirlwind twist hit me.

This book is packed with everything I love in a thriller! From dark family secrets, dangerous and deadly lies, a dysfunctional wealth family, no cell phone service, a secluded, wintery mountain retreat, threatening messages, suppressed memories and a shocking reveal!! OH MY!! 😮

The tension builds page by page until you're holding your breath. I devoured this in one sitting! I just wanted to scream to get out!! Easily one of the most suspenseful, bingeable reads I've picked up in a long time. I wholeheartedly recommend this unputdownable, stunning masterpiece and it deserves all the stars!!!⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️