Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong Narrator: Therese Plummer
Series: Haven's Rock #3
Published by MacMillan Audio, Minotaur Books on February 18, 2025
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 352
Length: 10 hours, 6 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley
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Haven’s Rock is a sanctuary town hidden deep in the Yukon for those who need to disappear from the regular world. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are starting a family now that they’ve settled into their life here. As Casey nears the end of her pregnancy, she lets nothing, including her worried husband, stop her from investigating what happens in the forbidden forest outside the town of Haven’s Rock.
When one of the town's residents is drugged and wanders too close to the edge of town, she’s dragged into the woods kicking and screaming. She’s saved in the nick of time, but the women of the town are alarmed. Casey and Eric investigate the assault just as a snowstorm hits Haven’s Rock, covering the forest. It’s there they find a frozen body, naked in the snow. With mixed accounts of the woman's last movements, the two begin to question who they can trust—and who they can't—in their seemingly safe haven.
I love this Rockton series, now Haven’s Rock series which is a spin-off as well as a direct continuation of the previous series. I personally would start with the previous series because of the background and character development but also because it is amazing! Haven’s Rock is a new town with Casey and Eric along with a few others as the owners, making a fresh start and hopefully better situation than Rockton.
Casey is the whole point of view for this world. She is smart, skilled and compassionate. She does so well at keeping her capabilities strong or she’d have died in at least 7 of the 10 books already! I was pretty worried about her in Cold As Hell with her being pregnant and all. Casey handles everything with her usual strength and intelligence.
Women are being drugged and hauled off into the wilderness, it seems. It starts with someone who is obviously drugged and wondering but found and brought back to town. Then another woman goes missing as a big snow storm starts. They have to search in the snow. The evidence makes it clear it is not their unwanted gold mining neighbors. As more women are abducted, it’s a race against time to save them before they die.
Casey and Eric look at the information about when the women were last seen and try to mesh up the accounts. No matter how they analyze, it’s clear the threat is in their town, someone they probably trust. It’s heartbreaking for them trying to set up a good place for people.
Casey and Eric are hard working, and better people than I could be at times. My respect and love for them continues to grow. Casey in addition to her marriage, pregnancy and detective work, manages to deal with all the personalities including her neurodivergent sister April. I’m not exactly a fan of Yolanda who got some FAFO here. Casey and Eric learned a lot this time about safeguards they need as they process applications for living in Haven’s Rock.
I’m excited to see how a baby works into their lives and the community. I hope Casey doesn’t always have to be the one facing danger for her child’s sake. I really love this series and will read every one Kelley Armstrong writes.
Narration:
Therese Plummer is completely in my head for this series and I love her work. She has distinctive voices for the characters and I recognize them easily. Her performance IS Casey, Eric, Will, April and more. I was able to listen comfortably at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Therese Plummer
Therese Plummer is an actor and voice over artist living and working in New York City. Favorite roles to date include TV: Rose Nerrick, The Good Wife, Andy in Law and Order SVU. Stage: Celebrity Row; New York Theatre Workshop, Under Tillage, The Irish Repertory Theatre. Off-off Broadway credits include The Vagina Monologues, Suzanne in Twilight of the Gold’s and Madeline in the Award Winning Samuel French Short play The Sweet Room. Comedy Credits include Improv at Upright Citizens Brigade and Stand-up at Caroline’s Comedy Club. Therese also performed her one woman show, Ribbons Undone, at the Here Arts Center.
Therese records audio books for Audible.com, Recorded Books and Talking Books, Inc. As an adolescent counselor, Therese spent five years utilizing Drama therapy techniques in individual and group settings before moving to New York. She shares a passion of creating, helping and entertaining and feels incredibly lucky to do all three.
About Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could
write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a
story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls
and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. Today, she continues to
spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked
away in her basement writing dungeon. She lives in southwestern
Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 25-Audio
- 25-COYER
Excellent review, Anne💜 I may need to rethink this series.
I love it and of course Therese Plummer is excellent.
I loved the Rockton series and never started Haven’s Rock. I really need to!
yes Haven’s Rock is really just like the same series in a different location.
I just ordered the first book in the Rockton series! I’ve been loving reading your reviews of these series and a few other bloggers that it’s time to read it for myself😁
I agree. It’s well worth reading. It’s an excellent 2 series.
This sounds like a good series and I like the title.
It’s accurate for the Yukon. I really enjoy these books.
So read the Rockton series first? I really will get these books. I’m sure of it. This one sounds really good.
yes definitely read the Rockton series first. They are excellent. It’s like one long series but the second one is in a different location.
I didn’t come up for air with this one; it was so good. 🙂
yes! They are always so good.
This series seems a bit too dark for me. I need to try some of her other stuff, tho.
Maybe. You’d love both her historical time series I think.
I’ve only read the first two books in the first series and then stopped as I have to be in the right mood to read thrillers. Hopefully I can get back at it at some point as I enjoyed reading about Casey and Eric. Sounds like a tough mystery this one has on top of Casey being pregnant.
I love this series. It has plenty of plot and action as well as amazing characters.
I’ve read the first Rockton book and loved it, as I’m a huge fan of Armstrong’s writing, having devoured all her Women of the Otherworld series and some of the Men of the Otherworld series:)). Thank you for a lovely review, which has prompted me to get hold of more of her books.
I’ve really enjoyed many of her series. I haven’t read all of the earlier ones but I’ve read all the later ones than horror books.
I listened to this in a 24-hour period! It got crazy by the end! Loved it!
It’s really hard to put down once you start reading these.
I love when spinoff series keep me enjoying the original series world, or at least give me more by that author. Great review!
Thank you Lisa. It’s one of my very favorite series since near its beginning.