Another great book by Kate Alice Marshall! Filled with secrets, lies, deception, and family bonds this book touches on all the feelings. With each twist more and more secrets are revealed, and the lengths a wealthy family will go to to protect each other becomes evident. Add in a miscommunication trope, and its a recipe for a great thriller. Atmospheric and dark this book had me gripped from the beginning!

Karissa Vacker did an amazing job of bringing this book to life! One of my favorite narrators!

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Macmillan Audio for an advanced reading and listening copies of this book.

There’s something about an isolated house in the snowy woods that instantly sets the tone—and A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall leans into that claustrophobic chill in the best way.

The story follows Theodora Scott, who heads to her fiancé’s remote family estate to meet the in-laws. But this isn’t just a “girl-meets-boy’s-wealthy-family” setup. Things take a turn when Theo stumbles across a childhood photo of herself—taken at this exact house. The only problem? She has no memory of ever being there.

From that moment, the tension never lets up. The further Theo digs into her own past, the more twisted the family dynamics—and the house itself—begin to feel. There’s a constant sense that someone is watching, that something is just slightly off. And Kate Alice Marshall builds that creeping dread masterfully.

It’s atmospheric, layered, and full of icy secrets. The setting practically becomes a character on its own—snowbound, remote, and hiding things Theo might not want to remember.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by the author. The premise was intriguing, dysfunctional family, mystery surrounding Theo, elitist/entitled family, and spooky setting.

I had trouble staying interested in the story and did skip some paragraphs here and there. Some of the twists and turns were expected, some were surprises. I wasn’t fond of the ending of the book.

Overall, not a bad book, not my favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Kate Alice Marshall, for the eARC.

What a thriller!!! Totally kept me at the edge of my seat and I absolutely loved the twists and turns!! This book kept me guessing and I enjoyed it the whole time..

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Theodora hasn’t had it easy in life. When she meets and falls in love with the well to do Connor, things seems perfect. She is invited to stay with his family in their winter estate and it seems like a great opportunity to be a real part of the family. However, things aren’t always what they seem with the family members or the estate.

I love a good isolated thriller and I especially love a cold weather thriller. This check all the boxes for me. As things start to happen you really don’t know who to trust. A solid rush people doing bad things thriller.

Kate alice marshall does it again. The queen of thrillers is back. This book did not disappoint, you need to pick it up!

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall is a chilling thriller about Theo Scott, who joins her fiancé at his family’s remote winter estate. When strange memories surface and she finds an old photo of herself at the estate—despite never remembering being there—she starts questioning everything. As she pieces together the past, dark secrets emerge, and she realizes she might be in serious danger. This book kept me guessin! I was drawn in by opulent wealthy family with secrets in an isolated area with no way out.

This was a fun read and I flew through it. Love the atmospheric vibes too as the old cabins were like a character in itself. I typically enjoy this author and this wasn’t my favorite by her, but I did enjoy it.

It got a bit convoluted towards the end and of course you must suspend belief here…a LOT!

The he did it, no she did it, no wait SHE did it got a bit old for me but overall a good read.

Thanks for my early copy and I did also order it for my BOTM. This is a great one for atmospheric lovers as well as family secrets! 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you @flatiron_books for my gifted ARC! A Killing Cold is out now. This was also the #winingdownbookclub February book although I was unable to attend 😞.

Theo is going home for Christmas with her new fiancé, but she has been keeping a secret. Theo has no early memories of before she was adopted and has a terrible relationship with her parents. She’s hoping for a fresh start with Connor’s family when they go to Idlewood for the break. But as soon as she arrives, she begins to get the feeling that she’s been here before. Little things look familiar and finally she finds an old photo hidden in a cabin that she herself is in. How can that be?

I like how this book really built up. It started with just Theo’s mysterious childhood and her lack of memories. But once she is starting to recall little bits and pieces is when the story really takes off. The remote retreat adds to the atmosphere as well as the cold, snowy weather. I thought the book was very well crafted with little clues dropped.

This book had all the makings for a 5-star read for me - an uppity, rich family, an outsider that's hiding something, and a situation in which everyone is trapped somewhere that they can't easily get help.

There was definitely intrigue - the more I found out about Theo's past, the more I wanted to know. She thinks she was this horrible, evil child, but was she really? Because the ridiculous amount of religion that her adoptive parents believed in led me to believe that maybe there was more than meets the eye.

Unfortunately, just like a winter that lasts way too long, this book lasted too long as well. I was bored. There weren't enough elements to keep me interested, and I kept finding every reason to not read this book. Normally it takes me 5 to 7 days to finish a book, and this one took me two entire weeks.

The worst part is that I actually like this author, but maybe this just wasn't one of her better works.

Better luck next time?

I really enjoyed this. The plot was great and it kept me wanting to read it. A lot of the twists I did not see coming but I really enjoyed the end. Made me feel like my family was normal! Lol

This was a chilling, thrilling, and utterly gripping read! Packed with dark family secrets and jaw-dropping revelations, the twists kept coming, each one more shocking than the last. The story was filled with deception, making for an intense and unpredictable ride.

The characters were a mix of highly unlikable and deeply sympathetic ones. My favorite was Theo—I truly felt for her. The character development was excellent, making the dysfunctional, wealthy family feel all the more real. Set in a grand mansion, the atmosphere was tense, and I never knew who to trust.

From the very first page to the last, I was completely hooked. The fast-paced plot, combined with an eerie and immersive setting, made this both a psychological thriller and a domestic family drama. The addition of a snowstorm heightened the tension, making the story even more chilling.

I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Kate Alice Marshall. A Killing Cold didn’t disappoint and offered one of my favorite backdrops for a tense thriller; remote, isolated, and winter!

Theo and Connor have had a whirlwind romance and when she’s invited to his wealthy family’s winter home, she knows she’s there to win them over – no easy feat. When she arrives, though, she can’t escape the feeling that she’s been there before and when a series events happen, she begins to question not only her own vague childhood memories but the background of Connor’s family.

Wowza! Loved this! The atmosphere, the secrets, the twists, and again, the isolated mountain estate just gives it everything I look for in satisfying thriller!

My thanks to Flatiron Books for this gifted copy!

4 stars,

This book was a wild ride. It has so many elements that I love in a thriller. Memory loss, isolation, rich people drama, a little "romance?" I felt like this was very different for Kate Alice Marshall but still had her own style on the story. Almost all the characters were unlikeable but it the best way. I wish I would have read this during the colder months but this was still a great read overall. I also selected this book to be part of my Sleep When I'm Dead book club (thriller bookclub on YouTube - Reading With Jess) and I look forward to see what everyone else thought of the story.

Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron books for this ARC.

Kate Alice Marshall DOES NOT MISS! Her books are so twisty and her characters so carefully complex that I’m constantly staying up well into the early morning hours turning pages to finish. I love a twisty domestic thriller paired with an isolated and remote setting and this was perfect for a winter read. The ending was so good and one I wasn’t able to work out - which is always a positive in my book!

I was really looking forward to this book. It started out great, and then finished not as strong. I loved the story of Theo/Rowan; however, I thought the end of the book was rushed. It was hard for me to finish.

This started out well but by the end I found it repetitive. There were some twists but most of it you could see coming. I much prefer the author's What Lies in the Woods. 3.5 stars

Very fast paced story, lots of twist and turns throughout. Wasn’t a big fan of the overall ending it felt very lacking.

Thank you Flatiron Books and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Atmospheric mystery set in the cold, desolate mountain lodge of the wealthy Dalton family. Theo (Theodora) is on a Christmas holiday trip to meet her fiancé's family. Theo is nervous about meeting Connors's rich family as she is not only poor but has many secrets, secrets she hasn't told to him. The author does a good job of describing the cold snow falling, the sense of claustrophobia that Theo feels as she is cut off from everyone and everything and the sense that something bad is lurking in this family compound. After a great start though, the story becomes repetitive as Theo keeps having dreams and fleeting memories of a small girl, a red scarf and man with antlers growing out of his head. The Dalton family feel like a cliche of every rich family in literature: the cold, snooty grandparents, the quirky sister who might be an ally, the rebel younger brother. I would have liked to have known more about Theo and Connor but I don't think we were every told if they have jobs, interests or even things in common. After they settle in to their cottage, almost every scene is Connor is sleeping or away at the lodge and Theo snooping around the cottages.

Theo begins to receive warnings to leave and she experiences flashbacks suggesting she has been in the compound before. Their are a lot of twists but the biggest one makes no sense as it relies on a huge coincidence. There are also twists such as thinking one person committed a murder, only to find out it was really another, no it was a third person after all. Theo spends a lot of time telling the family details about themselves they already know. There is a lot of sadness and depressing events in this book and not much of a sense of love between the engaged couple I was excited at the beginning of this but disappointed in the overall plot. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC for review.

I enjoyed the secluded setting and the fast pace storyline. I enjoyed the questioning of the characters and whether he could be trusted. I enjoyed this book, but overall felt like it lacked more. I do feel that th story could have developed further.