Book Review: Cold as Hell (Haven’s Rock, #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Cold as Hell
Series: Haven’s Rock, #3
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: February 18, 2025
Length: 341 pages
Genre: Thriller/mystery
Source: Library
Rating:

SPOILERS AHOY: Even the synopsis for this book is spoilery, so if you prefer to know nothing in advance, skip the details below!

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong returns to Haven’s Rock in Cold as Hell as Casey Butler hunts down a dangerous killer during a deadly blizzard.

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.

Is it enough for me to review Cold as Hell by saying THIS IS ANOTHER EXCELLENT HAVEN’S ROCK STORY and just leave it at that?

No?

Okay, then… As I’ve said repeatedly, I’m a big fan of pretty much everything I’ve read by Kelley Armstrong, fell head over heels for her Rockton series, and am now tearing my way through the Rockton spin-off series, Haven’s Rock. This 3rd Haven’s Rock book is just as terrific as all the rest, and its particularly high stakes had me on the edge of my seat throughout.

As I do whenever I discuss these books, I’ll provide a summary of the premise in a tiny little nutshell:

Husband/wife, sheriff/detective team Eric and Casey now have their first set of residents in their secret little town of Haven’s Rock, a remote place deep in the Yukon wilderness, where people needing safety and anonymity can hide away for a few years. There are rules, of course — no cell phones, no contact with the outside world, do your share of work, and stay out of the forest! That last piece can be hardest to enforce. For newcomers, the dangers of being outside town limits aren’t necessarily as obvious as they should be, which is why Eric and Casey have their hands full keeping people safe.

In Cold as Hell, several months have past since the events of the previous book, The Boy Who Cried Bear. It’s March, still a very cold time in the Yukon wilderness, but there are signs that spring may be poking its head out in the coming months. The town is functioning well, with some more recent arrivals bringing the total population up to about seventy, including staff, individual residents, and a small number of couples and families.

I’ll add ONE MORE SPOILER ALERT at this point. While I won’t give away secrets related to the central mystery plot of Cold as Hell, the status of some of the main characters will be a spoiler for anyone who hasn’t gotten to this point in the series yet. You have been warned! Ready?

OK, the big development here is that Casey is about eight months pregnant. It hasn’t been easy — due to the attack she survived in her teens, doctors have never been sure that she’d be able to get pregnant, and if she did, whether she could carry a pregnancy to term. She’s had a couple of scares, but at this point, she’s approaching what would be considered a safe delivery date. While Casey’s physician sister April is now a resident of the town and available to provide care if needed, the plan is for Casey and Eric to fly to White Horse — where the region’s major medical center is located — well in advance of her due date.

Casey and Eric should know by now that their plans never seem to go exactly as intended. When one town resident is roofied and then rescued from an attempted kidnapping and assault, tracking down the perpetrator is the most urgent priority. And when this crime is followed by another resident going missing during a blizzard, only to be found frozen to death outside the town limits, a full-scale murder investigation is required. With Casey under strict orders to limit physical exertion, there’s only so much she can take on, and she finds herself frustrated by not being able to fulfill her responsibilities as town detective, even though she’s well aware that her and her baby’s well-being have to come first.

The murder in Cold as Hell is particularly horrific, as are the details we later learn about other crimes the perpetrator may have committed. Meanwhile, Casey’s investigation is fascinating. As she herself acknowledges, this is essentially a locked-room mystery: Given the town’s isolation as well as the recent blizzard, the only real answer is that the murderer is someone living within Haven’s Rock — possibly a close friend or ally. With fingers pointing in both expected and unexpected directions, and the very strong possibility that the killer could strike again, Casey and Eric have to work around the clock to solve the case, while making sure that she doesn’t overdo anything and put herself at risk.

The mystery is incredibly well structured and plotted, with the myriad twists and turns that are hallmarks of this series. Nothing is obvious, and when the answers finally come, they’re all most too much to take in… not that the plot isn’t believable, just that the resolution isn’t one I ever saw coming.

I did have a bit of a quibble with a plot decision, which — I get it! — may feel necessary in terms of ratcheting up the stakes and the excitement, but which left me totally appalled at the characters’ decision-making. FURTHER SPOILER ALERT: Just when I was thinking to myself that this would be the rare book in the series where Casey herself wasn’t in direct physical danger because of her investigation… she’s back in danger! Casey and Eric had already left town to get her situated nearer to medical care… and then they go back to Haven’s Rock when a scary new fact comes to light about the case! Again, I do get that for drama’s sake, you really can’t beat having the pregnant lady rushing (or waddling) back into danger… but Eric could have gone without her! Is it really believable that she’d rush out into the wilderness to chase further clues and hide the fact that she’s going into labor so as not to interrupt the tracking? Noooooo…. but I loved the book anyway.

OK, wrapping this all up. Cold as Hell blew me away! I was completely absorbed by the crime/thriller aspects, and just as drawn in by Casey and Eric’s personal story. Plus, it’s always good spending time in Haven’s Rock, even if it’s just to see how everyone is staying busy these days (although daily life in Haven’s Rock is never ordinary or without fresh surprises). Kelley Armstrong has built a well-developed little world in this series, and each book provides fresh insight into what the experience of actually living there might feel like.

Book #4, First Sign of Danger, is being released this week! I plan to dive in ASAP… but then I’ll be caught up, and I’m feeling torn about that. On the one hand, I’ve loved every moment of exploring the world of the Rockton and Haven’s Rock books… but on the other hand, I know I’ll hate the moment when I realize that there are no further books in the series for me to read — presumably, until another new installment gets released next year.

Interested in the worlds of Rockton and Haven’s Rock? Check out my reviews of these previous books:
City of the Lost (Rockton, #1)
A Darkness Absolute (Rockton, #2)
This Fallen Prey (Rockton, #3)
Watcher in the Woods (Rockton, #4)
Alone in the Wild (Rockton, #5)
A Stranger in Town (Rockton, #6)
The Deepest of Secrets (Rockton, #7)
Dead Letter Days (Rockton, #7.5)
Murder at Haven’s Rock (Haven’s Rock, #1)
The Boy Who Cried Bear (Haven’s Rock, #2)

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
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5Feb2026

Book Review: The Boy Who Cried Bear (Haven’s Rock, #2) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Boy Who Cried Bear
Series: Haven’s Rock, #2
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: February 20, 2024
Length: 339 pages
Genre: Thriller/mystery
Source: Library
Rating:

In The Boy Who Cried Bear, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong keeps readers on the edge of their seats while detective Casey Duncan tries to locate the threat before it’s too late. . .

Haven’s Rock is a well-hidden town surrounded by forest. And it’s supposed to be, being that it’s a refuge for those who need to disappear. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton already feel at home in their new town, which reminds them of where they first met in Rockton. And while they know how to navigate the woods and its various dangers, other residents don’t. Which is why people aren’t allowed to wander off alone.

When Max, the town’s youngest resident—taught to track animals by Eric—fears a bear is stalking a hiking party, alarms are raised. Even stranger, the ten-year-old swears the bear had human eyes. Casey and Eric know the dangers a bear can present, so they’re taking it seriously. But odd occurrences are happening all around them, and when a dead body turns up, they’re not sure what they’re up against.

I think I’ve made it clear by now just how much I love Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series and its spin-off, Haven’s Rock. I’m happy to say (no big surprise!) that the 2nd Haven’s Rock novel is just as strong and engaging as the previous books. Take a terrific premise and setting, mix in a twisty, high-stakes crime to solve… and you get a book like The Boy Who Cried Bear, which kept me hooked from start to finish.

In a nutshell: Husband/wife, sheriff/detective team Eric and Casey now have their first set of residents in their secret little town of Haven’s Rock, a remote place deep in the Yukon wilderness, where people needing safety and anonymity can hide away for a few years. There are rules, of course — no cell phones, no contact with the outside world, do your share of work, and stay out of the forest! That last piece can be hardest to enforce. For newcomers, the dangers of being outside town limits aren’t necessarily as obvious as they should be, which is why Eric and Casey have their hands full keeping people safe.

Among the town’s new batch of residents are a widowed mother and her two sons. After witnessing a crime and providing testimony, the family entered a witness protection program, only to be tracked down and attacked in retaliation, leaving the father dead and the survivors traumatized. At Haven’s Rock, they hope to find both refuge and a place to start healing. But when 10-year-old Max disappears after venturing into the forest, Haven’s Rock goes on full alert. It’s up to Casey and Eric to track the missing boy, and to figure out whether the potential kidnapper is an outside threat or someone sheltering within their little town.

Once again, it’s fantastic to see Casey and Eric in action. Their investigations are always a thrill. Here, the crime itself is up for debate: Has the outside world caught up with the family, threatening not just them but also the very existence of Haven’s Rock? Is there a madman out in the forest, potentially stalking town residents? Or does the threat have something to do with the heavily armed mining camp located several miles from Haven’s Rock, with which Casey and Eric have established an uneasy truce?

Meanwhile, a new development in Casey and Eric’s relationship leaves them reeling and with plenty of questions about what their future might hold. No spoilers from me… but I will say that they’ve never been stronger as a couple, and their honesty and commitment continue to be powerful and inspiring.

The mystery itself takes plenty of twists and turns throughout the book, with misleading clues, people acting badly even if not directly linked to the crime, and questionable characters providing information that’s not entirely reliable. The ending is very interesting — the crime is solved, but not every last bit of the puzzle has an answer, setting up what’s likely to be an ongoing source of tension and danger within the world of the Haven’s Rock series.

Obviously, I love this series, and recommend it highly! I’d suggest starting right at the beginning of the Rockton series, and going on from there. While the mysteries are always excellent, my favorite elements are those related to Casey and Eric’s relationship and the various close friends and associates who make up the communities of Rockton and Haven’s Rock. The character development over the course of these series is excellent, and is a big factor in how very compelling these books are.

I’ll be diving into the 3rd book in the series, Cold As Hell, just as soon as I can… and after that, I’ll be ready for the upcoming new release, First Sign of Danger. Here’s hoping Kelley Armstrong continues writing many, many more books in this series!

23Jan2026

Book Review: Murder at Haven’s Rock (Haven’s Rock, #1) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Murder at Haven’s Rock
Series: Haven’s Rock, #1
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: February 21, 2023
Length: 340 pages
Genre: Thriller/mystery
Source: Purchased
Rating:

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton Novels had one of the most unique towns in crime fiction. Murder at Haven’s Rock is a spinoff, a fresh start… with a few new dangers that threaten everything before it even begins.

Haven’s Rock, Yukon. Population: 0

Deep in the Yukon wilderness, a town is being built. A place for people to disappear, a fresh start from a life on the run. Haven’s Rock isn’t the first town of this kind, something detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, know first hand. They met in the original town of Rockton. But greed and deception led the couple to financing a new refuge for those in need. This time around, they get to decide which applicants are approved for residency.

There’s only one rule in Haven’s Rock: stay out of the forest. When two of the town’s construction crew members break it and go missing, Casey and Eric are called in ahead of schedule to track them down. When a body is discovered, well hidden with evidence of foul play, Casey and Eric must find out what happened to the dead woman, and locate the still missing man. The woman stumbled upon something she wasn’t supposed to see, and the longer Casey and Eric don’t know what happened, the more danger everyone is in.

What do you do when you reach the end of a terrific series? If you’re author Kelley Armstrong, you spin off into a new (equally terrific) series! The Rockton series wrapped up in 2022 after seven strong novels, and was then followed by a novella (Dead Letter Days) that serves as a bridge between Rockton and Haven’s Rock.

And here we are, with a new town and new series to explore! The Haven’s Rock series starts with a bang (or kind of a crash and a thud, if we’re being literal) with the first book, Murder at Haven’s Rock.

A quick “history” lesson to set the stage: Rockton was a secret town hidden in the Yukon wilderness, a place where those needing sanctuary could live off the grid for a couple of years. Rockton’s day-to- day needs were overseen by Sheriff Eric Dalton and his partner/lover/wife Detective Casey Butler. The town functioned, but not always smoothly, while the powerful, remote council that controlled the town’s funds made shady decisions about who to allow in, leaving the town to deal with fallout from a variety of criminals and generally bad eggs who also found shelter in Rockton.

The Rockton series ends with the dismantling of the town. Eric, Casey, and a small group of close allies move forward with establishing a new, better version of Rockton: Haven’s Rock, where the town will be built to their specification, and where they’ll have better control over ensuring that only those who truly need refuge are allowed in.

As Murder at Haven’s Rock opens, the new town is still in the final stages of construction, with move-in dates quickly approaching. Eric and Casey make their first visit to Haven’s Rock when the construction project manager requests help. Two of her crew — the head architect and engineer — have gone missing. Venturing into the forest is forbidden, but it appears that that’s where they both went… and then disappeared. Eric and Casey are delighted to get a first look at their new town — although they would have preferred that it not come with missing persons, dead bodies, and potentially multiple crimes to solve.

The mysteries in Murder at Haven’s Rock are doozies. First, it’s not clear that crimes have even occurred, and even if they have, under whose jurisdiction they’d fall. Once Eric and Casey start investigating, they find dead ends and conflicting trails, possible motives, and unwelcome surprises in the shape of outsiders in what they’d believed to be an unpopulated area.

The crime and mystery aspects of this story are superb, with twists and confusion around every corner. The who’s-who of suspects and victims and interpersonal connections is complicated, and the author does an amazing job of keeping it all manageable, even when it seems like there are almost too many options at play. There’s a really satisfying and convincing resolution, even while the ending of the story introduces what’s sure to be a major source of danger and conflict as the series moves forward.

Meanwhile, we get an excellent introduction to the new town of Haven’s Rock. It’s really fun to go alongside Eric and Casey as they explore their new home, especially when their key people start to arrive as well.

Murder at Haven’s Rock is a terrific kick-off to this new series, and I’m delighted to be digging in. As of this moment, two more book are available, with another set for release in February 2026. And even though I have a ton of other reading commitments, I can’t help but admit that I won’t be able to hold off for very long before picking up book #2, The Boy Who Cried Bear.

7Dec2025

Novella Review: Dead Letter Days (Rockton, #7.5; Haven’s Rock, #0.5) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Dead Letter Days
Series: Rockton, #7.5; Haven’s Rock, #0.5
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: February 20, 2023
Length: 87 pages
Genre: Thriller/mystery
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Eric Dalton spent most of his life in Rockton, a hidden town in the Yukon for people who need to disappear. Now that sanctuary is gone, and he’s holed up in a wilderness lodge with his girlfriend, Casey Duncan, and their friends, as they scout for a place to build their own Rockton. When Eric and Casey find a literal message-in-a-bottle, it leads them to the mystery of a woman who went missing decades ago, having never received that vital message. As they investigate that cold case, Dalton must finally lay to rest the ghosts of his own past and make some overdue decisions before he’s ready to step forward in his new life with Casey.

Strictly for Rockton series readers, this tidy novella provide an engaging bridge between the completed series and the spin-off Haven’s Rock series. We’re treated to familiar characters in a new, transitional setting, as they prepare to move to a new town and start fresh, on their own terms.

In other words… if you haven’t read the Rockton books, this novella is not for you! BUT… it’s an excellent series, so consider this my friendly encouragement to go pick up book #1, City of the Lost!

In Dead Letter Days, the plot revolves around two sets of communications, rediscovered years after they were written. The first involves a mystery of a missing woman, which Casey feels compelled to investigate. The second hits much closer to home, as letters related to Eric’s childhood come to light and provide him with much needed explanations and an unexpected opportunity for closure.

The Rockton books are all told from Casey’s point of view, so it’s a treat here in Dead Letter Days to have Eric as the narrator. It’s our first time getting to see the world through his eyes, and it’s fascinating.

As I’ve said, this is absolutely not a stand-alone or an entry point — but it is a terrific read that fans should not miss!

As for me, I’m dying to dive right into the Haven’s Rock series… but I’m going to show just a tiny bit of restraint and hold off until the new year.

Interested in the Rockton series? Check out my reviews of the previous books:
City of the Lost (Rockton, #1)
A Darkness Absolute (Rockton, #2)
This Fallen Prey (Rockton, #3)
Watcher in the Woods (Rockton, #4)
Alone in the Wild (Rockton, #5)
A Stranger in Town (Rockton, #6)
The Deepest of Secrets (Rockton, #7)