When the queen of winter-set thrillers releases another mystery, you dive in with high expectations. This is yet another twisty, intriguing, fast-paced, and well-developed thriller I couldn’t put down, much like her other works, despite my strong dislike for the entire Dalton family. The Daltons seem determined to keep a dark secret buried, and Theodora must uncover the truth about who she really is and what happened to her mother, even if it puts her life in danger. Overall, the last third of the book was truly mind-blowing. While some of the explanations felt far-fetched and coincidental, the pacing, building tension, climax, and shocking revelations made the journey worthwhile.

Theodora Scott fell head over heels in love with Connor Dalton, a wealthy and charming young man. Six months later, Connor brings Theo to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to meet his family. Theo receives threatening messages to stay away from Connor, but she ignores them. However, she can’t ignore the photo she finds of herself as a child at Idlewood. Theo has few memories of her early years but begins to piece together fragments. Someone at Idlewood has a secret they will stop at nothing to keep.

Wow, Kate Alice Marshall has done it again! She has delivered another twisty, unputdownable thriller. Clear your schedule for this one because once you start, you won’t be able to put it down. I highly recommend it to Marshall fans and anyone that enjoys thrillers! I give it 4.5/5 stars.

This was a great book. It had lots of twists and turns. Just when I thought I had things figured out, I was wrong. This was my first Kate Alice Marshall book and I loved it.

Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy! I have loved all of KAM work and I was excited for a snowy locked room setting. This did not disappoint. Rich people behaving badly and using their privilege is always gross and this takes it to the extreme. The setting was perfect, the backstory and the twists kept coming and I enjoyed trying to figure it out before the end (which I didn’t) Perfect for the season. For those sensitive to animal violence, just beware there was a scene with a deer.

Kate Alice Marshall does it again! A Killing Cold was such a well written, suspenseful novel that had me on my toes the whole time.

Every time I thought I had it all figured out, another clue was revealed that let me know I was all wrong. I loved the unpredictability! The characters were unreliable and I couldn’t decide who to trust.

I absolutely loved all the imagery in this book. I felt like I was really there in that snowy mountain retreat. The book was so atmospheric and a perfect read for winter!

I loved the way the clues were revealed in small snapshots of memories. This made the book that much more thrilling.

Keep an eye out for this winter thriller releasing February 4, 2025! Make sure to put it on your tbr.

Thank you to @netgalley and @flatiron_books for the eARC in exchange for a review. I loved it!

Another winner from Kate Alice Marshall! Full of family secrets and tension, A Killing Cold and its eerie winter atmosphere kept me captivated from start to finish.

Connor and fiancee, Theo (also known as Teddy) go to his family lodge in the mountains as it's beautiful in the snow. Theo loves Connor but still has nightmares about her childhood as she was the "devil child" and remembers an "antlered" man. She's shared none of this with Connor, hoping to put it behind her but at the lodge she finds a note on the windowsill that reads, "You shouldn't have come." Who could possibly know about her past and why torture her about it now? Later she finds a picture of Liam, Connor's father who committed suicide and she recognizes him! How could these two families be connected?? It's a thrill-ride to the finish!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Unfortunately I found this one to be quite boring. There were interesting elements for sure, but it just seemed to drag on and on and parts of it you really had to suspend your disbelief.

I really enjoyed Marshall’s other two adult novels, so I was excited to dive into this one! It was super twisty and hard to put down. Certain elements in the last act of reveals dragged on for me a bit but overall a really good read

I love Kate Alice Marshall, she is my go to author for unreliable and unlikable characters. This book was tense and isolated from the beginning and I was suspicious of absolutely everyone and everything. Kate knows how to keep you on your toes and keep you guessing. However, I have to say that I felt like there was too many reveals in this one. Sometimes less is more. Overall, I still had a really great time with this book and these characters and I will continue to read from this author.

It was a very good suspenseful story with an ending I never saw coming. I especially loved the setting and feeling she weaved into her writing I just felt like I was there.

This newest novel from Kate Alice Marshall is so full of twists that days after finishing it my head is still spinning. The cold isolated mountain setting and family drama made this an absolutely perfect winter read. Then throw in was our main characters amnesia and slow piecing together of her childhood to make this a completely engrossing read. This is definitely my favorite of the three books I’ve read by Marshall!

I started reading the digital version of this and then switched to audio which is narrated by Karissa Vacker. She did a phenomenal job and I would highly recommend the audio route!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the alc via Netgalley and Flatiron Books for the arc via Netgalley!

Eating: 4.5/5⭐️
Pub day: February 4, 2025

Wow! The twists and turns of this book were wild and I loved every single minute of it! HIGHLY recommend this one!

A Killing Cold is a slow burn thriller that is perfect to read in the cold season of winter. The setting is just as important to the story as the characters. Theo is a young woman meeting the family of her ultra rich fiancé for the first time at an isolated compound complete with a luxurious lodge and multiple cabins. Connor appears to be the perfect man but did he have an ulterior motive in arranging to meet her? Theo is also dealing with having no recall of her early childhood except for pieces of dreams. However, something about the family compound is familiar even though she grew up on the other side of the country.

I really enjoyed how the story came together, with the present day mixed with Theo’s memories. There were a lot of characters to keep track of but it all became clear at the end. It was a slow, satisfying reveal.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Thanks to Flatiron Books for the gifted copy!

About the book: Theodora Scott is invited to Connor Dalton's family estate for a retreat. Before she goes, she receives a text to stay away from Connor, and when she's there, mysterious footprints show up outside her cabin window. Nightmares and flashbacks become more vivid and Theodora is left wondering if her relationship with Connor isn't the first connection she has with the Dalton family.

My review: I have absolutely loved Kate Alice Marshall's thrillers over the last few years, but this one takes the cake! I was hooked from the first chapter and binged it in one day. A KILLING COLD had just the right makings for a perfect thriller: the shady, rich Dalton family, the setting of their remote camp in the winter, the amnesia due to childhood trauma leaving some gaps that were revealed throughout the book, and a subtle love storyline. This book is a total winner - make sure it's on your list!

I devoured this book in less than 12 hours if that tells you anything!

Theo arrives at her fiancee's family palatial estate in Upstate New York to meet them for the first time. Theo is nervous to meet them, but not for the typical reasons. Connor doesn't know about Theo's traumatic past, but as the weekend wears on, secrets kept by Theo and Connor's family are revealed, forcing everyone to evaluate who they trust.

The pacing in this book was exquisite. It clipped at an almost frenetic pace, but it never felt too fast, it kept me turning pages. Every chapter left me wanting more.

Theo was an empathetic but also intriguing character. As I learned more about her past, I wanted to know more about the secrets the Dalton family were hiding.

The reveal at the end left me shook, which is how every good thriller should end.

I had sky-high expectations for this, as I do for anything Kate Alice Marshall at this point. I do prefer her YA books to her adult thrillers, but they're always a shocking ride. This one fell a bit short and flat, all things considered: I found it the least shocking of her thrillers, and I found myself guessing the twists and hoping there was more to it (there was not). I also at times couldn't stand the main character's ridiculous decisions, so that made reading it a bit less fun than I prefer for thrillers. It still read super-fast and had a great winter setting, though.

Thank you Net Galley for the ebook copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

I love this author’s writing!! The winter mountain setting was captivating and made the mystery/thriller elements of this story compelling. Theo’s own distrust in her past also made all of the plot twist reveals by the end catch me in surprise - I thought I knew what the sequence of events were until BOOM something came up and shook it all. The last half of the book is where it fully picked up for me and I had to stay up to finish it!

5/5 would highly recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron books for the ARC!

Theodora Scott is recently engaged to Connor Dalton, a son of a very wealthy and powerful family. The "family" has invited the couple to their family camp in the mountains that they own in order to evaluate whether Theo will be a welcomed daughter-in-law or cast off as a gold digger. Theo is an ordinary girl who works at a bookstore. She has no family as she was orphaned as a child and then adopted by a severely dysfunctional family she no longer engages with. Theo also has been receiving threatening texts warning her to stay away from Connor. The longer the 2 are at the camp, the more they realize that everyone in the family is guarding secrets, including Theo.

This is a fast paced, domestic drama that is both suspenseful and chaotic. I found the characters to be relatable. I loved how the secrets were released slowly and yet seemed to be all intertwined. While the ending of the story was a mix of far fetched and predictable, the tension building up to the climax and shocking revelations made the read very enjoyable. Highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron books for an advanced copy of Marshalls newest thriller! Theodora Scott is newly engaged and so excited to meet her fiances family at Christmastime. She is even more excited when she gets invited to their isolated estate in the woods. She receives an icy welcome, but that is the least of her concerns when she starts having memories of this estate that she has never been to before. While I enjoyed this book, was not my favorite of hers.