Audiobook Review: Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong

Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Series: Book 3 of Haven’s Rock

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (February 18, 2025)

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Narrator: Therese Plummer

Kelley Armstrong returns to the remote wilderness of Haven’s Rock in Cold as Hell, the third installment of her new mystery series spun off and set in the same world as her Rockton books. Ever since they helped launch another sanctuary town in the Yukon after the old one fell apart, a lot has happened to Detective Casey Duncan and her husband Sheriff Eric Dalton. Armed with a more holistic vision for their new home, their goals include being a lot more selective in the people they take in, as well as upholding their pledge to keep the existing residents safe.

That said, trouble always seems to have a way of finding Haven’s Rock, as isolated as it is. One night, a woman returning home from the local bar is attacked in the woods by an unidentified assailant, barely managing to escape. A tox screen afterwards also reveals that she had been drugged by a powerful sleeping aid, which presumably was in her spiked drink. Aware that all prescription drugs going in and out of town are strictly controlled, Casey knows this will be the ideal point to begin her investigation. There are only a limited number of suspects, after all.

However, with the harsh winter season upon them, Casey and Dalton know that time is not on their side. Not to mention, they are also expecting the birth of their first child any day now. Far from civilization, it’s clear that one bad storm could wreak havoc on their lives, both professional and private. And sure enough, when a sudden and violent blizzard rolls in, whiteout conditions not only prevent Casey from flying out for obstetrics care, but they also give the unknown culprit a perfect opportunity to claim another victim. This time, he or she is successful, and the body of a woman is found in the forest the next day with signs of forcible abduction and torture. There’s a predator on the loose in Haven’s Rock, and Casey must follow the clues to catch the killer before her due date—or before another life is lost.

Haven’s Rock—and before that, Rockton—is one of my favorite fictional settings, which might not be surprising with my fondness for icy, lonely places in books. Kelley Armstrong has always had a knack for making the Yukon wilds feel immersive for readers, emphasizing both its vastness and seclusion. Despite all the work Casey, Dalton, and their friends have put into setting it up, the town is still in its infancy. Not all rules or safety nets are in place yet, and in some ways, the leadership is making it all up as they go along. When you consider how they are also at the mercy of the elements, uncertainty and instability become villains in their own right, even as our protagonists work to hunt down the literal bad guys.

In terms of characterization, Casey remains an impressive leading woman. We’re up to ten books starring her, and I think it’s safe to say her strength and resourcefulness are pretty well established by now. Still, Cold as Hell features a new role for Casey as expectant mother, and along with that comes all the physical and emotional vulnerabilities being eight to ninth months pregnant. Granted, impending parenthood seems exacerbate the worst and most annoying aspects of our protagonists—for instance, Casey’s lack of self-preservation, or Dalton’s overbearing protectiveness—though to be fair, both seem to acknowledge and own up to them.

Still, the murder mystery plot was perhaps the most surprising. As I’ve noted in my reviews for the previous books, the remote setting is a double-edged sword, on the one hand satisfying the requirement for a locked room mystery, but on the other making it difficult to introduce new characters in subsequent books without making it too obvious who the killer is. Starting over with a new town with new people fixed this somewhat, but as the Haven’s Rock series grows, I was worried we would start running into the same problem again. Thankfully, we haven’t reached this point yet, with Cold as Hell being able to keep readers guessing, even throwing in a couple twists I didn’t see coming. Plus, combining the tensions involved in the investigation with the unpredictability of Casey’s pregnancy simply raised the stakes even higher.

At the end of the day, this was another winner in Kelley Armstrong’s growing collection of mystery thrillers, and another solid novel starring Casey Duncan and Eric Dalton. Ultimately, I don’t know if there will be another installment to the Haven’s Rock series, which is a testament to how satisfied I was with the ending in Cold as Hell, though obviously I would be all for spending more time with these characters. I have to say, this was probably my favorite book since the early Rockton days. As for the audiobook, narrator Therese Plummer once again delivered a splendid performance. If you are looking for gripping mystery with an atmospheric setting, compelling characters, and a touch of survivalist tension, this is a fantastic series to dive into.