From the beloved and internationally bestselling author of Sweet Little Lies comes the second novel featuring DC Cat Kinsella—an investigator “on par with Susie Steiner’s and Tana French’s female detectives” (Kirkus Reviews).After a brief stint in the Mayor’s Office, Detective Constable Cat Kinsella is back at the London Metropolitan Police, wisecracking with her partner Luigi Parnell and trying … partner Luigi Parnell and trying to avoid the wrath of the boss, DI Kate Steele.
But for Cat and Parnell, it’s serious business when a young Australian woman turns up dead after a party thrown by her new boss. The initial investigation of Naomi Lockhart’s murder points to Joseph Madden, the owner of a coffee shop around the corner from police headquarters. Madden insists he’s innocent, that he was home with his wife Rachel at the time of the murder. When police question her, Rachel contradicts his alibi, swearing that she was home alone.
While the team builds its case against Joseph, Cat is tasked with getting to the heart of the Maddens’ marriage. Cat knows that one of them is lying—but the question of which one, and why, is far more complicated than she could have expected. As she tries to balance the demands of the investigation with a budding romance and unresolved family drama, Cat has to decide how far she’ll go to keep her own past mistakes buried.
With her trademark wit and brilliant plotting, Caz Frear ratchets up the tension and keeps you guessing as she explores the secrets we keep from our loved ones—and the ones we’d kill to keep safe in the dark.
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Stone Cold Heart is a British police procedural with interesting fleshed-out characters and a twisty plot. This is the second book in the series and although I have not yet read the first book I had no trouble following the story. The character development in this book is pretty clearly tied to aspects of the first book so I plan to read the first, Sweet Little Lies. I do think it’s likely a reader would be better off starting with the first book in this series.
Stone Cold Heart was an enjoyable read and I recommend it for those who enjoy British police procedural mysteries.
I read an ARC copy. The opinions in this review are honest and my own.
Intriguing and enthralling, this is certain to get your mind going trying to figure out where this storyline is going. An utterly fab read and I am now definitely interested in checking out this authors other works.
4.5/5
Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear was a great debut, but Stone Cold Heart was an even better follow-up! This book is also a bit on the slower side, but there is still plenty going on to keep you going and once again the case was complex with multiple suspects. There are quite a few characters and at times I would find myself a little confused about who was who, so I do think I might have missed out a bit on the whole picture. However, I am just so impressed at Frear’s ability to come up with such an intricate plot and be able to carry it out so well. There are moments of humor in the novel and one of the things I love about this series is how witty some of the characters are. Cat is a smart female lead as well as a great detective, and the more I read about her the more I love her!
The audiobook for Stone Cold Heart is narrated once again by Jane Collingwood and of course, she crushed it. Even after just 2 books, I can’t picture anyone other than her voicing Cat and I really hope she ends up narrating all the books in this series. The audio is a bit less than 12.5 hours and once again went really quickly for me. I listened to it all in one day because I had to know how the book would end, and I LOVED the last sentence. I really can’t wait to see where Frear is taking this series, and the sort of things Cat will get up to outside of her detective work. I think this is a great book to pick up if you like detective fiction and police procedurals without all the blood and gore. I do recommend reading them in order just so you can get more of the big picture with Cat, but it could also be read as a standalone. I can’t wait for book 3!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Fantastic! In STONE COLD HEART Caz Frear weaves a twisty tale that’s expertly paced and keeps you guessing who did what and why. Her dialogue made me laugh-out-loud, and her complex characters were so vivid and real, I half expected them to walk into the room. Another sure hit that easily puts Frear on my list of favourite authors.
Love this police procedural series about a flawed detective and her family. Couldn’t put it down. This is the 2nd in the series and they would also read well as standalone. By reading them in order there’s a bigger sense of family and her childhood, but it’s not necessary for an enjoyable read.
This is becoming one of my new favorite series!!!!
In the second installment of the Cat Kinsella series, a young woman is found murdered in her flat. The investigation into her death leads to many suspects (all of whom seem to have possible motive). Frear does a great job concealing who actually committed the crime and why. I honestly had no idea who it would be right up until the big reveal.
Beyond the great plot and excellent execution of it, Frear does an amazing job with character development. It’s impossible not to be intrigued by Cat. She’s young and comes off as fearless but she’s far from it. Her relationship with her dad is complicated and she’s keeping something from her boyfriend that will most likely destroy their relationship. She’s relentless on the job and her interactions with her partner Parnell are often more father-daughter than partner to partner. Furthermore, the character depth of the suspects is this installment is fantastic. For instance, Joseph, the primary suspect is chilling. He’s arrogant, cocky, a pathological liar, and emotionally abusive to those in his life. Frear makes you think he’s everything a killer would be, but did he do it? Rachel comes off as the victim…is she? I just can’t express how well Frear develops these characters and while doing so maintains a level of realism.
Finally, there’s Uncle Frank…what could he possibly want? Let the trouble begin…
You must read this series! It is SOOO good!
As an afterthought, while this could be read as a stand alone I HIGHLY recommend you start at the beginning or you won’t understand the significance of some key events in this book.
So normally I prefer psychological thrillers more than crime novels however I am in love with this authors first two books. Her main character Kinsella reminds me of the main characters in Tana French’s novels. Both of these books by Frear are superbly written. This looks to be a series and I’m over the moon about that. Stone Cold Heart leaves off as though there could be another book which excites me.