I was trying to hoard this book because I *knew* it would be good but my bestie harassed me and told me I HAD to read it and alas here we are!

This book was COLD 🥶, JUICY🧃, and DIABOLICAL 🤯! Just when I thought the twists were over I’d realize I still had 200 pages to go and there had to be more in store. Then the twists just kept coming up until the end. The tension didn’t let up in this book. It was THICK.

Every time Theo went into dragonfly (you have to read it), I was on edge. With each new memory that tried to come to the surface of her memory where it would hover just out of her reach, I was on edge. This was a very atmospheric book and I could feel the cold of winter in the woods enough to give me a chill.

Thank you so much to the publisher, netgalley and Kate Alice Marshall for this eARC! Phenomenal!

I'm a big fan of Marshall and she's done it again! I'm so glad I got an early copy of this one. There are so many twists and turns that it makes you dizzy. All the way until the very end it keeps you guessing. I enjoyed the character development and definitely loved to hate a few of the characters. The setting at the lodge on the mountain is fantastic and the name of the book is perfect!
I will definitely be recommending this one to friends! Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

✨This has been one of my most anticipated books, but I forced myself to wait until it was cold here in Texas to read it. THIS TOOK FOREVER. Texas is hot, y’all. But oh…it was so worth the wait.

✨The pacing of this book was just superb. I was hooked from the beginning and fully invested – and then the plot took a turn. The TENSION ramped up into an absolute roller coaster ride, and I stayed up half the night reading because I COULD. NOT. STOP.

✨ Just when you think you know where this one is going, you realize how wrong you are. The author’s misdirection game is on point to say the least.

✨This is a fabulous chilly thriller, and I really enjoyed it.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Chilly thrillers
✨Isolated locations
✨Winter, snowy settings
✨Toxic family drama
✨Secrets and lies
✨Twists and turns

Intriguing, fast paced and complex. This was a great thriller! There was room for more of Theo's backstory, but other than that so very good!.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

A sprawling mountain retreat. A family with dark secrets. A secluded setting.

A KILLING COLD seems to have a lot of things going for it. I loved the premise and how atmospheric the mountain setting was. The characters aren’t particularly likeable but I enjoyed that I never knew quite who to trust. My main issue with the book is that the entire plot hinges on one coincidence that felt very implausible to me. I had a hard time suspending my disbelief with this particular point and it impacted my enjoyment a bit.

If readers head into the story knowing that there are some instances of incredible coincidence then it may help their enjoyment. I’ve really liked Kate Alice Marshall’s previous novels and I’ll be excited to see what she does next.

Many thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book really kept me guessing - to the point that I was up until 1:30 a.m. this morning, because I could not put it down until I knew how it ended! There was so much mystery surrounding all of these characters, and it was hard to know who to trust. I enjoyed watching all the puzzle pieces fit into place as we figured out what happened when Theo was a child. This was full of twists and turns and tension! I highly recommend this one, especially if you are a fan of locked room thrillers!

Thank you, @netgalley and @flatiron_books, for the #gifted e-arc!

Kate Alice Marshall… this was SO GOOD! I devoured this story in two days! I was completely hooked from the beginning! Wow!

Conner and Theo (a woman) are newly engaged after a short whirlwind romance. He has asked her to come meet his family and stay a few weeks. His family, the Daltons are godly rich.

His family has a gorgeous retreat with six cabins high on an isolated mountain. Once there, Theo gets the feeling that she’s been there before many years ago. However, her visions and memories are not very good ones.

Something terrible happened and she’s about to find out what that was.

The setting was perfect! Scenes of winter were beautifully described. A perfect December read as this takes place right before Christmas. I have finally read a seasonal read and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!

Don’t sleep on this. Add it to your TBR IMMEDIATELY!
Massive thanks to Flatiron and Kate Alice Marshall for the gifted copy and NetGalley for the arc.
— Release date February 2025

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Give me anything Kate Alice Marshall writes. This story was intriguing and captivating.
After a whirlwind romance, Connor brings Theo home to meet his family. Due to early childhood trauma, Theo doesn’t remember most of her early years but begins to remember pieces while off at Connor’s wealthy family’s retreat.
After finding a picture of a child that absolutely has to be her, phone calls warning her to leave, and someone trying to chase her away Theo realizes she has been here before. But when? How?

I enjoyed this one! Loved the atmosphere. I like hearing Theo’s backstory & finding out her ties to the family. Such a well done thriller!

Wow, what a read! I am so into this author and this may be my favorite of her books! I loved so much about this book, but one of my favorite things was the atmosphere. It’s the perfect winter read for the setting alone. I also loved how many layers were to this story. I feel like the pacing was perfect and I was given just enough information to be satisfied, but still intrigued as I read. Bravo!

If there is one thing about me, I LOVE a Kate Alice Marshall book! This one was no exception. This book was incredibly fast-paced, with twists and turns. I really enjoyed how it all tied together at the end and the overall plot. I cannot wait to recommend this book to others! Thanks much for the ARC!

This hit all the winter-thriller tropes for me! Isolated location, snowed in, challenging (dangerous?) in-laws, and lots of secrets to come out. This was a great popcorn thriller for the winter, and despite the story being a bit clunky in how it came together, was really fun and quick to read and had tons of twists!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to receive this ARC.

This was actually the first book of this authors that I have read even though I have at least one on my TBR.

Theo and her Fiancé Connor head up to his family's mountain resort. It is her first time meeting them all and man what a meeting it is.

This is a fun, fast paced thriller in the setting of a cold winter backdrop. The pacing of the book is good. There are quite a few twists and turns right up to the very end that keep you on your toes. And it has quite the cast of characters. A group of wealthy family members who are hard to crack

Title: A Killing Cold
Author: Kate Alice Marshall
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: February 4. 2025
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 304

Theodora ‘Theo’ Scott, was orphaned at an early age and raised by an abusive, dysfunctional adoptive family. She claims they’re all dead, but is she telling the truth, or hiding a dark secret about her past? Theodora has no memories before she turned four, only vague images of a woman in a red scarf—possibly her mother—telling her to run from an unknown danger.

Theo now works in a bookstore and meets Connor Dalton, at an art show. They fell in love immediately and they are now engaged. He invites her to Idlewood, his wealthy family’s winter retreat,
Although Theo has been warned to stay away from Connor and his family, she chooses to ignore the warnings.
However once there, she finds strange things she cannot ignore… such as a photo of herself as a child. Hmmm she has no memory of ever being there!
It becomes clear that the Dalton family has secrets,

I love thrillers and one set in a snowed-in remote cabin always is interesting.
Since I love thrillers I know to expected twists- this did not disappoint.
My third Kate Alice Marshall. I actually was surprised that I requested it as the other two had me disappointed with the foul language – Yes! I know I am alone in my dislike of profanity – Perhaps I was expecting it in this story as I actually liked it much better than the other two I read!~

Want to thank NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 4, 2025.

Unfortunately, I had a very hard time buying into this one. The plot was totally unbelievable and it just didn’t work for me. I was too far in to DNF, so I kept going. Bummer, but that’s ok! On to the next one!

The book opens with Connor Dalton and his new fiancée, Theo (our main character), driving through the snow on the way to meet Grandma (who if, he jokes, doesn’t like you, will have you ritually sacrificed in the mountains.) Great opening for meeting the self-described “intimidating and overly protective” future in-laws, with whom you’ll be spending two isolated weeks in the woods near Christmastime. Theo, a bookstore employee, has also been recently getting anonymous texts warning her to stay away from super rich Connor (although, cut off from cell service, at least those texts won’t continue). A last piece of warning karma has the couple getting stopped on the driveway to the family grand lodge by a bloody, injured deer, that Theo approaches and almost gets 10 antler tips embedded into her. No wonder she has nightmares about men with antlers. Welcome to a Dalton Family Christmas!

As an impulsive character who fears dogs, Theo immediately started out on thin ice with me, especially when it’s obvious she’s a major secret-keeper about her own family and identity, even from Connor. We do get to know that Theo was an abandoned child at age 4, with only partial memories of her life as a toddler. Her adoptive parents were inflexible religious disciplinarians and somehow Theo escaped them, but apparently not without associated trauma. What is weird to Theo is that the Dalton family estate, on the other side of the country from where she grew up, seems awfully familiar. With that, the plot line gets very disturbing and twisty as family secrets are slowly revealed.

This book reminded me of Catherine Steadman’s terrifying “The Family Game” (that family introduced their prospective daughter-in-law to evil Santa, Krampus). Keeping track of the Dalton family members and their shifting loyalties and multiple viewpoint recollections can be dizzying. The author brilliantly pulls it altogether in the end — which might not be the tidy end you want, but at least Theo has made friends with the family dog. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No green ones, although Theo describes hers as gray or blue and Connor’s as blue.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But the very first few pages has the characters traveling to Datura, also the name of the poisonous angel’s trumpet, jimson weed, or devil’s weed. A useful flower for terrible “mischief” (an entire cable series was based on an an evil child poisoning his parents with jimson tea). What could possibly go wrong near a town of that name?

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

Looking for an atmospheric winter thriller?! Look no further and be sure to pick this one up in February!
❄️Locked Room
❄️Powerful Wealthy Family
❄️Dark Secrets
❄️Atmospheric
I was kept on the edge of my seat the entire time. And when I tell you the twists were twisting!!!!! I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong.
Dark, tense and twisty. It’s a thriller you won’t want to miss.
Thank you so much Flatiron Books for the early copy.

It took me awhile to get into the storyline but once it picked up it definitely had me intrigued. It was full of twists especially at the end. Love this author.

Thank you Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the digital arc.

This my favorite of the books I’ve read by Kate Alice Marshall. I loved it. The setting was great, and the twists kept me guessing.

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall

Theodora (Theo) Scott is about to walk into a life she never thought she’d have—a world of money, power, and prestige that couldn’t be further from her lonely, small-town upbringing as the unwanted adopted daughter of a devoutly religious middle-class family. Her fiancé, Connor Dalton, is rich, charming, and completely smitten, but winning over his family is another story. When he takes her to Idlewood, the Daltons’ luxurious mountain retreat, Theo is prepared for some frosty receptions. What she isn’t prepared for are the memories that start to creep in—memories that make her realize she’s been to Idlewood before. And the deeper she digs into her own past, the more she realizes that someone here will do whatever it takes to keep their secrets buried.

At first, A Killing Cold has all the makings of a great mystery: the perfect setting, family drama, a dash of romance, and a hint of something darker lurking just out of view. It sets the stage for what should be a juicy mix of suspense and self-discovery. But somewhere along the way, it all falls apart.

Theo’s anxious inner monologue sets the tone early on, but instead of building tension, it quickly gets repetitive. She’s constantly second-guessing herself and overanalyzing everything, which makes her more exhausting than engaging. The story hints at big revelations, but they never quite land. Instead, we get a pile of clichés: rich people behaving badly, classist snobbery, and a heroine who keeps making baffling choices, like staying in a situation that screams get out now.

The book tries to explore some big questions—how well do we really know the people closest to us, and is the truth always worth the cost?—but it never follows through. Instead, it gets bogged down with far-fetched twists, too many red herrings, and dialogue that feels stiff and unnatural. By the end, the characters feel more like plot devices than real people, and it’s hard to care about what happens to any of them.

The most frustrating part is how much potential this book had. The premise is intriguing, and the opening chapters draw you in, but the story can’t keep up. What could have been a smart, thrilling mystery ends up feeling hollow and overcomplicated.

Final Thoughts: 1.5 Stars
A Killing Cold starts strong but loses its way fast. The moody setting and intriguing setup might pull you in, but the flat characters and over-the-top plotting will make you wish you hadn’t bothered. If you’re looking for a gripping mystery, this one might not be worth your time.

#Netgalley #AKillingCold