This is my fourth Kate Alice Marshall read and the first to be wholly disappointing!

This is going to sound harsh but I mean it as defense of this author: I feel like her publishers are looking as someone like Freida McFadden or Alice Feeney who are churning out basic, low quality "popcorn" thrillers every single year and putting on the pressure for Kate to do the same since so much of the thriller audience seem to prefer quantity over quality and it's all about the money. I could have been given this book and asked to read it blindly and I would never think this was Marshall. Her authorial voice is gone in this book; Her memorable characters, her interesting storylines.

You have boring, generic characters with the personality of cardboard/a prose that feels like an unnatural soap opera constantly hitting you over the head with "clues"/spicy scenes that are entirely unnecessary to the story to appease the thirsty women readers/and a plot that is "taking inspiration" straight from other thriller/mystery media. The set up is nearly identical to The Family Game by Catherine Steadman and every time Theo is referencing her long forgotten past and "dragonfly, red scarf, antlers" etc over and over and over again, it's almost exactly like Elle's mom in Stranger Things Season 2. And it is WAY TOO LONG.

I also hated how Alexis was narrated by our audiobook narrator. She made her sound very young and vapid like Alexis at the start of Schitt's Creek and the Alexis in this book is supposed to be in her 30's, married with a toddler, and CEO of the family business. She should not sound like Paris Hilton.

If the publishing market doesn't make serious changes, the entirety of the thriller genre will be dead.

Wow!
After you read it, you will need to digest the epic proportions of how messed up everything is and the extent to which a family will go to protect its wealth and reputation. Some of the story is twisted, messed up, and far-fetched, but the story is still good!
Meeting a boyfriend's family can make anyone have anxiety now, amp that anxiety to level ten when the family is very wealthy and they also give everyone the first-degree of questioning to know who they are let into the family.
Theo has an interesting history. She knows nothing about her life before her adoptive parents took her in and she did not have the best upbringing in life. But the longer she is there, the more flashbacks she has, the more she begins remembering things, and she has Deja Vu experiences at one cabin.
Slowly, she starts to piece things together, and her boyfriend's grandparents are beginning to think they need her to leave. Then she finds out her boyfriend lied to her about how they met and everything like that, and she slowly begins to realize that things are not as they seem, and she cannot trust anyone!
This was an amazing read with twists and turns everywhere, but I loved it! The audiobook was amazing! The pace of the narrator fir perfectly and I was engaged and had to know what happened next!
Thank you, Netgalley and Macmillan Audio, for the amazing opportunity to read and review this one!

❄️ A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall OUT 2/4/2025❄️

I have read two other Kate Alice Marshall books before and LOVED them so once I saw her new one, A Killing Cold, I got excited!! I listened to the audiobook of this and was addicted.

Theo is swept up in a new engagement and is invited to her rich fiance retreat for a weekend. Before going, she received scary texts about staying away. Was this a warning? Or is someone out to get her?

This is family drama to the max! There were numerous surprises I did not see coming. There were MANY characters in the family, I almost wish I drew a family map. The audiobook narration was great and each character really had their own voice and personality. Every free second I was trying to listen more. A great book to start my year! 5 ✨

Reading this suspenseful thriller while snowflakes fell outside my window was too perfect! Although even without the snowflakes to add to the ambiance this book transported me to the beautiful winter “wonderland” that is the Dalton family’s compound of cabins.

Theodora and Connor met through a friend one day and six months later they’re engaged and Theo is going through the ritual of meeting the future in-laws. Except meeting the Daltons is a little different. This family is skeptical of mysterious Theo from the beginning and Theo isn’t quite sure what to think either. Because Theo is getting threatening messages telling her to stay away from Connor and that she shouldn’t have come. Maybe because the impressive and isolated winter compound looks familiar to Theo—like she’s been there before…

I thoroughly enjoyed this set-in-snowy-times story with a can’t-leave-due-to-weather vibe. It made me appreciate the snow falling outside more somehow—like I was in the cabin with them. A fantastic listening experience! Thank you NetGalley for a chance to listen to this ARC.

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall: This Winter Thriller Will Keep You Up All Night

Think you've got family drama? Meet Theodora Scott. She's just arrived at her fiancé's fancy mountain retreat to meet his wealthy family for the first time. There's just one tiny problem: she's pretty sure she's been here before. But that's impossible... right?

Kate Alice Marshall's new thriller is a masterclass in paranoia. As snow piles up outside, so do the secrets inside. Everyone's lying about something, and Theo can't even trust her own memories. The whole thing feels like a trap, but there's nowhere to run when you're stuck on a mountain in a snowstorm.

The story moves fast, the characters are deliciously suspicious, and the ending? Let's just say you won't see it coming. Marshall takes familiar elements—an isolated mansion, a wealthy family with secrets, a protagonist who can't trust her own mind—and turns them into something fresh and frightening.

If you like your thrillers cold and clever, grab this book and a warm blanket. Just don't blame me if you're still reading at 3 AM.
4.5/5 stars – Perfect for fans of "One by One" and "The Hunting Party." This one will make you think twice about meeting the in-laws.

5⭐️

Theodora Scott grew up in foster care, never knowing where she came from. So when her boyfriend, Conor, proposes, she thought her life had finally turned around. Conor was from a wealthy family and until their engagement she had never met any of the Daltons. Conor bring Theo to his family's resort for an isolated family retreat and it's their that Theo learns how far the Daltons will go to keep their secrets.

I loved this! First of all, my last name is Dalton so reading about the charming and conniving Dalton family was just highly amusing to me. I think because the Daltons were so charming, it really makes you question if the devious things happening could have because of them or not and ultimately made their actions more shocking for me. each member of the family was suspicious, especially the matriarch and the uncle and i liked trying to figure out who was really the problem. I loved that Conor proved that he wasn't the stereotypical rich kid and was able to protect Theo from his family.

Theo's religious trauma and her past with abusive foster parents really colored her experiences throughout the book. I think looking at the things she did as a child through the lens of 'a good Christian family,' her past felt highly dramatic and troubling. But as she worked through her own past trauma while trying to uncover the secrets of the Daltons and Idlewood, I think it became clear that she was just a kid who was repeatedly let down by the adults in her life. It also felt like her past trauma helped her get through what happens at Idlewood.

Ultimately this didn't go the direction I was expecting it to and I love that! Kate Alice Marshall as quickly became an auto-read author for me and this supports that decision! Also, I'll listen to anything narrated by Karissa Vacker.

Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this ALC to me!

I really enjoyed Kate Alice Marshall’s previous adult novels and this did not disappoint. The audiobook narrator did an excellent job and it was a compulsive binge listen. I found the main character compelling and am a sucker for stories featuring buried secrets, traumatic pasts, and rich people behaving badly. It did get a little convoluted and hard to believe plot wise toward the end but overall enjoyed the ride and would recommend!

It was okay, the narrator was good. I just felt like the author was maybe trying to hard to create suspense where there wasn't any. there were some repetitive parts. Just was not for me.

4.5⭐️ A woman is invited to her fiancés family retreat where she realizes they are hiding a very big secret.

If you are looking for a winter thriller that’s as atmospheric as it is thrilling, look no further. Kate Alice Marshall is amazing at creating these dark and eerie settings and then following up with unique characters you won’t soon forget. I was so immersed in this story and trying to figure out exactly what this family was hiding, before I knew it, I had flown through the entire book.

🎧 Karissa Vacker does an exceptional job bringing this story to life. There were so many scenes where I felt as though I was literally in the story, and I think her narration only amplified that feeling. I highly recommend this one on audio or as an immersive read.

Read if you like:
▪️domestic suspense
▪️isolated settings
▪️family dramas
▪️twisty books

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy.

Whew. This was not for me. First, let me start off by saying that if you are an animal lover than you had better just stop before you go ahead. The animal hunting and dressing in this book was way too much. Second, WHY are there so many characters? I really couldn't keep them straight. Could be due to the fact that I listened to the audio, idk. Or it was used for pure confusion and for me to stop and say "hang on , who tf is ____" The story itself would have been better if there was more suspense and less words. Merry go round, anyone? I felt like this book was never going to end. Lastly, how does someone remember nothing about their past at all? I don't get it. Trauma, I guess.

This is the third book I've read by this author and it's safe to say, I won't read anymore.

The narration was great. Karissa Vacker is always a fantastic narrator.

Thank you for the ARC!

Kate Alice Marshall is becoming an auto-buy author for me when I"m looking for a heart racing thriller. Of her first three most recent suspense thrillers, A Killing Cold proved to be the one that kept me on edge the most. Her setting and vivid description of the mountain where the events take place was perfect for a winter thriller read. Although What Lies in the Woods remains as my favorite by Marshall, A Killing Cold is another great option for readers who want faced-paced, action-packed suspense.

4.5 stars

vibes:
- atmospheric— winter setting
- rich people with secrets & family drama
- fast paced & twisty


are some things far fetched? YES. but it’s fiction guys lol I finished this book in less than 24 hours. i was throughly entertained!

thank you macmillan audio for the free copy!

2 stars

If felt the entire time the author was trying hard to create suspense where there wasn't any.
The book is very repetitive and the whole premise is pretty unrealistic and unappealing.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me read this book!

Chilling discoveries and hauntings of the past are heavily present in this book. I loved the seclusion from the rest of society the characters in the book experienced and the flashbacks helped clarify details. I couldn't put it down until I need it all. Great read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy of this book. Honestly - is Kate Alice Marshall capable of writing a bad book at this point? A Killing Cold had me hooked from the moment I started the audiobook (and yes, the narrarator is fantastic) and was so eager to find out what the truth was about the cabins and about Theo. I did not see the ending coming - out of all the theories I had, I didn't even begin to guess how this book would end up.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the early audiobook.

This was such a fun read and the perfect thriller for this winter season.

First off I loved the characters in this book. Theo was a great protagonist and I loved how well thought out and interesting each character was. The only character that really bugged me was Conner. He was lacking a little personality and a little clueless through most of the book. The locked door setting was also fantastic. The characters up on a mountain, in the snow and no way to escape - the setting really helped bring the story to life. I’m not always a fan of the locked door setting but this worked really well for me.

I was also a big far of this narrator. She really brought the story to life for me. I highly recommend this book as an audiobook.

This book was filled with twists and turns. Especially the last 30% or so. Every time you thought you had something figured out it would go in a different direction. I love a twisty book but I did feel like this was a little over the top. It almost became too much. You never really could get a handle on things before something was changing again.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend ed this thriller.

A very solid 4/5 stars

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
Narrated by Karissa Vacker

Here in central Texas we are having snow, sleet, and cold, not all that common for this area. It's a great time to be reading a book called A Killing Cold, which takes place at a wealthy family's isolated winter retreat. This is no roughing it kind of get together, there are servants, a huge fancy main house with at least four (maybe more) well stocked cabins that might make nice little homes for us common folk. This is rich people "roughing it" so an eye opening experience for Theodora Scott who came from a life of nothing and who has had to scrape to get by in the past.

Theo has only known wealthy Connor, a member of the powerful Dalton family, for six months. It was love at first sight when they met and now they are engaged and, for good reason, Theo is anxious about being thrown amongst Connor's family members for their annual winter retreat get together. No outsider is ever invited to these winter retreats but as Connor's fiancé, Theo has made the cut.

Because of traumatic events very early in her childhood, Theo's mind has blocked out her beginnings. At a young age she was adopted by a very strict, almost cultish family, and Theo was raised to believe she was a bad girl, that she could never do anything right, that she would never amount to anything good. But Theo has a college degree now and works at a book store, she's been doing well for herself, with one good friend and not needing to depend on anyone but herself. Now, though, she's getting to see how the other half lives and with this engagement and future marriage, her world is opening in ways she never imagined, IF she can pass muster with the Dalton family. Can Theo put up a good act, toe the line, not flub up this chance?

What is really strange is that as Theo explores this remote estate, she sees things, she finds things, that make her think she has been here before. Some people look familiar, her gut feeling is giving her the feeling she is in danger. So Theo, throws herself into finding out what is going on and her first action is always to run towards danger. Can she trust Connor, can she trust anyone? There is hunting and the handling of game included in the story but you can skip over those parts. There is also an awesome dog that comes to no harm.

This book will keep you on your toes throughout the story. Karissa Vacker narrates and she's a narrator that can influence me to pick up an audiobook. I've listened to her narrate well over ten books before and she does a great job here.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

4.5 stars rounded up! I really enjoyed this fast-paced twisty thriller. It’s the perfect winter read if you enjoy a snowy secluded setting! I wasn’t completely floored by all of the twists, but there’s something about this book that I just really love. Theo is a strong main character, and I enjoyed following along as she began uncovering her fiancé’s family secrets. I listened to the audiobook version, and the narrator was stellar! I was engrossed from the beginning to the end. I highly recommend adding this thriller to your winter TBR list. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

WOW. This was a true thriller. It had my full attention from the very beginning and never let go.

A Killing Cold has everything you could want in a creepy thriller- dark family secrets, lies, more lies, and wealthy family drama that will have you guessing who is telling the truth till the very end. Don't sleep on this book! #AKillingCold #KateAliceMarshall

Thank you to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for providing me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an advanced copy from Net Galley, but did not realize it was the audiobook and not the ebook. I am not an audio book person do I ordered the physical copy in my BotM box. I devoured it as soon as I received it. I will read anything by Kate Alice Marshall. I love the closed room mystery trope and the mysterious past family secrets trope so this was a win/win for me. It's an amazing winter thriller