There was a lot going on, and as elements kept revealing themselves, they just made less and less sense. By the time I got to the end, the reveals were more annoying than anything.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan audio for the first ALC of A KILLING COLD!

This was a such a chilling, twisty family drama set in a remote campground. There are multiple mysteries throughout the plot, many covered up murders and wild family dynamics all forced to be uncovered during a family Christmas trip in the mountains. The narration was fabulous, and as always, Kate Alice Marshall produced a wild, and twisty tale. I definitely recommend, especially in late winter!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I wasn't sure what to think at the start of this one but remained hopeful this book would transform into a unique mystery and/or thriller rather than fall into the abyss of the many thrillers I read throughout the year.

Fortunately, the book picked up quickly and it was a breeze to listen to, it definitely set itself apart and is a thriller unlike many I have read in the past. Kate Alice Marshall does a nice job blending the atmospheric, wintery weather with the thrilling elements of the main character's hidden past. You learn a little bit at a time until the novel is really moving quickly and you get to put the pieces together alongside all of the characters who are on the hunt for the truth.

This would be a great book to read on a cold, winter day next to the fire or curled up on the couch. It definitely was a great companion for getting chores done around the house and I listened to it from start to finish in only a few days.

It's also worth mentioning Karissa Vacker did a great job narrating this novel, I typically enjoy her work and this one was no exception. I look forward to reading and/or listening to more by this author in the future.

This was an intriguing, fast-paced thriller that left me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I loved the atmospheric vibes throughout the audiobook version. The plot line felt a pit far-fetched at times but the pacing and tension kept my interest. The narration added another element to this story that I really enjoyed.

I love Kate Alice Marshall’s stories, and this one took me to an isolated cabin retreat in the snowy mountains.
What starts as a family getaway quickly turns into a gripping mystery. With perfect pacing and an eerie, isolated setting, this thrilling blend of love, mystery, and suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat. A true page-turner you won’t want to put down.

TY to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. The audiobook was well done, narrator did a good job. The story, the character and plot were middle of the road for me, predictable.

Theo doesn't know where she came from. She was adopted, but her life is blank before that. Naturally, she heads up the mountain to meet her fiancé's family, and suddenly memories start coming back. His very rich family is full of secrets, and Theo accidentally walks in and starts unraveling them. But why is a picture of her as a little girl in one of the abandoned cabins? And why does the family want her to leave so badly? And why does everything seem like it's vaguely threatening and dangerous?

I really liked Marshall's other two books, but this one was kind of boring. The unraveling went kind of slowly, and Theo spins her wheels a lot. Also the number of memories she gets back from when she was 5 is pretty unrealistic. The entire thing was unrealistic, and once the truth started coming out, the secrets and layers and lies started to build on each other, and never stopped.

The narrator did a good job making the story sound more dramatic than it was, and that is what made me want to finish. I appreciate the ARC.

This was okay. It reminded me of Family Game by Catherine Steadman, which I had a hard time with as well. I wasn't super surprised by the twists or invested in the characters.

This had a great sense of place. Overall, I just couldn't get on board with the contrived feeling of the relationship. The controlling family aspect and that Theo was willing to stay at her fiancé's family winter retreat regardless of their disdain for her. I had a hard time buying it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the gifted ALC.

A Killing Cold by Kate Allison Marshall was quite a gripping experience from start to finish!

The story was narrated by Karissa Vacker. She’s one of my favorite narrators and her performance truly brought the story to life.

Theodora Scott has no clear memories of her early childhood. She has just fleeting glimpses of things like a woman wearing a red scarf. Theo was taken in by a religious couple who initially believed she was an angel but then…

Now Theo and her fiancé, Connor are headed to his family’s retreat. They will be spending two weeks there with his family. Shortly, after getting engaged, Theo started receiving cryptic text messages. They warned her to stay away from Connor Dalton. And the messages don’t stop even once they arrive at the mountain retreat.

Although Theo‘s never been to the retreat, she feels a strange familiarity. Almost like she’s been there before.

But that can’t be true… Right?

I was thoroughly captivated with this story. However, I did find some of the content to be a little too much at times. There is some hunting and butchering of deer, which I really don’t enjoy reading about. Thankfully, I was able to skip over those parts without losing track of the main plot.

Overall, “ A Killing Cold” was an intriguing and suspenseful psychological thriller. Vacker’s narration made it an even more engaging experience.

4 stars!!


I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

This one draws you in from the start. Tense and quick. One worth snuggling up on the couch on a cold winter day with a hot coco in your hand and binging the whole thing in one sitting! It became a little long with an uneventful ending, but one worth checking out nonetheless.

Theodora Scott and Connor Dalton are engaged to be married. They fell in love rather quickly and seemed to have an uncanny familiarity with each other. Everything about their relationship including how they met, their dating journey, and their engagement, felt so natural to them. Almost as if their story was written for them.

The first time Theo meets Connor’s entire family is during a holiday getaway at Connor’s family’s massive wooded retreat space. Connor’s family is rich but he does not carry the same kind of heir as his family members. He is very down to earth and seems to be head over heels in love with Theo. From the minute Theo set foot on the property, she felt a sense of danger. Shortly after their arrival, she started receiving threatening notes that advised her to stay away from Connor. Each family member certainly has problems of their own that stem from the past but most of them also feel a little on edge or too alert around Theo. It was disclosed that Connor’s father died on the property in the main lodge but later someone leaked information that he died in the closed off cabin on the property.

As the holiday passes, Theo starts to recognize the property more and more. She begins to snoop in the empty cabin…only to discover that this was not her first trip visiting the family. As secrets become unraveled, will Theo and Connor’s love for one another stay strong?

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

Enjoyable mystery with good narration.

4.5 stars
This is my third book of Marshall's, and she is 1000% a must-read author for me. Like her previous books, A Killing Cold was past paced and complex, and it simply refused to be put down. There is a large cast of characters in the "rich people behaving badly" theme (and I'll admit they were sometimes difficult to keep straight as the story progressed), an isolated wintry retreat, and semi-recovered memories from the FMC's childhood- all components to a twisty mystery and I enjoyed reading it. Be sure to look out for content warnings- especially related to violence against humans and animals. Karissa Vacker did a knockout job with the audiobook narration as always. I recommend this one and Marshall's backlog to mystery readers!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Kate Alice Marshall for this advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Theo has had a trying upbringing and some gaps in her memory growing up. Some of those gaps start getting filled while her and her fiancé, Connor, are having a winter get-a-way with Connor's family. Theo starts having strange flashbacks and weird items show up for her. This obviously leads her to seek out answers... the only catch is that everyone on the property is related to Connor and she's never met any of his family before... And this family has SECRETS, lots of them.

This was a good and quick psychological thriller. There were some really good twists and turns that I didn't expect. I did manage to guess part of the ending, hence the four star rating.

The narrator was great and really kept the story moving for me. I wanted to keep listening to find out what happened.

Kate Alice Marshall delivers a chilling and gripping thriller in A Killing Cold, a story that kept me hooked from start to finish. This was a solid 4-star read for me, and the suspense was absolutely riveting.

The story follows Theo, who meets and quickly falls in love with Connor, a man who feels oddly familiar to her. Their whirlwind romance leads her to his family—a wealthy, secretive, and image-conscious group who seem to have more skeletons in their closet than they let on. As Theo spends the holidays with them, unsettling truths begin to unravel, revealing connections to her past, the mystery surrounding her mother’s fate, and the terrifying possibility that her partner may not be who she thought he was.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narration added another layer of depth to the story. The narrator’s inflections and delivery made the tension even more palpable, making it impossible to stop listening. The eerie atmosphere, well-paced reveals, and psychological depth kept me on edge the entire time.

If you love psychological thrillers with dark family secrets, a creeping sense of dread, and twists that keep you second-guessing everything, A Killing Cold is definitely worth picking up.

Kate Alice Marshall takes readers on a journey of a woman who doesn't know who she is:

Theodora Scott cannot remember anything before she was 4 years old. All she remembers after that is that she was not a good child and that she was not worthy of love. Theo has been searching for it ever since. When Theo and Connor have a whirl wind romance that leads to an engagement, Connor tells Theo that she has to be accepted by his wealthy family as well. At an isolated winter retreat, Theo begins to remember things of her past, memories she thought were long lost. But there are secrets in this family and those who will go to any lengths to keep them hidden.

I have enjoyed the previous Marshall books that I have read and this is no exception. This book had me hooked from the beginning. Give me a domestic suspense where everyone has secrets they are trying to hold on to, plus an isolated place where anything can happen and you have me sold in reading the book. I think that Marshall did a great job with the mystery aspect as to how Theo's mom passed away and who was responsible. I was guessing quite a bit on this aspects as the plot was unfolding.

I felt invested in Theo right from the beginning. Her questions about who she is and where she came from and then being thrown in to meeting a family that is well about her socially and financially is one that would stress anyone out. The pointed questions some of the people ask her is horrible and just shows how much people will believe what they want to believe no matter the circumstances. None of the side characters are really likeable especially when they interact with Theo, even Connor has times when i don’t really like him and his insistence on being there with his family.

I found the book a little drawn out, we know who Theo is, but her letting others know that she has discovered something important in her past takes quite a few chapters. And I just felt like getting on with it.

Another book I really enjoyed by Marshall and she is fast becoming an author i look for in the domestic suspense/thriller genre. I look forward to see what she comes out with next.

Enjoy!!!!

There's nothing like reading about the upper 2 percent and the shenanigans they get themselves into. Poor Theo didn’t have a clue what she was about to get herself into when meeting her beaus family. There were so many twists and a few I never saw coming. The audiobook was very well done. The narrator was excellent and did a great job bringing the characters and story to life.

Packed with twists and surprises! I absolutely loved Theo and Connor—such fantastic characters. The reveals were jaw-dropping, and the twists kept me on edge the entire time. This gripping story was impossible to put down—I devoured it in one sitting. Kate Alice Marshall's writing is incredible; her world-building fully immerses you, making every moment feel real. An outstanding, suspenseful read that unraveled brilliantly. 5 stars!

Read If You Like:
- Psychological thrillers
- Amnesia narratives
- Family secrets
- Isolated settings
- Suspenseful storytelling
- Complex characters
- Twisty plots
- Atmospheric mysteries

Theodora "Theo" Scott, who has significant gaps in her early memories, eagerly accepts a marriage proposal from Connor Dalton, a handsome scion she met just months prior. As they prepare to visit Connor's family's vast, isolated winter estate, Theo fears that his relatives suspect her of gold-digging. Upon arrival, she begins to piece together fragments of her past, realizing that someone at the estate harbors a shocking secret they're desperate to keep hidden, placing Theo in terrible danger.

This novel masterfully combines psychological suspense with atmospheric storytelling. The isolated winter estate setting amplifies the tension, creating a chilling backdrop for the unfolding drama. Theo's journey to uncover her past is both compelling and nerve-wracking, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. The intricate plot and well-crafted suspense invite readers into a world where nothing is as it seems, and every revelation leaves you breathless.

A Killing Cold is a gripping tale, full of dizzying twists and turns, packed with suspense that will keep you frantically turning pages until the very end.

Thanks so much to the publisher for my gifted copy!