A Killing Cold starts out as a darkly atmospheric thriller as Theodora Scott travels with her fiancé Connor to an isolated winter retreat owned by his wealthy family. Even its name, Idlewood, sounds ominous. Then she receives some threatening messages and starts seeing things that look vaguely familiar. Theo also has some secrets in her past and we learn more about these at the same time as Theo does, through flashbacks.

There are so many twists to this story that I'm surprised it wasn't confusing, but it had a great flow and the characters were all really interesting, they just kept developing throughout the story which kept me guessing right up to the end

Karissa Vacker did a fantastic job of narrating the audiobook, portraying all the different characters in the story and keeping it suspenseful, she is one of my favourite narrators, especially for thrillers!

Family drama. Lies. Deception. A repressed and traumatic past… With all of the twists and turns, this book is nothing short of captivating. The nonlinear time line is a nice little surprise that kept me on my toes but made sense for the story - drawing together the past and present. Furthermore, the remote cabin in the dead of winter gave that suspenseful locked room feeling. Throughout the book, Kate Alice Marshall really built the characters personalities to the point where I loved to hate some of them. She made me question my own thoughts and if I could trust what I was being told. A Killing Cold had many twists and turns I almost got whiplash!

The audio production by Karissa Vacker was on point. She effortlessly gave each character their own voice and personality.

This is an audiobook that I would definitely listen to again (maybe during a snow storm to set the mood).

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book brought all the creepy vibes, rich and powerful people, and an isolated setting. The backstory was tragic and honestly made me feel very sad...not my usual emotions during a thriller. I kept thinking it was so clear what had happened, but I never quite got the twists right. I do wish it was a little more atmospheric and winter-y, but definitely a solid thriller!

The audio narration was good - nothing unusual or standout, just solid narration.

I really enjoyed A Killing Cold. The story was full of twists, turns, secrets, lies and shocking reveals! I was constantly trying to figure out who was behind all the lies and secrets! Thank you Macmillan audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Audio narration was very clear and easy to follow and I throughly enjoyed the narrator’s voice.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy of A Killing Cold. I loved it! *4.5 stars rounded to 4

Set on a cold, remote mountain estate, A Killing Cold is a gripping, eerily atmospheric mystery. Theo joins her fiancé, Connor, for a two-week stay at his family’s estate, meeting them for the first time. But despite the dissociative amnesia caused by childhood trauma, she can’t shake the feeling that she’s been here before — and that terrible things happened on these grounds.

While most of the big revelations came toward the end, the beginning and middle were compelling enough that I never felt like I was just waiting to get to the “good part.” I love a story where "it’s not over til it’s over," and this one kept me guessing, unsure who could be trusted, who was just apathetic, and who was truly evil? I can’t say much about the overall message without giving away key plot points, but trust me — it’s a powerful one.

I’d absolutely recommend this to mystery/thriller fans looking for something atmospheric and wintry. It’s out now!

Audio: Karissa Vacker (one of my all-time favorite narrators) delivers a phenomenal performance. Her voice is so immersive I forget I’m listening to an audiobook and just get completely lost in the story. She nails Theo’s calm demeanor, her joy, and her fear and suspicion brilliantly. A must-listen!

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall

A quick and eerie, thriller, perfect for wintertime. TBH, I wasn’t terribly impressed with this one, but I can appreciate the snowed-in, claustrophobic vibes. The suspense just didn’t really pay off well for me, and was a little bit predictable. The family drama and secrets that everyone had were the big OMG moments for me and kept me wanting to continue the story. It’s a solid book, just not my favorite, but maybe that’s just me.
Thank you Macmillan Audio & Net Galley for my ALC

A Killing Cold is the newest adult thriller from Kate Alice Marshall.

"Theodora Scott has a whirlwind romance with Connor Dalton and now they're engaged. He brings her to the family's winter retreat to meet his relatives. Theo gets messages ahead of time warning her to stay away from Connor. It'll take more than that to scare her off.
At one of the cabins she stumbles upon a photo of herself as a small child. But it's a photo of her with Connor's dad. Did she know the Daltons before? Do they know what happened to her mother? As the memories come flooding back Theo realizes she is in terrible danger and needs to convince Connor to leave."

This is a slow burn. There are a cascade of twists. Marshall does a nice job with the setup. The ending is the best part - rich people behaving badly - putting their family name ahead of truth and justice.

Karissa Vacker does her usual phenomenal job with the narration. There are multiple male and female characters (not too many) and she has voices for all of them. Her performance adds a lot to the enjoyment of this book.

Another nice slow-burn thriller from Marshall.

I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator was amazing!!! This book was fantastic and definitely one I would suggest to my fellow thriller readers.

Theos new finance Connor has invited her to the family retreat for the holidays. Theo is beyond nervous as to what they will think of her. And it doesn’t help she’s been getting some odd text messages. Anyways, Theo meets Connors family and jives with a few of them, but is also unsure about a lot of them. As time goes on, Theo starts to have some recognition of her surroundings, and from there, she’s determined to find out just what’s going on.

Pros
Setting/atmosphere
Easily engaging


Cons
Some things a bit predictable
Lots of characters involved.

Would have been 5 stars if it wasn’t for trying to keep track of the amount of characters and who they are

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall in quick, rapid fire thoughts.

-intriguing main character backstory (or lack of!)
-messy family drama of the wealthy
-chilly and secluded setting
-far too many characters to keep straight
-tangled web of memories and deceit
-an altogether overly snoopy main character
-extremely convenient plot points
-"twisty" ending that comes off over the top and confusing

One of my favourites, Karissa Vacker delivers yet another amazing audiobook performance! With a voice that can go from nostalgic and reminiscent to threatened and terrified, Vacker nailed her delivery!

Overall, I think my thoughts can best be summed up by: fantastic audiobook but who were all theses characters and who really was the villain?

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary audio copy to read and review.

Theo doesn’t remember her earliest years. She knows she was adopted when she was around 4, but no one can really tell her much more than that. Her adoptive parents were difficult people and didn’t really raise her in a loving home, not that she made it easy to love her with her own actions. When she meets Connor Dalton and gets engaged to him, she feels like this is her shot to start over. Connor takes him to his family compound in the mountains where they vacation for the holidays. When you get involved with a family that has money to burn there are often secrets to hide. Theo has no idea how closely these secrets will be to her.

Even halfway through this book I was setting myself up to be disappointed. I was ready for the old poor girl gets engaged to rich boy and the family digs up dirt on her to keep them apart. There was so much more to this story, so many break neck twists and turns and I ended up loving it!

The narrator was fantastic and definitely kept me engaged!

Thank you #MacAudio2025, Kate Alice Marshall and Netgalley for the chance to experience this audiobook. I was engaged from the first 5 minutes to the very last 5 minutes, finding myself looking for opportunities to press play constantly. I thought the narration was incredible and I really liked the story. I thought the twists were well done, my heart broke a few times and was mended a few more. I was angry and confused, I hated characters and then loved them and vice versa. Overall, I really liked this one!

This book is filled with twists, secrets and bad behavior. It kept me on my toes the whole time and it’s so fast past which I love in a thriller. The setting was cold and eerie. I didn’t trust any of these characters. Every time I thought I knew whodunnit , I was wrong! I really enjoyed this one!

Karissa Vacker did an amazing job as always narrating this book!

Read if you enjoy:
▪️secrets
▪️rich people behaving badly
▪️atmospheric setting
▪️plot twists
▪️whodunnit vibes
▪️snowed in

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A Killing Cold is a gripping mystery thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. It follows Theo and her new fiancé, Connor, as they head to his family’s secluded retreat for the holidays. This book has everything I love: a rich, dysfunctional family making terrible decisions, loads of drama, and plenty of secrets. The family’s obsession with maintaining their image has them hiding more than just their flaws—there's something darker lurking beneath the surface.

The setting was definitely one of the highlights for me. Being trapped on a snow-covered mountain with a wealthy family, each member with their own secrets, made the suspense even more palpable. The twists kept coming, and just when I thought I had figured it out, another curveball would throw me off balance.

This was my first book by Kate Alice Marshall, and it definitely won’t be my last. Her writing is fantastic, with vivid descriptions that bring the story to life. The pacing was spot on—just when the tension seemed to dip, a new reveal would pull me right back in. I would recommend this to any mystery/thriller reader, especially if it’s cold outside!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for gifting me an audio ARC of this wonderful book by Kate Alice Marshall, gorgeously narrated by the wonderful Karissa Vacker. All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4.5 stars rounded up!

Theo is newly engaged to Connor after a whirlwind romance. Connor is wealthy, a member of the powerful Dalton family, and he brings Theo to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to meet his family for the first time. Theo’s past is a big unknown, which the Dalton’s are not happy about. While at Idlewood, she starts getting messages, seeing footsteps in the snow around their cabin, and a strange feeling about the place. Some people will do anything to protect their secrets.

What a fabulous story and even better audiobook, with the perfect combination of author and narrator. This is a tense thriller filled with family drama. Just what lengths will people go to to protect their family secrets? And there are so many secrets to uncover, from Theo’s past to just what happened at the retreat all those years ago. The setting was perfect – isolated and snowy, making for a perfect locked-room mystery with no shortage of questionable characters and motives. I really liked how everything came together at the end – don’t miss this one!

Thank you Flatiron Books for my #gifted ARC and thank you Macmillan Audio for my #gifted listening copy and snowflake activity kit! #flatironbooks #macmillanaudio #MacAudio2024 #AKillingCold #KateAliceMarshall

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐀 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐕𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

𝟓★

If you are looking for a book to read in one sitting, this is it! I could not put this book down once I started. The was able to pull me in and from the very first page and I was hooked. There was so much tension in this book and I just loved the atmospheric vibes. It’s the type of book that keeps you guessing the entire time, and I was wrong the entire time! Grab a blanket and your favorite snack and get ready for a while ride with this one! I am going to be recommending this one to everyone!

❄️Isolated Setting
❄️Rich People Behaving Badly
❄️Family Drama
❄️Flashbacks
❄️Lots of Twists
❄️Atmospheric

🎧I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Karissa Vacker. Vacker always does an amazing job bringing books to life, and this one was no exception. I love how she is so easily able to transport the reader to the setting of the book, and I just felt like I was with the characters at their Idlewood family winter retreat. I highly recommend this one on audio!

Posted on Goodreads on February 3, 2025: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around February 3, 2025: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on February 4, 2025
**-will post on designated date

Kate Alice Marshall has an insane ability to create the most atmospheric, tense thrillers. A Killing Cold is a fabulous follow-up to What Lies in the Woods and No One Can Know.

Theodora has fallen in love with a member of the important and wealthy Dalton family. Connor brings her home to their estate in the hopes of bringing his family around to accepting Theo. Something about Idlewood unsettles Theo and she begins to struggle with the sense that she's been here before.

A gripping read that will have you flipping pages furiously, A Killing Cold is reminiscent of 2019's Ready or Not. Karissa Vacker did an excellent job with the narration and I would highly recommend the audio version. This was a perfect winter read.

This was my first Kate Alice Marshall and will not be my last. This was such a fun thriller, another isolated and snowy atmospheric read that fit in perfect for the season. This one definitely gave me more of a chill because I didn’t know who to trust with this mega-rich family with questionable morals. I also wasn’t able to predict exactly what happened or all the twists, either. I would definitely recommend this one to any thriller fans out there!

𝘼 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣:
Karissa Vacker did a great job narrating this one. She kept the audio of this chilling and suspenseful. I really enjoyed listening to this one.

4.5/5 rounded up
Review on IG coming 2/4/25 (@thebookandtheboston)

Lies, secrets, twists, turns, and a shocking reveal that I never saw coming!

When Connor and Theodora Scott met in California, six months ago, they fell head over heels in love with one another. Now that Christmas is around the corner, Conner has brought Theo to Idlewood. His family's east coast winter retreat. There is the main house and several large cottages for guests to stay. Connor is excited to introduce Theo to his family.

Theo is met with cold shoulders and a barrage of questions from Connors’ grandmother and Uncle. As Connor shows Theo around the grounds, he can’t help to feel that Theo has been here some time ago. What Theo doesn’t tell him, is she has the same feeling.

We know that something terrible happened at the winter retreat years ago which added to the mystery, the tension, mounting sense of danger and kept my interest piqued throughout the book. It was gripping and had me fully invested from the second chapter. Who could we trust, what would happen next and who really hold the truth to all the mysteries? I loved the setting of the book as well. The snowed in isolated winter retreat gives the reader that locked room feel. For all of the mystery thriller lovers, this needs to go on the top of your list!

Thank you to Macmillian Audio, NetGalley and the author, Kate Alice Marshall for the opportunity to read and review an advanced reader's copy of this audiobook.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An Absolutely Chilling and Addictive Thriller!

Kate Alice Marshall delivers yet another masterful psychological thriller with The Killing Cold. From the very first page, the tension is palpable, and the icy, atmospheric setting of Idlewood Lodge only adds to the sense of unease.

Theo is a compelling protagonist—strong yet vulnerable, determined yet haunted by a past she can’t quite remember. As she navigates the treacherous world of the powerful Dalton family, every revelation keeps you on edge, making this an unputdownable read. The mystery surrounding Theo’s forgotten past is expertly woven, with twists that left me breathless.

Marshall’s writing is sharp, immersive, and full of chilling suspense. Just when you think you have everything figured out, she throws in another twist that turns everything on its head. If you love thrillers packed with secrets, eerie settings, and jaw-dropping surprises, The Killing Cold is an absolute must-read!

The writing style and characters just didn't work for me. Felt kind of new-adult-romance-novel and the mystery aspect was just not holding my attention. I did think the narrator did very well with the material, but this book was not to my tastes.