Cold to the Touch - by Kerri Hakoda

About the Book

"When the body of a barista is found in the once-pristine Alaskan snow, Anchorage homicide detective DeHavilland Beans is gutted to recognize the young woman, Jolene. He'd bought coffee from her every morning and knew her as a bright college student working her way through school. Devastated by the murder and by the life cut short, Beans vows to find the killer. Since scavengers damaged the body, obtaining any usable evidence is impossible, even with the assistance of wildlife expert Raisa Ingalls, Beans's ex. When the body of another woman is found, a serial killer is suspected, and the FBI joins the hunt. After a third body turns up, Beans is desperate to find the killer, especially when another woman goes missing. With the murderer moving so quickly, Beans and his team are determined to stop the spree and catch the killer before it's too late"--

Book Synopsis

2025 EDGAR BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD NOMINEE!

American Predator meets Harlan Coben in this taut, ticking-clock thriller in which women are being kidnapped and murdered in the dead of an Alaskan winter.

When the body of a barista is found in the once-pristine Alaskan snow, Anchorage homicide detective DeHavilland Beans is gutted to recognize the young woman, Jolene. He'd bought coffee from her every morning and knew her as a bright college student working her way through school. Devastated by the murder and by the life cut short, Beans vows to find the killer.

Since scavengers damaged the body, obtaining any usable evidence is impossible, even with the assistance of wildlife expert Raisa Ingalls, Beans's ex. When the body of another woman is found, a serial killer is suspected and the FBI joins the hunt.

After a third body turns up, Beans is desperate to find the killer--especially when another woman goes missing. With the murderer moving so quickly, Beans and his team are determined to stop the spree and catch the killer before it's too late.

Pulse-pounding and vividly depicted, this Alaskan thriller will electrify fans of Lisa Gardner and true crime junkies fascinated by the Israel Keyes case.

Review Quotes

Praise for Cold to the Touch

2025 EDGAR BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD NOMINEE!

"[An] excellent, fast-paced police procedural . . . For fans of Harlan Coben or Lissa Marie Redmond."
--Library Journal, starred review

"[An] immersive debut . . . A memorable leading man . . . [And] a diverse, fascinating landscape readers will want to get lost in."
--Publishers Weekly

"An excellent debut novel--a very well written police procedural with some dark and chilling undertones in the atmospheric Alaskan winter."
--Mystery & Suspense Magazine

"A fast-paced, riveting story . . . Fans of police procedurals will want to pick up this one."
--Lesa's Book Critiques

"Vivid descriptions, a complex and thoroughly human detective, and rapidly escalating suspense make Cold to the Touch a first-class thriller."
--Pamela Beason, author of the Sam Westin Wilderness Mysteries

"With one diabolical murder after another, this startling depiction of Anchorage, Alaska's highly diverse world of cops and bad guys keeps a reader waiting for the next shoe, or more to the point, the next body to drop."
--Richard Chiappone, author of The Hunger of Crows

"Young women murdered. Bodies buried in the Alaska winter snow where animals eat their entrails. Who is the savage human beast doing this? And why? From the crime scene to the suspect interviews to Beans, a multi-racial detective with a lot on his mind, Cold to the Touch zings with the elements of the procedural detective story mixed with the unexpected complexities of family relationships. Hard hitting and plotted with high craft, Hakoda's novel is a joy to read . . . and a fast one, too."
--Jack Remick, author of Blood and Man Alone; co-author of The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery

"Murder in the snow just outside Anchorage, Alaska. A frantic call to the cops--but the crime is nastier when the cop knows the victim--all that responsibility--all that remorse crashing down onto the shoulders of Detective DeHavilland Beans, Kerri Hakoda's bi-racial sleuth, the hero of Cold to the Touch, who joins the ranks of intrepid crime-fighters--Holmes and Poirot, Marple and Marlowe, Spade and Warshawski--for a good fast police procedural, from an author who has a tight grip on her own prose."
--Robert J. Ray, author of the Matt Murdock mystery series and The Weekend Novelist

About the Author

Kerri Hakoda was born in Hawaii, but calls the Pacific Northwest her home and Alaska her inspiration. She lives with her husband in northwest Washington, where she writes mystery, historical, and young adult science fiction.