Kirsty Whitlock
- Apr 24, 2023
- 9 min read

Their Cold Hearts by Carla Kovach. Review

Book: Their Cold Hearts

Author: Carla Kovach

Pub Day: April 19th 2023

Book Description She shuts the door behind her, relieved to be in the safety of her own home. But tonight her house is the most dangerous place she could be. Someone has been waiting for her, and they know she’s home alone… Sasha loves her job finding accommodation for homeless people, and she’s proud of the small but cosy apartment she rents on the good side of town. She’s worked hard to leave her dark past behind her and make amends for the accident that still haunts her memories. She knows she was innocent, though she’s still careful about who and what she tells of her old life. But not all secrets stay hidden forever… When her phone rings loudly in the middle of the night, Sasha fears what she’ll hear when she picks up – a deathly silence. It’s happened every night for weeks. Is it a childish prank, or a chilling warning that someone has uncovered her secret? But the news of a body found at a local shelter means her worst nightmare has come true. It can’t be a coincidence that evidence related to the victim has been found at the same location where the most devastating moment of Sasha’s life took place. Days later, a second body is found and Sasha’s heart pounds wildly as she takes in the victim’s unforgettable green eyes. She hasn’t seen her in a long time, but she’d know her old friend anywhere. She was the only other person who knew Sasha’s secret, so how can Sasha prove her innocence now? Sasha doesn’t know who’s coming for her, but she’s certain of one thing: she’s next on the list… Fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh will love Their Cold Hearts – a totally thrilling and addictive crime thriller that will have you up all night!

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'Their Cold Hearts' by Carla Kovach.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Carla Kovach, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 14th April 2023.

This is the eighth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'Their Silent Graves' , 'The Broken Ones', 'One Left Behind', 'Her Dying Wish', 'Find Me', 'One Girl Missing' and 'What She Did' which I highly recommend. It is also the thirteenth book in the fantastic and addictive 'DI Gina Harte' series but can easily be read as a standalone.

I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh will love Their Cold Hearts – a totally thrilling and addictive crime thriller that will have you up all night!.' I am a huge fan of all three of these amazingly talented authors so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Carla and if this is half as good as 'One Left Behind', 'The Broken Ones', 'Their Silent Graves', 'Her Dying Wish', 'One Girl Missing' 'Find Me' and 'What She Did' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists a prologue, 63 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 , UK 🇬🇧 . I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I have in fact visited England on many occasions including going there on holiday last and this year so am looking forward to possibly recognising name places. This book is written in third person perspective and the protagonists are Detective Gina Harte and Sasha. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything. WELL, WELL, WELL CARLA DOES IT AGAIN!!!! YET ANOTHER EXPLOSIVE PAGE TURNER BY AN EXTREMELY TALENTED AUTHOR!! This book is yet another riveting instalment in this gripping and addictive series. Filled with vivid descriptions it is easy to get lost in the pages for hours. The cover and synopsis work perfectly with the storyline. This book hit every possible emotion and I loved every part of it. Yet another explosive storyline in this absolutely riveting and addictive series!! The storyline was unique, very fast paced, realistic and filled with suspense, tension, secrets, action and lots red herrings to throw you off the scent. I was completely invested in the storyline and completely shocked by who the killer turned out to be and never expected them in the slightest!!! I always love it when I'm shocked as there's nothing worse than working out the killer and your not even half way through the book yet. Carla manages this every single time which is just one of the reasons I absolutely loved picking up her books as she always proves me wrong. However, DO NOT tell my partner about this as he can never know and especially the fact that I am PLEASED to be proved wrong would absolutely shock him and I would never live it down!! The plot has so many layers and so many twists, turns and mini plots there is always something to keep you on the edge of your seat!!! Carla's evocative writing skills really brings every one of her books to life dropping the reader straight into the storyline and ensuring they hear, feel and see everything that is going on around them keeping them on the edges of their seats throughout. I lost count of how many times I looked up and it took me a few minutes to realise where I actually was as I was so immersed in the book! This book discusses homelessness and I am a huge believer that all of these should be discussed more often to help show people the different sides of being homeless and what they can experience. I have spoken to one homeless gentleman I meant who had been beaten up and urinated on just because he was on the streets when people came out of a pub drunk and they thought it was great fun. Situations like this make me absolutely sick and my heart goes out to so many genuine homeless people in the community. Many of them are not in the position to be able to help themselves and the council is unable to help them all. Carla has done another amazing job on touching on important subjects and as always shows the humanity needed and also portrays the importance of showing humanity to both the homeless as well as the officials who are just unable to help them no matter how much they want to. This book really goes to show that things are not always black and white!! I love that several chapters are from the perspective of several different people which gives an excellent insight to how they are feeling and what they are going through. As always Carla has done an immense amount of research and it shines throughout the book. The fact that she has her own personal experiences with hostels, ensure you read Carla's author notes at the back to find out more, brings the story to life even more as well as showing how real the problem of homelessness is. . An extremely well written and thought provoking action packed crime thriller. It is filled with loss, mystery, crime, suspense, tension and is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. As always this book has left me wanting more in the Gina Harte series!! CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULES BEFORE STARTING THIS AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN!!! Although this is the thirteenth book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader. I always enjoy picking up any of Carla's amazing books as they are always guaranteed to be page turners but I especially love picking up her Detective Gina Harte series as Gina and her team have all become like family and friends to me over the series and Gina's evocative writing really brings them to life leaving me devastated when I come to the end of each book and have to say goodbye never knowing when I will get to meet them all again. I absolutely love Gina and the fact that she is a strong female role model who has got a history herself makes it even better. I enjoyed meeting all the previous characters along with many new ones who all had their own personalities and were STRONG characters, well maybe not all!! A certain character, a few actually I could not stand but I'm extremely pleased that particular characters got their comeuppance, I won't say more than that as I don't want to spoil it for others but once you've read it I'm sure you'll know who I mean. I love the dynamics in Gina's team and the fact they all work so well together. Each of her team has their own unique traits and personalities and I love meeting them in each new storyline that Carla brings out. I won't say anymore than that as not to spoilt it for future readers. There were a few characters that I did not like, I would be shocked if I ever came across a book where I liked them all but one of the things that did shock me was the fact that I actually ended up emphasising with the killer and would even go as far as saying I understood why they did what they did but I wont say anymore than that as I do not want to spoil it for others!! Regardless of whether you love or hate the characters, Carla ensures each one plays their parts perfectly and the book just wouldn't be the same without each of them in it! I cannot wait to reconcile with this amazing team in the next addition to this absolutely amazing and one of my favourite book series'! If you have never read this series I highly recommend starting now. It is always great if you can start at the beginning of a series but the brilliant thing with Carla's books is that it really doesn't matter where you start as they can be read in any order. THIS IS A MUST READ, ACTION PACKED, UNPUTDOWNABLE PAGE TURNER THAT WOULD MAKE A BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE/TV SERIES. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THAT HAPPEN!! CONGRATULATIONS CARLA ON YET ANOTHER EXPLOSIVE INSTALLMENT IN AN EPIC SERIES!!! This is exactly why you are in my top 3 crime authors and series list!! Overall a page turning, psychological thriller that will leave you shocked and wanting to read more of this incredible series Genres covered in this novel include Suspense Thriller, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Serial Killer Thriller, Murder Thriller, Crime Thriller, Police Procedural Mystery, Murder, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction, Thriller, Police Procedural, Mystery and Psychological Thriller amongst others. I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Angela Marsons, Carol Wyer, C. L Taylor, Tess Gerritsen and anyone looking for an addictive and explosive series.

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl, Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter, Clare Mackintosh, Carol Wyer, The Wife Between Us, CL Taylor, Lisa Jewell and of course Carla Kovach and just anyone looking for an epic read with a twist. What are you waiting for?? Go grab your copy now!!!

382 pages.

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle and £8.99 in paperback via Amazon, at time of review, which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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Author Bio

Carla Kovach is a USA Today bestselling author from the UK and is published by Bookouture, Sphere and Boekerij. Her DI Gina Harte series has been translated into Dutch. As well as novels, she has also written stage and screenplays.