Cover Image: Stone Cold Heart

Stone Cold Heart

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Member Reviews

This is another really really good crime procedural from the talented Caz Frear.

I read Sweet Little Lies recently and the follow up hasn’t disappointed! Detective Cat Kinsella is back investigating the murder of a young woman in London. Kinsella and the other police officers are really well rounded and likeable characters. Kinsella certainly has her secrets and flaws but she’s great company while crimes are being investigated.

The only slight drawback for me is that the suspects are really horrible people, almost bordering on the ridiculous. This is a crime novel so I’m not expecting friendly and happy people but some of them are truly toxic!

Overall though Frear has produced another great detective novel. If you like a fairly slow burning, atmospheric procedural then you’ll love this.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for the ARC.

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Caz Frear has written a tale of murder, cover ups, secrets etc. highly recommended read. Found it hard to put down , it grips you page after page . A fantastic follow up and eagerly await next book.

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This is the second book by Caz Fear featuring DC Cat Kinsella and whilst it can be read as a stand-alone - I would 100% recommend you start with book 1 Sweet Little Lies because 1) there is quite a bit of background you should know and 2) it's a bloody brilliant.

Stone Cold Heart is yet another fabulous story written with style, humour and great skill.  Caz Frear has created a simply wonderful, believable, flawed character in Cat Kinsella.  A young DC eager to escape her family background, hiding a secret which threatens to end her career before it's even taken off.

Cat narrates the story and her voice is loud and clear.  When a young Australian women, Naomi, is found murdered in her flat Cat and the team start investigating and discover a connection to the local coffee shop manager Joseph Madden who had approached Cat several months earlier about his wife.  This brings a whole host of characters into suspicion and Cat and DS Luigi Parnell find themselves in the midst of a dysfunctional and odd family who may or may not have murdered Naomi.

Once again Caz Frear has produced a gripping page-turner full of fascinating characters, a twisted tale of murder, cover ups, secrets and guilt with a dash of humour.  A fabulous follow up and highly recommended.

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I loved Caz Frear's first book 'Sweet Little Lies'. While I love thrillers I'm not usually a fan of the detective led novel, generally preferring a more domestic, psychological tale. However I found the lead character, Cat, a refreshing voice and I was so excited when I saw this follow up. Cat's own back story lent a constantly simmering threat to her career and relationships but I still found that the central element was the need to solve a crime, and fast. This sequel focused on a complicated crime, at the centre of which was Naomi Lockhart, a young Australian girl found dead in her flat on a London estate. I loved that the characters consistently thought not just about the suspects, but also about the impact on Naomi's family. There are quite a few different suspects who all seem quite plausible and, as most of them are in one family, there's plenty of dramatic and emotional ties to pick through there too. I sped through this book, eager to find out who the killer one. Unsurprisingly you're in for a twist!

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A good read with plenty of suspense. This is a good thriller overall. I just expected there to be something more to the story. I would still read more books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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5 Stars from me

DC Cat Kinsella is a really engaging and likeable character and although I've accidentally read Stone Cold Heart before book 1 of the series (Sweet Little Lies), the story read absolutely fine.

There are some hugely likeable characters within the book and Frear manages to blend the main storyline - of who killed Naomi - with a subplot about Cat's own life - while keeping a perfect balance. Neither detracts from the other and yet both are strong and compelling.

The relationships within the suspect families are beautifully crafted and I was lead a right merry dance trying to work out who the culprit was. Very, very readable.

Stone Cold Heart has it all and I look forward to reading more by Caz Frear.




Synopsis:

A fractured marriage.


A silent family.

A secret that connects them all.

When DC Cat Kinsella is approached by Joseph Madden for help with his wife, Rachel, there's not much she can do. Joseph claims that Rachel has been threatening him, but can't - or won't - give Cat details as to why. Dismissing it as a marriage on the rocks, Cat forgets about it.

That is until Naomi Lockhart, a young PA, is found dead after a party attended by both Joseph and Rachel, and Joseph is arrested for the murder. Joseph says his wife is setting him up. His wife says he didn't do it. The trail of evidence leads to even more questions . . .

Adulterer. Murderer. Victim.

Who would you believe?

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 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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With stone cold heart you get to grips more with the main character Cat Kinsella. I found her instantly likeable and she has internal battles over wrong and right. She wants to do her job well and she is respected by her team but feels she doesn't quite fit in due to previous issues (mainly her dad).

This case is of a young girl (Naomi) found dead in her flat with her head bashed in. The story then proceeds to track down colleagues, her flat mat and try to find her mystery man to unravel what happened. There seems to be one main person the detectives are drawing you towards (Joseph) but not all the key elements fit so it's interesting to see how it plays out. Cat previously met Joseph as the 'owner' of a coffee shop and even then thought he was creepy. Currently just under half way through and haven't got a clue yet as to who I think/believe is the killer.

The main family of suspects are an odd bunch, non of them seem to have any positive personality traits and this leads you to question between them all if any of them are involved.

The dynamic between Cat and Parnell works well as he adopts a big brother/father type role looking out for Cat.

Within the last few chapters all is revealed and even I didn't join the dots, I had a few suspicions but couldn't make them tie together.


The last line of the book! Cliffhanger, just when you thought someone was all good... Maybe not!

Got me itching to read the next!

I

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Simply a bloody good read: Stonecold Heart by Caz Freer
Many thanks to NetGalley for allowing me early access to this book.

A few months ago I blogged about Mark Billingham (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Their-Little-Secret-Thorne-Novels/product-reviews/0751566977/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_hist_4?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=four_star&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar) and identified him as "one of the school of British crime writers who began to flourish at the beginning of this new century", well Caz Freer has just also entered those ranks with flying colours and a fresh new voice and a distinct Irish accent. I am a very jaded whodunnit reader but this book was a breeze from start to finish and I could not put it down. The personalities of the different members of the police team were deftly portrayed, and especially their sense of camaraderie and purpose, so much so that you felt you were one of them or you wanted to be one of them. It brought to my mind that old TV series "Hill Street blues".

The murder was fairly routine as were suspects, a bunch of entitled upper-middle-class egotists at least one of whom is a socially adept psychopath. The victim was a young female idealistic Australian gap year student. I solved the crime by applying my "Agatha Christie approach", but of course the crime is often not the main attraction of these kinds of books. That would be the police environment and the world of our protagonist, DC Cat Kinsella, who like the hero of those classic Taiwanese "Infernal Affairs" movies has one foot in the land of law and order and another, through her family connections, in the Irish criminal underground. Cat and her ongoing family, amorous and moral dilemmas make for a compelling protagonist which is a good thing because everything is seen through her eyes.
The murder is solved but there are many things still left pending by the end.
Bring on the next book, I say!

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As soon as I started reading, all the memories from Cat Kinsella came flooding back. The writing style that Frear uses gives you enough description to picture the events clearly, yet gripping dialogue that helps you feel invested into each character.

This book really is so twisty and a constant chase to find out who is lying, and who is to blame for Naomi's murder. I found myself not feeling able to trust anyone and hooked on wanting to know what the next revelation would be.

Admittedly, in some places I began to lose some commitment to the plot and events, but as soon as I felt myself drifting, the writing pulled me straight back in! This kept me invested, but did make me think perhaps the events of this thriller wouldn't stick with me long after I finished it.

However, this book is full of crime, romance, suspense, and thrills and was an enjoyable read. Cat's ability to navigate this to find the truth really does keep you hooked to the end.

I was considering a three star for this, but I think that having read so much within this genre is now increasing my expectations. So I settled on a four star review as I'm sure many other like-minded readers will enjoy this!

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This book was a success! I really enjoyed it. It was a tense page turner with twists and turns. I liked Cat as a character. This is a second in a series, but I think it can be read as a stand alone easily.
It was well written and thrilling to read, I'll definitely pick up more from this author.

Thanks a lot Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I wanted to like this book so much. I really did. It started slow, but when it got into the swing of things it was an easy read. Mostly predictable and the reveal of the plot twist was very anticlimactic. The final page as well.... I know it's supposed to be a cliff hanger but it simply wasn't dramatic enough to be one and therefore it just felt like a dead end. I'm afraid this book was just average in my opinion.

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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.

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Well - it had to happen. A book that I found far better than even the advance reviews. Having read many, many books I sometimes find that reviews are too good for the book and it makes me wonder if incessant use has been made of a feather on ticklish feet to extract the review. This book is superbly written and has an excellent, clever, sometimes dry sarcastic plot and you are never certain who is the culprit or who is telling the truth. I found some of the interview detailed text as good as those on Line Of Duty and this takes some doing. Looks a book that ought to become a film, not sure if there is enough for a TV crime serial adaptation.
Only a couple of minor ''criticisms' - for me, the book lacked a bit of action and at times I felt the book was written with female readers in mind. Other than that absolutely superb and should not be missed.

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Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I really enjoyed this book. The main character was likeable and interesting, and I enjoyed the exploration of her life alongside the main narrative, although I think I would have enjoyed it more had I already read the first book in this series. The plot was unpredictable with lots of twists. I'd recommend this book and would like to read others by this author.

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Detective Cat Kinsella has put her past behind her to get where she is today , hoping her shady family doesn't get to her . She is approached by a Barista , Joseph who asks for advice about his wife maltreating him. Later a young Australian girls body is found and Cat has to investigate . This all leads back to Joseph and his family and Joseph is arrested , but the investigation carries on putting all sorts of doubts on his guilt . Was he framed? You will have to read this book to find out but please do , I do not think you will be disappointed .

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A complicated beginning with no obvious link to the story. A police officer hiding a guilty secret, though the reader is not included in what that is. Cat comes from a complicated family desperate to make a success of her chosen career whilst living under the threat of exposure related to her links with the criminal fraternity. The murder of an apparently young innocent girl for no reason and with little to no information or leads to work from. A family of misfits, all tenuously linked to the victim yet intent on lies and half truths which do little to progress the investigation. A nebulous and difficult series of exposures do little to assist us in resolving this murder. The author manages to weave a trail of events spanning two decades before we are allowed to understand the series of events and ultimate conclusion.

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Loved this book. Caz Frear is a new author to me and if this book is anything to go by then roll on another from her. The writing/dialogue was realistic and crisp - the characters very credible and the story itself engaging. Was a bit surprised at the end - but I'm hoping that it was to set the scene for further crime-solving with Parnell and Cat. Overall impression? A very, very good debut and I'm already looking forward to more of the same.

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An excellent crime novel with lots of twists and turns to keep you on tenterhooks. Roll on the next one...

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Detective Cat Kinsella is picking up drinks for her colleagues from the local coffee shop and having a little banter with the owner. As she walks away he calls her back. Thinking he’s going to ask her out, she feels uncomfortable but he surprises her by asking her advice about his wife who, according to him, seems somewhat unstable and unpredictable. She tells him to report to his local police station. It really isn’t her problem, murder is her department. The incident is quickly forgotten when a girl’s body is discovered in a flat and another long investigation begins. It appears the girl attended a party at her boss’s house on the day in question but when Cat discovers the coffee shop owner, Joseph Madden also attended and is under suspicion her initial thoughts are turned on their head. A clever story that has the reader suspecting most of the characters along the way before the final reveals that conclude a well conceived book. Maybe a little long winded at times and the ending was a little frustrating but I would definitely read the next in the series.

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Wow - what a tense mystery! Honestly couldn't put it down. I don't tend to read crime novels that often unless they have some sort of unique factor, but this was written extremely well. The character of Cat is so well explained and consistent throughout the book, I really feel like I know and like her as a human. I didn't realise this was the second in the series, but it read really well as a standalone mystery. Obviously aside from the cliffhanger ending! Honestly if I ever needed my innocence proving, Cat is who I'd go to. I couldn't put this book down. It was twisty enough without being unrealistic which I really like - some crime novels just choose the most wildly unlikely candidate as the killer to up the shock factor but I didn't feel like that happened here. It was logical without being obvious, and backed up by thoughtful and clever details. Thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good female police officer led series. More like this, please!

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