Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me this ALC of the audiobook to review.

I thought this was a noble attempt at a police procedural/thriller as a debut author. I was excited to read a story set in Alaska as I feel that already lends some mystery and eeriness. Unfortunately, I did not much love for the main character and his sexualizing of the female characters in this book and the plot seemed similar to many other books in this genre. My rating reflects my review above but also my respect for a debut author and how hard getting published is. I would definitely try her again and the narrator was great.

Read 4/6/24

3.5 stars. The book was okay. I enjoyed the whole frozen tundra aspect, and the murders were okay, but I feel like the book could have been a lot shorter. Beans was such a weird name to hear on an audiobook and he had such a dry personality.

Cold To The Touch follows Detective Beans who is devastated when he recognises the latest victim of a serial killer terrorising the Alaskan town, Anchorage. Beans is determined to find the person responsible before more bodies pile up.

I had so much fun with this book and I was genuinely shocked when I discovered that this was the author’s debut procedural novel. I found the book engaging, fast-paced and the characters were ones that you couldn’t help but root for.

I would personally love to read a standalone series about Detective Beans and other cases he solved. I think this has a fantastic opportunity to breathe life into a universe like that.

I was fortunate to listen to this ARC copy via audiobook and I highly recommend it. I feel that it added to the suspense and the overall atmosphere of the book.

This is a book I would recommend to others who love a good mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with this audiobook. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great mystery! This book sucked me right in and held me in its grip throughout the whole book. The multiple POVs were great and very well done. They added to the thrill of the book. The Alaskan setting for this book was great and I loved it. This book was amazing and I want more books with Beans! I adored him, he was a great main character and detective.

In "Cold to the Touch", Kerri Hakoda plunges readers into a nipping mystery/suspense tale against the setting of a small Alaskan town. The body of a barista turns up in the pristine snow, and Anchorage homicide detective DeHavilland Beans gets thrown into the race against time to outwit an elusive killer before he gets his second wind.

Hakoda's writing is atmospheric and incisive, whisking one through harsh Alaskan landscapes vividly described to set the scene, and the feelings of isolation and vulnerability that permeate the narrative add another level of tension to the story.

At the center of the novel stands Detective Beans, a gritty protagonist whose urge to crack the case takes the plot through satisfying ebbs and flows. Hakoda constructs and probes into these inner conflicts and demons with great finesse, fleshing out his character to make him relatable and even sympathetic.

Equally, fleshed out though is the supporting cast; each character introduces further depth and nuance into the story. From Beans's ex, a wildlife expert named Raisa Ingalls, to members of his investigative team, every character feels well-rounded and three-dimensional, thus able to further enrich and complicate the narrative.

Hakoda keeps one in suspense through the investigation, with twists and turns galore, which will keep readers guessing till the very last word. This is intrinsic to the plot, where everything moves fast, the chapters are short, but snappily strung together to keep up the tension, yet swift in passage to push the plot along.

When I started this book, I had to stop and see if I was listening to a retelling about Israel Keyes. There is definitely some inspiration taken from there. A young barista is found murdered in the snow in Alaska. The detective who is assigned to the case was a regular customer of the coffee shop and can't help but feeling a personal connection to the murder. When another barista turns up dead, they know they have a pattern and it is a race against the clock before another girl is killed.

I was ready for this to be a based on true events story of Israel Keyes and was somewhat let down that it didn't go in that direction with the obvious beginnings. The story was still very good and entertaining. I really liked the main character and his drive to protect the young women.

Anchorage Homicide Detective DeHavilland Beans is called to the scene of a murder and is stunned when he recognizes the young woman, Jolene. A barista in a coffee shop who had her whole life in front of her, Beans vows to find out what happened. Calling upon his ex, Raisa Ingalls, who is a wildlife expert, Beans hopes that she will be able to glean some usable evidence despite the condition of the body. When another body is found soon after, will Anchorage Homicide have to call on even more resources to find the killer?

As a mystery thriller reader, I was excited to listen to the audio version of Cold to the Touch. The plot had a good pace and I liked the main character, DeHavilland Beans. The author did a good job of character development and I could see the book becoming part one of a series. The only negative to the book was that it was very much like other police procedural thrillers in the genre. There was not much to set it apart.

The audio version of Cold to the Touch was narrated by Eric Fox and Abigail Reno. Both voice actors did a good job of playing their parts, as they performed in a way that brought the characters to life. I would listen to more books using these narrators and I would read another novel by this author. Overall, I would recommend Cold to the Touch to readers who like police procedural thrillers with a strong main character.

Disclaimer: I was given the opportunity to listen to the audio version of Cold to the Touch. The decision to review this novel was entirely my own.

This was so cute. I loved it. The characters, world building and story telling were great. It kept me interested and involved.

Despite the title and the book being set in Alaska, the setting actually played very little into the story line. It could have been almost anyplace with wide open spaces.
The storyline was good: likable main character, sympathy inducing victims, adorable animals. I particularly liked the rooster revenge.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advance copy of this audiobook

"Cold to the Touch" by Kerri Hakoda, in audiobook format, delivers a chilling mystery that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats. With skilled narration and a plot full of twists and turns, Hakoda crafts a gripping tale that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Beans, our main character that is investigating the murders, was unfortunately someone that I took an immediate dislike to, because he thinks the following of the coffee shop he frequents which makes the baristas dress like play boy bunnies in Alaska:
“It was a corny throwback to the old playboy days of objectifying females. But as long as women consented to keeping the bikini barista business model alive even legal, he saw no harm in it”
If a dress code is a requirement for a job in an area where jobs are limited, I would not exactly call that consent, and I doubt that baristas have any say in the legality of the business. This just tells me that Beans has not actually thought about gender inequality and power dynamics a day in his life and does not understand why you should not objectify women. He then goes on to say that “He would have asked her out if it wasn't for society looking down on their age gap”.
But don’t worry: For Beans, women don’t have to be dressed in bikinis to be objectified, it actually does not matter what they wear. When a female FBI agent (Agent O’Riley) is assigned to the case, he has no qualms about sexualizing her either. Basically every woman that is the same age or younger than him, is on his sexual radar. Then there’s his ex Raisa that also advises on the case. He does not remember how they broke up or if he told her that he loves her. So he does not only hit on every woman he encounters, once he becomes a boyfriend, he also forgets the entire relationship.
I feel really weird knowing that a woman wrote this book, given the sexist things Beans says.

Throughout the story, I was unfortunately not very invested in finding out who the killer was, because we as the readers have no tie to him. Therefore, the book also lacked suspense for me. I feel like this book could have benefited from some chapters written from the killer's perspective.
I would categorize this as a cop murder drama, because it is missing many elements that a thriller should have. That being said, there was not that much investigating in this book to begin with, especially not from Beans. It just felt like he was waiting for more victims and more evidence, but he was not actively following any leads.

The reason I requested this book, was the Alaskan setting and that I like coffee, so I was intrigued why someone would choose baristas as murder victims. I wish the story had extended on both a bit more. We did not really get to see much of the Alaskan setting apart from the snow, and it seemed that there was no real tie between the murderer and the baristas, but rather that they were scantily dressed. So the fact that they were murdered had nothing to do with their actual occupation as a barista.

Some things I liked about this book were that we also got to see Beans as a private person. I would have obviously enjoyed this more, had I actually liked his character, but I feel like there could be some potential here for further books. I especially liked reading about Archie the cat. Cam was also a nice addition to the team, and I was hoping they would hire him on a more permanent basis the whole time. It was also pleasant to see that the case isn’t over as soon as the killer is caught, but that there are more elements to the case.

I think I will revisit this author in a couple of years to see what she is up to. I feel like the author still has some room to grow, especially when it comes to creating likable characters and building suspense, but there could definitely be some potential here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me this ALC of the audiobook to review.

The victim wakes up in a dark room. She is gagged and blindfolded, her arms and legs are tied up, and she is lying on a blanket that reeks of manure. This is the beginning of the book which pulled me in right away! Detective Beans is the lead detective on this case, as they find more victims, he is determined to find the killer. I loved this book because of the storyline and the characters. I listened to this book on audio and couldn't stop, I will be looking for more books by Kerri Hakoda. I will be requesting this book to be put in my library!

Alaskan homicide detective, DeHavilland Beans, gets a case of a murdered female but when he recognizes the victim, it makes him want to solve the case even more. Beans brings in wildlife expert Raisa Ingalls to help obtain evidence since the body was damaged by scavengers but as more murdered women are discovered, the FBI joins in to find the serial killer.

I thought the book was very well written and the characters were well developed. I enjoyed the storyline and liked following Beans through the investigation and his personal life. I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller and was drawn in right from the beginning. I found the book to be very descriptive however some scenes were very gruesome.

I enjoyed the narration by Eric Fox and Abigail Reno, I found it easy to define the characters and the voices fit the characters

The debut novel by Kerri Hakoda was very well written and entertaining and I hope there will be more books by the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This thriller captured my attention right from page one. Hakoda is adept at introducing a large number of characters so well that I never lost track of who was who. The storyline was engaging with action throughout. I thought it was well-paced with a more realistic unveiling of the antagonist. Dehavilland Beans was a charming detective I am eager to learn more about. The ending did seem to suggest a potential second book, and I hope this is the case.
Thanks to #NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

Wow, this was a wild read! And a Det. named Beans, what could be better?! I wish this was a series b/c I could read about him and his family all day long! This was my 1st book by Kerri Hakoda but will not be my last, I adding all of her books to my TBR!

#ColdtotheTouch
#NetGalley

Serial killers + Backdrop of Alaska = I’m all in!

A wonderful premise for a five-star read. Alas, it just didn’t work (for me) here.

Someone is murdering the baristas’ serving the Anchorage area. Now it’s up to Homicide Detective ‘Beans’ to root out the killer before another woman is killed.

I cherish books that take place where the elements of nature play a significant role. (Must be the Canadian in me.)

I was hoping for a storyline that would play out in Alaska’s cold brutal winters. I wanted to feel the desperation of the hunt for a serial killer as depicted in the blurb. Something dark…sinister that I need to keep the lights on in order to finish.

But sadly, I didn’t feel any of that.🤷🏻‍♀️

This book actually became a struggle as it seemed to lack both focus and direction. At times, the killings took a complete backseat to everything else going on with Detective Beans.

I started with the audio version, eventually switching to a digital copy hoping I’d have a better connection with no better luck.

I am a bit of an outlier on this one as there are many positive reviews from readers who really enjoyed it. Make sure to take a look at their reviews as well!

2.75🌟

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media

I received a free audiobook copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Baristas are murdered in Anchorage, Alaska, and detectives must track down the killer before they can’t get coffee anywhere, I guess?

I usually enjoy a good icy murder, but this story didn’t really connect with me. Maybe because the main character is named Beans and that’s the name of one of my cats, so I just couldn’t get over that, ha. It wasn’t a terrible story, it was just missing something to make me care about the main characters. I did care about the murdered girls- they were the only ones I really invested energy into. I was always hoping one would survive, as we had to hear about their time with the kidnapper and it was always really rough.

So the moral of this story is don’t wear a skimpy work uniform if you don’t want unhinged murdery-types to target you. Or something like that.

I love a good thriller, especially set in Alaska. This book had a great story line and the suspense was there. However, the narration was... meh. It was a little monotone for me, which I believe was on purpose, but it did not entice me to get to the end. In fact, I had to fight myself to finish listening.

The author wrote a wonderful, gripping thriller. Kerri Hakoda weaves the tale, does well with introducing and pulling you into the characters, and keeping them "involved" in the story. I think reading the print version would have been a better option for me.


Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to list and review the audiobook version!

This books reads like a Nordic noir. The characters are pretty interesting, though I think I would have enjoyed this one better as a book rather than an audiobook. The narration didn’t quite match the story (in my mind). However, I did enjoy the book. A little less complex than most Nordic noirs but an entertaining book nonetheless. Thank you for this complimentary audiobook.

A fast-paced psychological thriller set in Alaska. A serial killer is targeting women baristas and Detective Beans is on the case. I am not usually a fan of police thrillers, but this one worked well. I loved the setting in Alaska! This was well-written and I enjoyed the different POVs. Beans felt very real as a character. These types of books are overdone, but still enjoyable to read. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrators.