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A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall

Thriller

A Killing Cold

3peat author

Kate Alice Marshall is officially a 3-time author at BOTM, which is a pretty big deal!

Early Release

This is an early release that's only available to our members—the rest of the world has to wait to read it.

by Kate Alice Marshall

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Quick take

Visiting her fiancé’s wealthy family provides answers to her forgotten past. But the truth always comes at a cost.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Psychological

    Psychological

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, Nonlinear_Timeline

    Nonlinear timeline

  • Illustrated icon, Graphic_Content

    Graphic violence

Synopsis

A whirlwind romance.

When Theodora Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family—she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives.

Stay away from Connor Dalton.

Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood.

I’ve been here before.

Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.

Content warning

This book contains scenes that depict a miscarriage, child abuse, and mentions of domestic abuse.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of A Killing Cold.

A Killing Cold

1

I’ve never liked the way snow makes the world go quiet, stifling sound and creating the illusion of stillness. I can’t shake the feeling that the silence is one of waiting. Of watching.

The car crunches implacably along the narrow road. The trees around us are mostly hemlock, wearing capes of snow to conceal their green. Beech and sugar maple appear here and there, branches winter-stripped and grasping. Connor’s family owns this land, all the way to the mountain peak.

“Not far now,” Connor says for the third time since we left the small town at the base of the mountain. “Once you’re out of Datura, it’s only about twenty minutes, even with the weather.”

“It’s a flower, you know,” I note idly. “Datura. Also known as devil’s weed. The Victorians said it represented deceitful charms.”

Connor gives me a look I’ve come to know so well—half-pleased, half-puzzled.

I’ve always liked to know the names of things. It’s the next best thing to knowing my own.

I’m bunching my scarf in my hands again, twisting it up like a cheap rag. It was a gift from Connor, which means it’s anything but. Sometimes I play a game where I guess how much something cost, and then I double it, and then I look up the actual price. I’m usually still a bit low. Red cashmere and wool blend scarf, $490. I wad it up in a ball in my lap.

“They’ll love you,” Connor says, noticing my expression. Connor is a man used to being loved; I’ve known it since the moment I saw him. No scars on that heart, I thought at the time, though later I discovered I was wrong.

“I’ll settle for grudging approval,” I tell him, flicking him a smile to show I’m not nervous, though of course I am. There’s a diamond on my finger that cost as much as a down payment on a house, and I’ve never met my fiancé’s family—other than his sister, Alexis, who swooped into town two months ago for less than twenty-four hours and greeted me with plastic politeness. We’d been together only three months at the time, which makes this not even half a year and already engaged—I’d be worried if Connor’s family wasn’t skeptical.

Hell, I’m skeptical.

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Why I love it

I’ve always loved Kate Alice Marshall’s books. She has a knack for creating new and exciting stories in a genre that can sometimes fall into tired tropes. After I read No One Can Know, I remembered thinking, how could she possibly top this book? Then A Killing Cold landed on my desk and I devoured it immediately. For longtime fans, it should be no surprise when I say that Kate Alice Marshall has created another twisty thriller that is impossible to put down. I would even go so far as to say this is her best one yet.

Our story follows Theo and Connor, a recently engaged couple on their way to Connor’s remote family retreat for their annual winter break. Theo is head over heels for Connor, but upon arriving at Idlewood, she begins to receive threatening messages telling her to leave, and Connor’s family seems to be hiding something. For Connor’s sake, Theo tries to carry on, but after she finds a photo of herself as a child in one of the cabins, pieces of her childhood memories start to return to her. She’s been to Idlewood before…and she may be in more danger than she ever could have imagined.

If you love a little family drama mixed with a wintry locked-room setting and secrets galore, A Killing Cold is the book for you. So, what are you waiting for? Grab a blanket and something warm to drink and enjoy this chilly thriller.

Other books by Kate Alice Marshall

Member ratings (60)

January 2025
Andromeda
The Three Lives of Cate Kay
Babylonia
The Favorites
A Killing Cold
Isaac’s Song
January 2025
View all
Andromeda
The Three Lives of Cate Kay
Babylonia
The Favorites
A Killing Cold
Isaac’s Song