If you enjoy winter thrillers and books where families will do anything to protect one another (at any cost) then you may enjoy this one. I liked it but it didn’t WOW me as the twist is so obvious early on. I also didn’t care for many of the characters, including the FMC because we’re led to believe she has this incredibly big secret when in reality she doesn’t. I get hiding her past from a family of strangers but even her fiancé? That was a little strange to me. Other than that, it’s a solid thriller with some good suspense and it definitely fits well in the winter thrillers genre.

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐

My first time reading this author only to discover that she is a great writer! This book has secrets, lies, lot of twists and turns plus a shocking reveal. The character building is amazing and the reader knows something terrible is going to happen.

Theo and Connor met, fell in love and were engaged within six months. Now it's time for her to meet his family. They are all meeting at a secluded winter compound. What could go wrong? As layers of secrets and lies are revealed, the tension increases. This is a cat-and-mouse game that readers will enjoy.

Gripping, Unexpected Twists and Suspenseful! 3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy! This book will be released 2/4/25.

This is such a great winter thriller! It is action packed, fast paced, and keeps you guessing. I flew through this book, it was so good! It has a romantic element to the book, but it doesn’t overpower the thriller aspect. I probably made 14 guesses of who did what, how and why; wrong every time.

If you enjoy an isolated, stuck in a snowstorm, dynamic family drama/trauma who-dun-it, then this is your book. Literally everyone is unreliable, I was guessing who we could trust the whole book, but it made it so great.

I stayed up until 1:30AM (which is late for this full-time working mom of 2 crazy kids) because I had to know what happened.

So, pre-order this, add it to the TBR, or request it from the library because it is worth it!

Thank you NetGalley , Flatiron Books, and Kate Alice Marshall for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. I’m sure this one will be on my top 25 this year!

4/5 stars

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of Kate Alice Marshall’s newest release (publishing 2/4/25). I liked this one, much like I liked Marshall’s previous works. This one follows Theo who is meeting her fiancé’s family for the first time, but starts remembering things about her shadowy past when she reaches their wintery mountainside lodge. There were quite a few red herrings in this one and a lot of unreliable characters. Despite all of that, the book was still more of a slow burn than an explosive thriller. Entertaining, and recommended if you enjoyed any of Marshall’s previous books!

I really enjoyed this one. A sort of locked door mystery set at a secluded mountain retreat that belongs to a super wealthy and powerful family. Our main character, Theo, is meeting her finance's rich family for the first time. Although she has no memory before the age of 5, she can't shake the feeling that she's been to this place before.

Several times I thought I had it all figured out, but was hit with twist after twist that left me wondering which characters could be trusted. There were a few plot points that seemed kind of far fetched, but that's the best part of reading fiction in my opinion.

I highly recommend this one to anyone that loves a good domestic, locked door mystery, thriller.

Theodora is an orphan. She doesn’t remember much from her four childhood years before foster care— including her own given name.

Years later in her twenties, she meets and falls quickly for rich, charming Connor. They get engaged in six months and he brings her to his family’s isolated mountain property they call “Idlewood.” At Idlewood, some memories start coming back to Theo in fragments of another lifetime. One where she’s been at Idlewood before….? As Connor’s family acts cold and bizarre things begin to happen around Idlewood.. Theo explores the property and begins to uncover the truth about her past and Dalton family they’ve kept hidden at this snowy mountain escape for 20 years.

I love me some Kate Alice Marshall!!!! The minute I saw this one up for request on NetGalley (even before it had a cover) I jumped on it SO FAST! Although I found the whole plot of this book to be incredibly unrealistic to happen irl, I was still absolutely enthralled with it, could not put it down and could not guess how it would all come together in the end! Which is honestly all we can ever ask for in a good thriller book!! It gives Freida McFadden.

I alternated between eyeball reading and audio. I enjoyed the narrator (Karissa Vacker) and believe she was cast perfectly as Theo.

⚠️ CW: hunting and death/disembowelment of animal (on page), murder and death of humans (on page), domestic violence (mention of, no description), suicide and adultery (mentions, no description)

Thank you to Kate, Flatiron, and NetGalley for the advanced physical and digital copies and MacMillan for the advance audiobook!

Something traumatic took away Theos name. Before her adoption at 4 years old, her memory is a void. Her nightmare may be giving her clues to her missing pieces, but nothing makes sense.

But. Conner does. Agreeing to marrying this beautiful man is one thing she’s doing right in her life. Their whirlwind romance is coming under the microscope during their holiday away to the mountain that his family owns. Theodora is meeting his mom, sisters’ wife and son, brother, uncle, grandmother and grandfather and a few members of staff. To say she’s stressed is an understatement. So stressed, she’s having the nightmare more frequently.

Strangely, she starts remembering bits of her forgotten years. This trip could be the key to finding her past. Hopefully, it still leads to a future with Conner.

This was a huge puzzle with so many moving pieces and characters involved. Thankfully, they were still easy to keep straight because of their standout personalities.

Thank you to Kate Alice Marshall, NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. I can’t wait to talk about this with other readers!

This mysterious domestic thriller is the perfect entertainment for a winter evening.

The revelations unroll slowly, building tension as the main character learns more about her fiance's wealthy family, but there's plenty of action, too.

This is my favorite book from Kate Alice Marshall, by far!

Connor and Theo are hopelessly in love. Connor brings Theo to Idlewood a winter retreat to intrigue her to his family. Theo doesn’t get a warm welcome and she feels like she has been there before. Then she starts to get message to stay away from Conner. We all know something happ Ned years ago at this rest rest. But who and what is was was the mystery. Loved it down to the last page. So juicy.

I've really enjoyed previous books by Kate Alice Marshall and was looking forward to this one. However, the many twists and convenient plot points just don't quite all hang together. It seems many people disagree and enjoyed reading it, but for me this one wasn't very entertaining.

A Killing Cold is the first book I read by Kate Alice Marshall. It gave me the creeps, and there were times when I was too scared to read it before going to bed. This psychological thriller will have you thinking that everyone is a killer. It was a great winter book because it occurred in the snowy mountains, and Theo stayed in Conner's family cabin.

Conner is a wealthy man from a mighty family. Theo has only been dating Conner for months, and they are already engaged. However, the family wants to meet Theo to see if they approve of the marriage. Upon arrival, Theo receives a threatening text message to leave the cabin. Instead, she investigates who sent her the message and starts to snoop around the cabins. Once Theo began snooping, she realized she had been there before, but her mind was still fussy. You must read this book to know what Theo learned about Conner's family and her childhood.

The only thing I disliked was that the book was a bit slow for me, and I had to push through. I do promise that the book has a great ending.

3.5 stars

This was ok. I loved the setting but I felt like the pacing was off. It was a really slow start and the last 20% had so many twists I couldnt keep track of all of them. I liked Theo - I always enjoy a badass heroine but some of the choices she made were questionable lol.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

Pub date: 2/4

Thank you so much to @flatiron_books and @kmarshallarts for this physical ARC and thank you to @netgalley for the digital ARC also!

First 5-star read of 2025. That’s it. That’s the review.

This thriller has it all. An immersive atmosphere, memorable characters, and an impeccable timeline. This was my first read by Kate Alice Marshall and she’s definitely made it into my top thrillers author list.

There’s a lot going on in this book, which for a thriller can get muddy when you’re trying to illustrate the scenes and keep the plot clear. But Marshall nails both. You never lose track of the story and the entire plot you get to try to figure out what the heck is going on.

I have to give a shoutout to one scene in particular. I won’t give any spoilers, don’t worry. In the scene, every single character is present (about 6-8) and they are ALL speaking. For an author to keep the imagery vivid while also making sure the reader doesn’t get lost in a fast-paced accusatory conversation is beyond impressive. This scene itself made the climax for me. So incredibly difficult to do in a suspense thriller but my god, I felt like I was in the living room, watching this family unravel. Bravo, Kate, BRAVO.

As a thriller reader, I thought I had it figured out, but when an author can throw in an added twist to it, they get applause from me. I didn’t guess it, and that’s what makes me enjoy a thriller even more.

If it’s not on your TBR, A Killing Cold deserves a spot on your shelf whether you’re a seasoned thriller fan or a new reader to the genre.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As with any suspense, it is hard to review in a lot of detail without giving away the plot. However, this book follows in the footsteps of last year's The Heiress by showing a rich family, with plenty of secrets, and an outsider with her own. In fact, the more I think about it, there are a lot of parallels between the two books. That's not a knock on A Killing Cold. I was a big fan of The Heiress and I really enjoyed this book, as well.

In fact, once I picked it up, I really only put it down for the absolute musts and still finished it in less than a day. The pacing is excellent, and there's a significant ramp up to the end of the second act. I thought, for sure, that meant that the third would be a let down (you can see my review of No One Can Know to see why I thought that might be the case.

Yes, there are a lot of twists in that final act, but not so much that I felt like it was convoluted. I definitely didn't predict the conclusion or the brief epilogue (though this was the one real letdown of the book, I feel like far too many mystery/thriller/suspense writers mess up in those final pages).

* Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! *

This was a fun little twisty read! Mystery surrounds our FMC’s past as well as with her rich soon-to-be in-laws! 👀

Some of the twists were predictable but I still enjoyed the read! Check this one out, especially if you’re looking for a wintry whodunnit! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Kate Alice Marshall for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and alc.

This was a fantastic thriller. I did not think it was predictable at all, and the ending left me speechless. Kate Alice Marshall is a fantastic thriller writer!! Furthermore, Karissa Vacker does a great job (as always!) with the narration. I definitely recommend this thriller and can't wait for KAM's next book!

This was the perfect snowy thriller to read during the coldest, dreariest month of the year! Kate Alice Marshall has brought us another twisty story to wile away a snowy afternoon.

Theo Scott has a troubled past. Adopted at four years old, she has scant memories in the years prior. She doesn’t even know her real name. She feels like a non person drifting through this big world. But when Conner Dalton enters her life, they enjoy a whirlwind romance and a quick proposal of marriage. Now Theo has love. Now she belongs to someone.

When they go to meet Dalton’s wealthy family at their isolated mountain retreat, Theo has every intention of trying to fit into her new family. But she is receiving sinister text messages discouraging her from attending. Who is sending them? When she arrives at Idlewood, she experiences some weird deja vu and pieces of memories start to come back. Why is this place familiar? And why do the members of the Dalton family seem to be holding dark secrets? Who can she trust in this remote snowy place?

I loved every word of this story! It has a complex plot and I did not know who to trust. I will read anything this author writes and can’t wait for her next book!

Thank you Netgalley, Flatiron Books, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on February 4, 2025

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall is a solid 4-star book that blends suspense, romance, and eerie family secrets in a way that keeps you hooked until the last page.

The story follows Theodora Scott as she steps into the secluded, snow-covered world of Idlewood, the Dalton family’s luxurious yet chilling winter retreat. At first glance, Theo’s relationship with Connor Dalton seems like a fairy tale, but the sinister undertones of Idlewood quickly unravel that illusion. Mysterious warnings, unsettling footprints, and a shocking photo of Theo as a child at the very same retreat turn this love story into a high-stakes quest for the truth.

Marshall’s atmospheric writing shines here—she masterfully captures the isolation and tension of Idlewood, making the snowy landscape as much a character as Theo herself. The story builds layer upon layer of suspense, and as Theo pieces together her lost memories, readers are drawn into a tangled web of family secrets and dangerous deceptions.

While the pacing slows at times, particularly in the middle, the twists more than make up for it. The Daltons are a fascinating mix of privilege and menace, and Theo’s determination to uncover the truth—even at great personal risk—makes her a protagonist worth rooting for.

Overall, A Killing Cold is a compelling read that combines psychological intrigue with a haunting atmosphere. Perfect for fans of thrillers, this book will have you questioning every character and turning pages late into the night.

This new release is a fabulous atmospheric winter thriller, as Theo travels with her new fiancée to his family's isolated upstate NY mountain retreat. The slow burn mystery includes a winter storm isolating the guests from civilization, anonymous threats telling Theo she isn't safe, and jarring new memories from her repressed childhood trauma. Theo quickly realizes her past might be interlinked with Connor's family's secrets putting her life in danger.

I really enjoyed this one! I love rich families behaving badly, and this was one messed up family! I'm pretty sure I suspected every darn character and thought I had it all figured out, only to get a new twist. The setting was claustrophobic, the flashbacks/ incomplete memories kept me guessing, and the tension slowly built to a heart pounding conclusion. Vacker's narration was perfection. She perfectly captured Theo's complex personality, and brought the tension/fear to a palatable level.

A new Kate Alice Marshall thriller? Sign me up!

This one had so many possibilities of who it could have been and the twists and turns just kept coming so be sure to keep your head on a swivel. I loved our main character and really wanted her to get her retribution. I was definitely on the fence about her fiancé though, I wanted to trust him but it was hard at times, I had my eye on him. It’s the perfect read to cuddle up with on a cold winter night. If you enjoyed The Family Game, you’ll like this one too, I enjoyed A Killing Cold much more. Thanks to Flatiron for sending me an ARC. Look for this one to publish on 2/4.