A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall is a mysterious and intriguing novel about family secrets. I enjoyed this one and thought the narration was great - kept pace with the book well and brought the tension to life. In some ways this reminded me of Real Americans - a story about family secrets and how far they will go to protect each other. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC. This will be our 2/4/25 - preorder now!

Kate Alice Marshall books should automatically go to the Top of your TBR list! This one is a drop what book your reading and listen/read now!! Wow. I wish I had waited to have this book as my last read of the year because I honestly not sure I can get it out of my head anytime soon to pick up another book.
From the first chapter you will not want to put the book down. The perfect romance until she meets the family. His family. Her past. Never seen that coming. No spoilers just do yourself a favor and preorder a copy today.


Thank you Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for sending me this audio book my way! I will be adding a physical copy to my own shelf and recommending it every chance I get! I truly enjoyed the ride!

Kate Alice Marshall is probably my favorite thriller author at this point. And when she pairs her audiobooks with a Karissa Vacker narration, then you know you’re getting perfection.

Short Synopsis:
Theo fell fast and hard for her boyfriend, now fiancé, Connor. So when he brings her home to meet his outrageous wealthy family, Theo is met with scrutiny. But Theo is more concerned with things she finds there.

My Thoughts:
I LOVED this one. This was such a bingeable and enticing thriller. I didn’t want to ever stop it once I started reading. With its family drama and hidden secrets, remote snowy location, and mysteries galore, A KILLING COLD makes for the perfect winter thriller. And the twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat.

What You’ll Find:
- Rich family
- Winter thriller
- Whodunit
- Locked in
- Twists

I will read anything by Kate Alice Marshall, and A Killing Cold is no exception. I really enjoyed the pacing and story as well as the setting. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good, well-written thriller with some unexpected twists and turns.

Theo has a troubled past and huge gaps in her early childhood memory when she and Connor Dalton, her wealthy finance, arrive at his family’s winter residence to celebrate Christmas. The lodge in the woods is daunting, but even more concerning are the text messages she has been receiving telling her to stay away. Could a member of the family be sending them? And why has she started to remember these cabins, a place she has never been before? It seems the Dalton’s have secrets, and they will do anything to keep them hidden.

I listened to this story via audiobook. Karissa Vacker’s narration was wonderful and absolutely enhanced this story. The action was absolutely non-stop and went places I never expected. A thrilling, edge-of-your
-seat book. I give A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall a 4.25 stars and a definite recommendation to pick this one up.

I received this advance audio copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

Marshall set the scene for the perfect winter thriller, and I loved every single twisted second of it! I kept thinking I knew exactly how it was going to play out, and then another layer of the story would be peeled away, leaving me reeling. The narrator did a fantastic job, and I never felt like the story lagged. This book was just what I needed out of a good thriller!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my ALC in exchange for my honest feedback!

Thanks netgalley and publishers for the chance to read this book for free in return for my honest opinion.

I love Kate Alice Marshall’s books, this one is a second favorite of mine. The audiobook was hard to put down, I finished it within a few days.

Theo meets Connor and falls in love. Within 6 months, he’s bringing her home to meet his wealthy family.

Theo starts getting threatening text messages and she’s wondering who is sending them and why they would want her to stay away from Connor and his family.

This book had me hooked from the start and I wanted to see how it was going to end. I highly recommend giving this book a read, especially if you love Kate Alice Marshall’s books.

A GREAT audiobook!! The narrator did a wonderful job and really brought the story to life. 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.

3.75
This is my first time reading anything by this author. At first, I found the story a bit confusing, but as it unfolded and the mysteries began to reveal themselves, it became much more enjoyable to read. I really appreciated the isolated winter cabin setting and how every character seemed unreliable until the big twists at the end.

This story hooked me from the first page and I could not stop until everything was revealed. I loved the wintery, woodsy atmosphere. I also liked the way this story smoothly weaved in and out of two timelines. This is a fantastic, chilling read for October. Kate Alice Marshall is killing it! 4 STARS!

Theo has gotten engaged to her boyfriend and is going to meet the whole family during a stay at their mountain compound over Christmas. What she imagined would be a stressful visit quickly becomes more complicated and then dangerous as her past and present collide.

I really enjoyed ‘What Lies in the Woods’ and was excited to get a chance to read Kate Alice Marshall’s latest book prior to its publication. I was somewhat disappointed by ‘No One Can Know’ and was thrilled to see a return to all the things I had loved about ‘What Lies in the Woods’ in ‘A Killing Cold.’ Atmospheric, suspenseful, and fast-paced ‘A Killing Cold’ combines the eeriness of a locked room mystery with a masterful execution of recovered memories and trauma. At multiple points, I thought I had it figured out, but then there were new twists. The ending may frustrate some readers but I found the conclusion satisfying and more realistic than what I often see in similar thriller novels. I can’t wait to see what stories Kate Alice Marshall comes up with next!

Another hit for Kate Alice Marshall, A Killing Cold has so many elements which kept me listening. A wealthy family, a vacation at their elaborate and isolated lodge, a new fiancee thrown in the mix.....the lives of rich people always entertains.

Even before arriving on this "delightful" two week vacation in the woods with virtual strangers, Theodora receives a series of messages to stay away from her intended. Who sent them? Why? How much of her secret past is already known? Great set up for suspense and mystery with a, chef's kiss, ending.

Karissa Vacker provides great narration and is able to voice men, women, excitement, intrigue - she's just a great reader.

Happy to recommend this February 2025 release.

Let’s set the stage…wealthy family, secluded retreat, blizzard conditions.
All the ingredients for a crafty thriller.

Theodora (Theo) and Connor met, fell in love and were engaged all within six months. Now it’s time for her to meet his family. What better way than to join his family at their secluded winter compound. Strange though... no one seems overly welcoming. Hmmm.

Theo has a few questions that keep nagging her:
1. Who’s texting her messages warning her to stay away from Connor, and why?
2. Why does this compound feel oddly familiar? Is it possible she’s been here before?

Turns out this isn’t the winter wonder-land getaway Theo was hoping for. And soon she’ll be fearing for her life before the vacation is over!

As the layers of secrets and lies unraveled, the tension increased giving readers a very suspenseful read (audio.)

🎧 Review: Narration provided by Karissa Vacker. Need I say more? She was as amazing as always, once again breathing life into every single character, young and old.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

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

A Killing Cold

I did a little happy dance when I received an advanced listening copy of A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall, from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley, narrated by Karissa Vacker.

The blurb for A Killing Cold intrigued me, having just listened to No One Can Know in November.

What I enjoyed:
• loved the tension buildup as this carefully constructed, complex story developed
• Marshall set the scene for a great sensory experience with her description of the retreat
• I enjoyed getting to know some of the actors while others provided the counter in a love-to-hate character relationship

What I struggled with a bit:
• with high intensity pushing in near the end, I found the audio a bit confusing
• the story flips from 1st person POV present tense to 2nd person POV past tense, for some of the reveals (I haven’t seen this in print yet, so maybe it’s more clearly delineated by a font change)
• I listened to the last few chapters again to confirm what happened

Overall, I loved the story and I recommend this locked-room style, atmospheric adventure of a domestic thriller.

With thanks to #NetGalley, #MacmillanAudio and Kate Alice Marshall for the opportunity to experience and early audio copy!

I'm in the minority here, but I could not stand any of these characters, and that made me disengage from the story. Plus the narrator's "little girl" voice was so grating I was tempted to stop reading.

This was a weird one for me personally. Did it deliver of the twisty, chock full of details, and a love of great writing? Absolutely! So why did so have a hard time staying with it?

I’m glad i did as the last 25% of the book was non stop mind blowing (albeit far fetched) drama that even surprised me but I would be remiss in not mentioning that I kept starting and stopping the first 30% as I kept getting sidetracked but that’s a me problem!

I think folks will really enjoy the ride and love to hate the Dalton Family. It reminded me of Dynasty and Dallas level distinction and backstabbing so if that’s your jam, get this on your TBR.

The narrator did a good job with the read. I did speed it up to 1.75x as that was a comfortable rate for me to listen.
I am thankful to have gotten the ALC for free from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley to enjoy which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Theo finds her dream guy and goes to meet his family who by the way....is rich and she gets the normal questions. Who are you? What do you want? How’d you get engaged so fast, but she doesn’t remember where she comes from. She knows she was adopted at a young age by a very religious family. But she doesn’t know who her birth parents are and then when she’s with her fiancé’s family, she finds a picture that looks a lot like what she would’ve looked like as a child with her fiancé’s father does she have a connection to this family already? And if she does what happened to her mother?
This book had me hooked from the beginning. Such a good thriller with some twisty parts that I do love and did NOT see coming.

A Killing Cold

The Daltons do not lose, and what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.

To be honest I did not have high hopes for this book at first. I have been burned in the past by rich family thrillers but when I read the description I was intrigued, and the cover caught my attention, so I gave it a chance. This book had so many twists it gave me whip lash in the best way. I did not know you to trust and the more the story got uncovered the more unreliable everyone became. Theo’s memories from her childhood and the Daltons secrets slowly start coming out/back one by one and we get to see the mystery unfold. If you think you figured out the killer guess again this book keeps you on the edge of your seat. I enjoyed the setting of the families in isolated winter cabins, and I think this is the perfect winter read! The narrator did a great job!

Thank you, Net Galley, the author, and the publisher, for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"A Killing Cold" by Kate Alice Marshall (audiobook) was an adventure, to say the least! I appreciated how the main character, Theodora Scott, continued to evolve and morph as the narrative progressed. The twists and turns were almost overwhelming, as each time I thought I knew what was happening next, I was completely wrong! This book will keep you guessing until the very end. While I admire Kate Alice Marshall for her surprise plot twists, this book was almost confusing. However, if you can endure the ride, it is worth it! Solid 4 stars! Well done!
As always, if Karissa Vacker narrates it, it is going to be exceptional. She did an excellent job, very intense! No one could have done a better job with this audiobook! Great choice!
Thank you, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley, for the ARC audiobook!