I'll read anything by Kate Alice Marshall and this new book of hers did not disappoint. It hooked me from the start and kept me guessing until the end. With many characters having shady pasts, it was a constant question of who was to blame. I enjoyed the various characters points of view and how the narrator was mildly unreliable but still dependable enough to throw me off course! I recommend this read to anyone who's a fan of KAM.

Very engaging read! I had no idea where the plot was going... Basically at all times. It was very enjoyable for me on my long drive to focus on Theo's problems instead of traffic.

The ending had my jaw on the FLOOR and this is why I will always sing Kate Alice Marshall's praises. Loved this book and I really enjoy her work in general.

I highly recommend this one.

Karissa Vackar did an amazing job with the narration as well!

When Theodora met Conner she didn’t think much of it. However she doesn’t remember much of her life especially her childhood. When she is invited to spend the holidays with him at the family compound she starts getting these odd text messages. She soon starts getting glimpses of her childhood and starts to remember that she has been there before but to what extent. This book was exciting with a lot of twists and turns and finding out the truth was great to find out. I highly recommend this read.

Rich people with secrets? Stranded at a mountain hideaway? Ominous messages? Threatening footprints in the snow? Lost childhood memories revealing mysterious deaths? Kate Alice Marshall gives us all that in her new psychological thriller.

Theodora Scott is meeting fiancé Connor Dalton’s family for the first time at their secluded mountain retreat. She wants them to accept her, but something isn’t right. When Theo finds a photo of herself as a child, lost memories resurface making her realize she’s been there before - and not everyone got out alive.

Twisty, twisty, twisty and chock full of wealthy people behaving badly, A KILLING COLD left me breathless. Karissa Vacker’s narration is perfection (as usual). She captures Theo’s building terror and had me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

As a fan of Kate Alice Marshall, I was definitely drawn to the premise of her newest release. Theodora Scott and Connor Dalton are recently engaged after a whirlwind romance and Theo is meeting his wealthy family for the first time at their isolated winter retreat. Not all is happy for the couple as Theo receives threatening messages prior to arriving. Then there are footprints outside their cabin, the suspicious relatives, and why does this place feel familiar to her? What culminates are secrets, cover-ups, and a backstory for Theo that stretched my suspension of disbelief. This story was saved by the setting and characters. The hunting scene was memorable and well executed. The characters were a mix of likable and unlikable and the MC was not unreliable with a drinking problem which was a nice change from the usual thriller tropes. Also, the relationship between Theo and Connor felt healthier than the average despite all they were going through. The tension and pacing were strong and the ending felt satisfying when I had been skeptical about that possibility. Narration by Karissa Vacker worked well for this story. Great choice if you want a wintry thriller.

OMG - this book! I loved it! This is my first read from Kate Alice Marshall and I am hooked. The twists totally blew me away. This is a must-read!

4.5 * When I saw Kate Alice Marshall had another book coming out, I had to listen! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the advance copy. If you like books where you are trapped in a location with no where to run- this is for you! Just when I thought I knew what happened, plot twist... and they just kept coming! To say this book kept me on the edge of my seat, is an understatement. With this family poor Theo was marrying into, it was hard to know WHO it was she could trust. Lies, deceit, murder, and vengeance.... just a few highlights of the book!

Kept me listening until the end. I did not see the twists coming, which does not happen often! I always like the premise of an affluent family with secrets. The narrator of the audiobook was good as well. Bravo on this one!

{3.5 stars}

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for gifted access to this audiobook. All opinions below are my own.

This one reminded me of Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone meets Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six. A young woman joins her new, rich fiance's family on their annual winter retreat. Secluded out in the woods with no cell service, we begin the story with her hoping  that her fiance's family won't find out about her past as a poor orphaned girl. As she desperately tries to impress these snooty, judgemental people she begins to have flashbacks of her youth which she can't ignore.

I'll stop there to avoid spoilers. This one has a lot of characters and all play into what happens so you'll need to pay attention to who is who. It was definitely a convoluted tale with some morally grey characters but I didn't feel like it did the fully unlikable cast thing that is so common in thrillers. This was one of those reads where I enjoyed it in the moment but it didn't have any moments that will stick with me long term.

This was my first book by Kate Alice Marshall and honestly, I was really disappointed. The story follows Theodora (Theo) Scott, a woman with a terrible and secret past as she goes with her wealthy fiance, Connor Dalton, to his family's cabin for Christmas. Theo has ignored the mysterious and threatening text messages warning her to stay away from Connor, but she can't ignore the footprints in the snow outside of their cabin, or the gift left for her on the window sill, or the photo of her as a young girl with Connor's dead father that she found in the cabin. Theo begins to put together the memories of her childhood and it becomes apparent that the Daltons don't want the truth of what happened to her or her mother to come out.

The positives of this story are the setting, a secluded mountain compound owned by the wealthy Dalton family, and the mysterious aspect of Theo's childhood. I really did enjoy trying to piece together what happened to her as a child. And the narrator did a great job! Unfortunately, this plot is not a new one and I felt like I'd read this story before. The characters were overly villainous and predictable and I'm not a fan of a locked room mystery. Sadly, this will not be one of my top reads of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. My review is honest and voluntary.

My walk today felt fitting to finish 𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍'𝒔 𝑨 𝑲𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑫, narrated by the outstanding @karissavacker. I was thrilled to receive an ARC from @flatiron_books and the audio from @macmillan.audio via @netgalley all coming out on February 4th.

I am a fan of Kate Alice Marshall's and this one cements my auto-read author status.

Theo is heading to her wealthy fiancée home to meet the family after a whirlwind romance. They are almost as interested in finding out about her as she is about hiding her less than pristine past. What she doesn't know, is they have much more to hide. When holes in her childhood memory are triggered, it becomes clear this Dalton family and Theo all have decide how far they are willing to go to keep their secrets safe.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! I was so excited to get an ARC and flew through the first chapters. Getting the audio was the cherry on top, as it added layers to the storytelling in which Vacker is so adept.

I loved the Gothic atmosphere, the locked-house, claustrophobic feeling, and the twists that had me first thinking I had it, and then humbling me. If you are someone who doesn't believe that coincidence or fate or whatever you call it can make truth stranger than fiction, there may be a slight challenge challenge for you, but I wholly believe all of that, so I was unfazed. After all, that is what makes a story, and this was a really fun and suspenseful one that had me contemplating the "small world" connections in my life as well as knowing when it is safe to share all the nitty gritty.

A fabulously entertaining suspense! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I’ve been a fan of Kate Alice Marshall since reading What Lies In the Woods. A Killing Cold was such a great listen. As soon as I saw Karissa Vacker was the narrator, I knew it was going to amazing. I loved the storyline and how bits and pieces of Theo’s memories would come back to her throughout the book. Another amazing read/listen by the author.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙔𝙤𝙪 @MacmillanAudio for my complimentary copy!

𝑨 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆’𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕—𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆

𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧: Kate Alice Marshall
𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧s: Karissa Vacker
𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝: 9h 41m
𝙋𝙪𝙗 𝘿𝙖𝙮: February 4th

📖 I have absolutely loved Kate Alice Marshall's other thrillers #WhatLiesInTheWoods and #NoOneCanKnow, so I have been so excited for this one, and I thought it was great! This book kept my attention, and kept me guessing with all of the lies, secrets, twists and turns throughout. I love a "locked room" mystery, and this one is set in an isolated retreat in the middle of winter which was perfect. It has an overall eerie feeling where you know danger could be lurking in any corner... The last part of the book was shocking and had me racing to finish and see what happens.

"𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵."

🎧 Karissa Vacker is definitely my favorite audiobook narrator! I love everything she does, so this audiobook was perfect to me. She does a great job making the story come alive so you will enjoy it too!

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮:
• fast paced
• suspense
• secrets / lies
• locked room mystery
• cat and mouse
• lots of twists
• unlikable characters

This suspenseful winter thriller comes out next month and you will not want to miss it!

2.5 but rounded up for the dog

It kept me interested but the motivation of “preserving the family name” / reputation / etc just doesn’t do it for me. I wish there was a stronger focus on the romance as well. Definitely the mystery of whether or not Connor was involved was interesting, but I wish we learned he wasn’t at like halfway through so we could enjoy their genuine relationship.

Listening to Karissa Vacker narrate A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall was a fantastic way to end 2024! This chilly thriller is full of secrets and twists and some pleasant surprises. Despite being terribly sick while I read this, I was decently engaged throughout!

Full review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6423962436

Kate Alice Marshall writes the thrillers I love to devour. I love it when books keep me guessing and escalate to me guessing wilder and wilder outcomes.

I read this book in two days, I could not put it down.
I love rich family novels (where the family is obscenely wealthy), everyone has secrets, and an outsider (new finance) enters the picture, and disrupts the status quo.
Throw in a snowstorm, no cell signal, and a hunting outing and I’m yours.

In short: Theodora is going to spend the holiday with he fiance's family. Except Theo has been getting messages to stay away from Connor. Who are they coming from? Could it be one of her soon to be family members? Secrets are revealed in this holiday away.

This was a locked in thriller with an over-the-top twist that seems too far-fetched for even me to believe. I wasn't captivated by the characters, making it hard to care about the story. The vibes felt similar to Marshall's other two novels.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Expected publication date of February 4, 2025.

Another great thriller from Kate Alice Marshall! This one is perfect for the winter months (as the title suggests) and kept me entertained from the first page.

Theo is in a whirlwind engagement with the wealthy Connor, and is spending her first winter holiday with his family on their mountain top resort style estate.

It becomes quickly apparent that everyone has their own kept secrets but Theo has no idea whose lies are more crushing- the families or her own.

I loved the fast pacing and short chapters. I read this title with a physical copy and audio copy and both formats are great- I loved the audiobook narrator. I devoured it in one sitting.

4 stars because it didn’t blow my mind, but I would still highly recommend for a quick fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Flatiron Books for advance e and audio copies in exchange for an honest review.

The narrator in this book was absolutely fantastic. The voice matched the character which doesn't always happen.

I loved this book - it was just the right amount of twisty.

Theo is going to meet her fiancé's family for the first time. They got engaged only 6 months after meeting, but when you know, you know. However, there is a lot they don't know each other, both have some dark secrets, and Theo discovers she has more of a connection to the family than she ever thought possible.

I loved the suspense and tension throughout this one. Secrets were revealed to both Theo and the reader at the same time, which made me feel even more connected to the story. Theo is forced to unravel such a dark and twisty web of family secrets to get to the bottom of how she fits in.

Marshall used a similar writing method for her two previous thriller books, where the reader and the main character think they know the answer, but more plot twists keep coming. It doesn't always work for me, but this one really really did.

I recommend this one to all thriller lovers.

Ummmm… what?! 🤯😳

📚 SUMMARY:
Theodora, Theo to her friends, is meeting her fiancé’s family for the first time. It’s just a little nerve wracking since the Daltons are millionaires, they’re spending two weeks at their family set of palatial, isolated winter cabins, and Theo has been getting threatening texts to stay away from Connor Dalton. Theo also doesn’t remember most of her childhood and hasn’t been completely honest with Connor about what she does remember. When she realizes that she has childhood memories from this place, and not all of them are good, the goal shifts from impressing the Daltons to surviving them.

❄️ MY THOUGHTS:
This was such a twisty, dark thriller! Some thrillers have twists that are easy to guess or come at the very end of the story. Marshall sprinkles major plot twists all throughout the story. I had no idea what new reveal would happen or what new piece of information would be dropped and send the characters (and me) reeling. Especially since Theo doesn’t have a lot of childhood memories, the reader is piecing together her history at the same time she is. As things are revealed, it’s impossible to know who to trust or who is lying. By the end, I was questioning the sanity of several characters. This is a great thriller whether you already love the genre or want to give it a try!

❄️ Karissa Vacker on audio was fantastic! I’m always impressed by how she draws me in and makes me feel like I’m fully in the characters’ mindsets. Her male narrations are also so well done, which is one thing that can sometimes irk me. Her narration made this even better!!

🗓️This one publishes February 4, 2025 or you can get it early now through @bookofthemonth

Thank you to @kmarshallarts @netgalley netgalley @macmillan.audio and @flatiron_books for this Advanced Reader Copy!