A fractured marriage. A silent family. A secret that connects them all......
Having read and loved Caz Frear's first novel "Sweet Little Lies" I was very much looking forward to meeting DC Cat Kinsella again in "Stone Cold Heart".
"When DC Cat Kinsella is approached by Joseph Madden for help with his wife Rachel, there's not much she can do. He 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 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.
Adulterer. Murderer. Victim. Who would you believe......?"
I just love Cat, she's such a likeable main protagonist. Although not flawed, she isn't perfect either and her whole tough demeanour is a refreshing change to the troubled and 'poor me' female characters you so frequently meet in other police procedurals.
In fact all the characters are convincingly portrayed and the storyline is knockout brilliant. The relationship between Cat and her Sergeant, Luigi Parnell was truly wonderful to read but even better was the relationship between DCI Kate Steele and her team, realistic humour, excellent leadership and a perfectly believable working scenario.
I enjoyed this fantastically plotted story from the very first page, with relevant twists and turns and with frequent forays into Cat's personal life, this made for very impressive reading and one that I found very hard to put down. All through the story I felt I was a part of the hard working team solving the murder, so good was the author in engaging the reader every step of the procedural way.
This is the second in the DCI Cat Kinsella series and by no means do you need to read the first one, as this works just as well as a standalone. Although for personal enjoyment and to fully engage with the superb characters, you may want to read "Sweet Little Lies" first. The last sentence leaves a fantastic opening for book three which I'm now eagerly anticipating for the future, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this seriously addictive series, the author Caz Frear, or DCI Cat Kinsella herself. If you're a crime fan you shouldn't be disappointed!

An amazing five stars for a read that kept me thoroughly entertained!

The book starts off with an odd conversation between DC Cat Kinsella and the owner of a bougie coffee shop. It isn't until a few months later and Cat is investigating the murder of a young woman that the significance of the encounter becomes apparent. It's a great investigation to get to the truth about what happened to the murdered Naomi that involves an entire family who have more skeletons than most in their closet. Whilst the case is ongoing Cat struggles with her relationship with Aiden and the secret she is keeping from him, and old family 'friends' rear their unwelcome heads.
I really enjoyed the slightly slower pace of this book compared to a lot of police procedurals. I really felt like I was able to get to know the characters, but also feel the frustration of the investigating team as each new discovery about the case seems to just muddy the waters. Cat is a great character as well, and I genuinely worried for her each time Uncle Frank turned up. The conversation she has with her Dad at the end of the book about these visits was such a great cliffhanger and I can't wait to see what the next book brings.

I read this book completely unaware that this was the second in a series. This didn't mar my enjoyment of this book, but I would now like to go and read 'Sweet Little Lies' to understand the dynamics of Cat's family and exactly what happened to MaryAnne.

My thanks go to Net Galley and the publishers for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

An interesting thriller with alot of information about police procedures. Lots of twists and turns when an Australian lady is murdered. Thanks to Netgalley for an Arc.

Stone Cold Heart is an excellent second novel from Caz Frear, it is the first book I have read and enjoyed it so much I have now purchased her first novel in the Cat Kinsella series. a great story that moves at a relaxed pace without stagnating. I could not put this down once I had gotten into the story. it would have helped to have read stone cold lies first however but I wouldn't say it was required. the characters were realistic as was the plot with plenty of twists and turns.

I really enjoyed this book . The plot line had many twists and turns making the book difficult to put down. From personal experience I can say that the content was really well researched which only added to how good this book really is .
An excellent read.

Enjoyed the twists and turns around the ‘who dun it’ element of the story and didn’t guess the culprit, which I always like in a crime story. The underlying/parallel personal storyline of the main character and her problematic relationships with family members added depth and I guess provides some potential for future novels in the series.

A flirty barista, Joseph Madden confides in DC Kinsella that he is being threatened by his wife, Rachel. DC Cat Kinsella works out of the Police station near Joseph's coffee house. With no further details supplied, DC Kinsella thinks nothing of it. The information soon becomes relevant when DC Kinsella's team has to solve the murder of 22-year-old Naomi Lockhart. Joseph and Rachel Madden were at the same party Naomi Lockhart attended hours before she was found dead. "One Person can spin you a lie but it's hard for two to stay completely in step". Joseph Madden is subsequently arrested and his wife has provided an alibi for him.
The book draws you in from the start and introduces you to different characters all of whom you can point the finger of suspicion at. Supposedly buried secrets are unearthed that could prove to be relevant or not to the present. Altogether a good read with the relevant twists that you will expect from this genre.

Detective Constable Cat Kinsella and her partner Luigi Parnell have a crime to solve. A young Australian woman is dead and all clues point to a man named Joseph Madden. But as further details come to light, Kinsella and Parnell discover there’s more to this investigation than meets the eye.

I didn’t know when I read this book that it’s actually the second of a series. Thankfully, it didn’t matter, and I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless. Cat is a fantastic protagonist. Down to earth and completely normal with flaws and secrets like anyone else. She’s smart with a dark sense of humour and I really enjoyed the first person narrative.

The plot had lots of twists and red herrings. The relationship between Cat and ‘Sarge’ was wonderful. The love and respect between them was such a great, heart-warming part of the story. Cat’s backstory (which I now know is book one) is hinted at but never fully revealed and I kind of enjoyed the whole guessing what happened part. However, the book just ended too abruptly for me. I will probably pick up the first book now though. Definitely recommend!

Thanks to Bonnier Zaffre and NetGalley for the free eARC.

Maybe next time around we’ll come back as normal people. Just normal folk with normal problems...

Stone Cold Heart is an excellent second novel from Caz Frear, in what may well be my favourite genre - the police procedural. Frear is a new author to me - I haven’t read her first book, Sweet Little Lies, though I probably should have done as I rather suspect Stone Cold Heart of containing significant spoilers for that first outing, courtesy of young DC Cat Kinsella, our narrator. That won’t stop me going back to read it, though.

When she’s called to the murder scene of twenty-two year old Naomi Lockhart - a young Australian newly in London, noticeable for her long lilac hair - Cat is determined to bring the perpetrator to justice. (I really liked the care and commitment shown by all the police officers here to the victim and her family.) It’s a surprise, though, to find that one of the main suspects - Joseph Madden - is someone Cat knows slightly, albeit only through his employment at a local coffee shop - and the fact that not long ago he rather creepily asked for her advice on his wife Rachel’s strange behaviour. Joseph is certainly an unpleasant character, but is he also a murderer?

Stone Cold Heart is an extremely well written and sharply plotted story, and Cat was a very engaging narrator. Altogether a really enjoyable read. The only issue I had was the very end - which I appreciate was presumably to set up a future plot line, but I didn’t at all like the way this was done. Apart from that, though, I loved it.

This was a really solid police procedural with a great plot and realistic and engaging characters. It was really well written and full of twists and turns that kept me hooked.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Bonnier Zafre for the ARC.
Stone Cold Heart is a really well-written crime mystery; with believable dialogue and well-developed characters you just have to keep reading this complex plot. Just when you think you've got a handle on what's really going on Caz Frear artfully pulls the rug from under you and steers you in a completely different direction. Twists and turns abound - red-herrings constantly baffle, until the truth is unearthed.

On the coffee run for her team, DC Cat Kinsella is cornered by the owner of the coffee shop, Joseph Maddon, seeking her advice on how to handle threats that his wife Rachel was making - that she would make him suffer and 'pay' (for past infidelities). Cat advises him to seek local advice, goes back to work and doesn't give it another thought.

Cat and DS Luigi (Lu) Parnell are called to a murder scene. Naomi Lockhart, a 22yr-old from Australia had only been in the Country for some weeks, temping at a recruitment agency. She was sharing a house with Kieron Drake, a personal trainer, and was last seen at a staff party in Muswell Hill, North London 4 days previously on Saturday.
Now, keep up:
Marcus and Kirstie Connor own the recruitment agency where Naomi worked. Marcus also runs a charity working in sports for ex-offenders - one of which is Kieron Drake which is how Naomi came to house-share with him, on Marcus's introduction. Kirstie's sister Rachel is married to Joseph Maddon and have a precocious teenaged daughter Clara. Joseph seems to have money, a classic car, dresses in designer labels and travels to find the best coffee, yet they live in a highly-secured flat on a run-down estate.

All, except Clara, were present at the staff party. All have alibis. All have very hazy memories of that evening, although some definite times are remembered. Joseph comes under suspicion but maintains he is being set-up, that his wife is finally getting even with him.
Some, if not all. are lying either by omission or design. Slowly the webs of deceit are dismantled, leading to an unsolved murder in Portsmouth 15 years previously.

I loved the interactions within the investigating team - DCI Kate Steele is sharp-talking, has a no-nonsense attitude and a quick wit. Cat and Luigi seem to have a supportive almost father/daughter relationship - however Cat has secrets in her background and her back-story involves some criminality around her father and uncle, and an unexplained involvement around a young women's death - whose brother she is secretly dating.

All in all this was a great read; an intricate crime mystery with occasional forays into Cat's personal life which hopefully will lead into Book 3.

This is a compelling read with a number of story lines cleverly brought together. The reader is distracted by a number of possible culprits and set the intriguing task of deciding who was the murderer. The outcome is anything but obvious. The lead detective has her own family issues which in some respects mirror the professional issues she is trying to solve. This book is very well written and the characters are believable. The author concentrates on the plot without unnecessary distractions or unnecessary description as is sometimes the case. I strongly recommend this book. It has style,depth and pathos.

I started reading this and then realised it was book two in the DC Cat Kinsella series. So, I stopped and downloaded the first book on my Kindle; I quickly read it and I am glad I did. There are important threads and character developments that were enriched greatly by knowing the first book.
So, 'Stone Cold Heart' is not a pacey crime book as such, but I was quite happy plodding along with Cat's day to day world. There's some really good plotting and the troubles with Cat's family is nicely interjected as she works her investigations. I also like Cat's team, the family guy 'Luigi' and her boss DCI Kate Steele is great fun!
This crime centres around the murder of a young woman, Naomi Lockhart who has recently come over from Australia to work. Her employer is interviewed, and this draws the investigation into the family and friends and it spirals from there. We join Cat and the team as they try to decipher the truths and the lies - this certainly becomes a complex problem and there's a lot of conflicting reports and a 'he said', 'she said' battle to work out the truth.
An enjoyable crime novel with some clever twists with an added dimension of a police officer with worrisome links to criminals and her fear of discovery creates a suspenseful underscore. I enjoyed this book. Will certainly look out for book 3. An engaging, intricately plotted believable crime book.

Many thanks for the review copy Zaffre Books and Netgalley.

For me this was ok but a bit slow, I kept wanting more to happen.I did like the characters ,wish I had read the first book but it wasn't the characters that were the problem for me, it was the pace of the book, I started getting bored and waiting for some thing to happen.I know I am an impatient reader, and others may enjoy a slower pace.Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.

I hadn't read the first book featuring Catrina and her family and there are parts of this book that mention it , I will definitely seek it out and give it a read . Stone Cold Heart was well written and enjoyable , a few good twists and some really despicable characters . When a young girl Naomi is found dead in her flat the case becomes very complicated , she had been at a party and the whole family whose party it was rapidly become suspects in some way or another . Add in Catrina's shady family and new boyfriend and it all makes for a very entertaining read .

I read until I was a quarter of the way through but nothing was gripping me. It’s a standard police procedural story with the lead detective having a secret which is not fully revealed, but I found I wasn’t too bothered by this. There were a lot of different people who were suspects but none that really gripped me in afraid

This is my first book by Caz Frear and I was really impressed by both the writing and the complexity of the storyline which is a murder mystery, police procedural and excellently done. It’s written in the first person (Cat Kinsella) and she is a real character with plenty of flaws and very good sense of humour giving this book a very “real” feel I hadn’t read the first book of this series but this in no way spoiled my enjoyment of this one and I will definitely be looking out for the next in the series. Plenty of twists and red herrings keeping you guessing to the end and this makes for all you want in a damn good mystery so I can highly recommend it as quality read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ooooooh it’s good, it’s very good. Quite a calm pace to this book there is no frenzied running about but it certainly can’t be described as a plodder ! I really could not keep away from it until I unraveled what happened. Good cast of characters, there are loads of them so some are less well drawn than others however those you need to know about are well formed - possible exception of the father. I’m not sure if there was a previous book if so he’s probably in there.

A must read for those who love a police procedural and a jolly good read

I really enjoyed this book. I haven't read the first in the series, Sweet Little Lies, but that didn't matter. Caz Frear gives enough information to make sense of any plot points relating to the events of that book whilst not beating readers over the head with them.

The plot itself is full of twists and turns, and for once I didn't figure out where it was going until it went there. I loved the way it all came together, and I loved Cat (the protagonist) – a flawed but wholly relatable character, smart and trying to do the right thing, despite the difficulties of her past. I really hope Ms Frear writes another in the series as I want to know what will happen to Cat next.

An excellent book. Highly recommended.

DC Cat Kinsella is the main protagonist in this story - part of a team investigating the murder of Naomi Lockhart
Lots of twists and turns which initially are exciting but then becomes a little confusing.
Interesting backstory of Cat’s family and her boyfriend which is very well written and provides extra depth.
The main suspects are not very likeable which detracts from the story despite this- overall I enjoyed the story.
I appreciate Netgalley allowing me to read and review this book.
I would be interested in reading more of Caz’s books.