Darcy Coates changes it up masterfully, just as skillful at the breakneck pace thriller as she is at the ghostly slow burn. The range!! Great characters and a propulsive mystery make this one a must-read.

This was my first Darcy Coates book, and I know I need to read more now. I totally forgot about this book, so this is a late review, but still so glad to have read it. I absolutely love the winter vibes as it seems so realistic with having snow in my state as well. This book had so many twists and turns, and the ending absolutely had me shook. I did not see that coming at all. This book played out like it was a movie and I absolutely love getting lost in a book that way. I really loved the different characters in this and the setting of this book. I cannot wait to read more of Darcy Coates.

Would I recommend? Yes to all the physiological thriller/horror/suspense lovers, that will be okay with the trigger warnings.

I’m an avid fan of Darcy Coates and her ability to weave spine-chilling tales that keep me hooked from start to finish. Unfortunately, Dead of Winter was a departure from that usual spellbinding experience. This one ended up being a DNF (Did Not Finish) for me.

Coates typically excels at crafting atmospheric settings and relatable characters, but something about this book didn’t resonate the same way. The plot seemed to meander, and I found myself getting lost and disinterested. It lacked the gripping tension and clarity I’ve come to love in her stories.

It’s disappointing because I know the potential is there—I’ve seen it in her other works. Perhaps it’s just a matter of personal taste or the mood I was in while reading, but Dead of Winter didn’t quite meet my expectations.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions below are my own.

Christa and her boyfriend are headed for a two week retreat at a ski resort in the mountains. She's thinking this might be when he proposes. When their bus is halted by a fallen tree, their guide ensures them help is on the way and the group takes shelter in a remote cabin to wait out the building storm. They realize they're in a living nightmare when the tour guide is found hours later brutally murdered and he's not the last of them to end up dead before the trip is over.

I would say this one is definitely more horror than thriller, the action never stops and the deaths are gorey and visceral. There are so many great suspects and you are with Christa the whole way as she tries to keep herself alive, find a way to get help and figure out the killer. The deaths were all really creative and I liked how all the clues came together to unmask the real killer and their motive.

Read this one if you liked No Exit.

This is a non-stop action fest of an isolated closed circle thriller that throws you right into the fire (or snow in this case). While I found the "whodunnit" immediately obvious, I think the tense vibes and effective setting made this a really entertaining read, and there was some body horror in here that I think made things even more intense.

What a great page turner. It makes you think about taking a bus trip to a mountain lodge in the winter! A selection of characters take this trip and they are in for the trip of their lives! Thrills and chills are all over the book. Happy reading, you really need to get this book! Thanks for writing such a great book!

I've been on a Darcy Coates kick this whole year because I read her space horror book followed by her ocean horror book and had a brilliant time. Dead of Winter is a completely different vibe to those two because it's set on dry land and the threat is very human. I really enjoyed this isolated wintery mystery set in the snowy mountains. It was very atmospheric. I enjoyed discovering the clues along with the characters and figuring out what was going on. I did find it to be predictable but to be honest I've probably read a few too many thrillers at this point so it takes something really wild to actually shock me. I was hooked while reading this and I think it's a great thriller to read while the nights are drawing in and you've got the fire on.

This is another great example of Darcy Coates' mastery of the classic horror/gothic formula. She follows a familiar structure but does it so well that it feels fresh and engaging. The story starts with a slower build-up, gradually layering on the suspense until the tension reaches its peak in the final few chapters. Coates is excellent at creating that eerie, atmospheric dread that keeps you turning pages.

I also have to say, I usually guess the plot or villain early on in books like this, but this one kept me guessing for much longer. The way the tension builds throughout makes the eventual reveal all the more satisfying. If you enjoy a suspenseful, slow-burn horror with a chilling atmosphere, I’d definitely recommend Dead of Winter!

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Darcy Coates for providing this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a relatively quick read. Mostly because I had to finish and know the end. I had suspicions all throughout but honestly…. I was on the edge and suspected everyone almost the entire length of the book. I stayed up past midnight. At the end I didn’t even care what the resolution was I was just ready for my nervous system to go back to normal. 😂 It was chilling. There was tons of suspense and now I will never go to a cabin in the woods in the dead of winter for a “special excursion.” I recommend this one if you enjoy some fear and suspense or for some reason dislike feeling calm.

I received an ARC courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. The opinions and oddly stated praise are mine alone.

Oh my gosh!! I have a new favorite author. Her writing style enveloped me into this whole story and I felt like I was there. It was an amazing intro that grasped me from the beginning. An adventure that kept me guessing what was going on and the ending left me stunned!! I can’t say anything bad about this book

Dead of Winter is filled with thrills and chills and not due only to the fact it's set during a freezing cold winter. I love the up and down between the characters and how Coates always leaves you guessing and in this case it's asking who is decapitating who. I didn't know who the killer was right away but I've heard some figured it out but that it didn't take away from the reading experience.

This was a quick read, but an enjoyable one. I would not say it is the best work by Darcy Coates but still a very good book. You can't beat a locked room mystery.

I absolutely love anything Darcy Coates and this one was no exception! I feel like the thrills and twists and turns just kept on coming! Christa and her boyfriend are on a retreat in a frozen wilderness when their bus leaves without them. Stranded in a frozen tundra, they must try to find safety. Christa falls and becomes separated from her boyfriend, whereupon she finds a cabin in the woods. Inside are all of the people from the tour bus. People begin to get murdered, savagely beheaded. But who is the killer? Is it an outsider? Or someone among the tour group? This book was fantastic!!!!

In typical Darcy Coates fashion this starts out at a sprint and doesn’t let up until the very end. Following Christa on a trip to a remote winter lodge where she hopes her life will finally make a turn for the better. The group immediately runs into trouble and begins fighting for their lives as one by one they are picked off by an unseen killer. Everyone suspects everyone in this locked room cat and mouse mash up.
From the start adrenaline gets pumping as everything that can go wrong does and people are being hunted for sport. I swear every other chapter ends in a cliff hanger.
DC does such a great job of hooking readers early and dragging them to the end of the story through all the blood and horror. By the end we’re as much covered in blood and guts as the characters.
Great for fans of mysteries, horror, locked room stories, cat and mouse, serial killers.

This book was soooo good. I am now a huge Darcy Coates fan! I found myself guessing all the twists until the very end. All the characters were very unreliable.

Darcy Coates is truly the spooky queen when it comes to horror and thriller. This novel was intense and gripping, with plenty of action and edge-of-your-seat storytelling, the injured female lead becomes trapped in a cabin with strangers while her boyfriend has gone missing. As others go missing to later be found in a grisly scene, the finger pointing begins!

A wonderfully paced whodunnit with shocking twists and turns. Make sure you have a cozy blanket because this one is best served COLD!

I was given this book by the publisher in return for an honest review.

We have a bus full of strangers going to a remote lodge. Our MC is going with her BF but they're quickly separated. We meet the ragtag group of people with them and start to build our theories. Ones by one their heads get added to a tree like macabre Christmas decorations. No one can trust anyone.

I'll be honest I knew who the butcher was about 1/4 a way through the book. But once I heard the secret from August I knew I was right. I honestly thought it was blazingly obvious. I appreciate the attempts at misdirection but it was obvious.

You get a lot of frustration from watching the characters struggle with what seems simple and their inability to truly attempt to investigate.

The end was satisfying but I'm still frustrated about the lack of closure on two points in the storyline. I think they should have closed.

It's a decent thriller but not a very good mystery I give it a 3.75⭐⭐⭐

A snowstorm comes in at the worst possible time - when Christa has joined a tour group which is exploring the Rockies. The group of strangers is forced to take shelter and ride out the storm in a small hunting cabin. During the night, the tour guide goes missing, only to have his severed head discovered by the group in the morning. Being isolated in the wilderness two things are for sure - one of them is a killer and the rest are in danger.

Christa isn’t sure who to trust but is left to figure out how to not only survive the killer, but also the elements.

I’ve read Darcy Coates before and enjoyed her, and I absolutely love isolated locations, especially weather-related isolation. So why didn’t I love this?? I can’t really say. I found the story itself to be a bit boring? The pacing felt strange, I was bored at times. There was a lot of predictability of who/how murders would happen…obviously you can’t trust your group but is wandering off on your own really the way to survive? Not likely…

Overall I think Darcy hits, but this just did not work for me.

~thank you to netgalley & the publisher for sending my an advance reader copy~

honestly im a little disappointed in this one. I love snowstorm/survival horror books so I expected this one to be a new favorite and sadly it was a miss.

I will say the atmosphere of this book was on point. It definitely provided some eerie imagery. I also appreciated the character dynamics and the overall mystery was fun.

It just felt like there was something missing in this story. the whole time I kind of felt like I was waiting for more and it just never happened :(

I couldn't put it down! The best way to describe this books is "unputdownable"
I love how eerie and tense the story is. WOW.