Christa and her boyfriend (Kiernan) are going by bus with a tour group to a magnificent, secluded vacation lodge deep within the Rocky Mountains in September while the weather is still nice. When they were close to their destination a felled tree blocks their way from traveling any further until they can remove it from the road. Christa and Kiernan go for a walk while the road is being cleared while large, fluffy snowflakes soon turn into an unexpected early Autumn blizzard.

Soon, they are lost since they can see nothing except dizzying whiteness and huge green and white trees when eventually Christa ends up getting separated from Kiernan while struggling to find their way back to the bus. Hours and hours after fighting desvastating temperatures and sheer exhaustion and almost succumbing to the tempting thoughts of giving up and just laying down and falling asleep in the snow yet she knows she has to find Kiernan so she finally stumbles upon a small cabin and finds her group inside but no Kiernan. Christa happens to be sick from suffering hypothermia and she also lost total feeling in one of her hands yet she does fall in and out of a restless, delirious sleep. Sometime during the night the tour guide disappears while the group assumes Kiernan has probably died of exposure from the freezing conditions but the next morning they never expected to find their guide butchered and left where they could easily find his body.

A sadistic killer is after the group, but why? Is it someone hiding out near the cabin or can it possibly be one of the members of the tour? As the blizzard continues to get worse, and without any way of contacting the outside world since there isn't any cell service in this part of the mountains the group is trapped within a small one-room cabin while wondering who to trust and the lack of food and freezing temperatures plus foul moods has everyone impatiently waiting to see what happens next until they find a way to walk to their lodge yet the snow continues to fall and gets deeper and deeper when suddenly another member of their party goes missing.

What is happening? How can this be happening? Everyone in the group seem like normal people but could one of them actually be a monster in hiding? How long can they survive these harsh, barely, livable conditions and how many can outlast a brutal killer and a blizzard in the Rockies could possibly last for many days or longer!


I never fail to enjoy a "Darcy Coates" novel. This book caught me off-guard when the action and suspense started right away and I just loved that. The author reels the reader in almost immediately and each chapter leaves one hanging so you just can't stop reading while needing to find out what will happen next. The atmospheric writing was so crazy, good and I felt so cold while reading even though it was over ninety degrees outside my home. The blizzard conditions gave a perfect locked room mystery feel to this well-written horrorfest! Fun, scary, entertaining, creepy, eerie and don't forget the bloody, bloody gore! Make sure you're not eating while reading this one of you might be sorry for that decision and for some of you readers late night reading might give some a few sleepless nights.

This story will have you rooting for some characters while despising others when their true personalities reveal themselves but ultimately readers can't help but be entertained with so many unexpected twists and turns while trying to find out who the killer or killers are. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, Bam, another terrific unexpected twist that made my jaw drop. "Darcy Coates" storytelling is so good that I always look forward to reading her books and they're always very different with new surprises. I can't express enough how much fun the blizzard made this story so special!

Trigger Warnings: Not for sensitive readers, blood, gore, brutality, torture, claustrophobia etc. "Fun, Yes!!"

Highly Recommend!

I want to thank the publisher "Poison Pen Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this exciting novel and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I given this horror book a rating of 4 1/2 CREEPY, BRUTAL AND DEMENTED 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!

My first Darcy Coates read and definitely not my last. Grabbed my attention immediately and kept me guessing. About 75% in, I did figure out the killer but didn't know the why until the twist ending. Great, entertaining and fast paced read.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the copy.

Dead of Winter kept me on the edge of my seat! It’s a fast pace thriller with lots of characters, but don’t worry keeping track because eventually everything merges together. It was marketed as horror, but it’s so twisty that I will take the liberty to labeled it as thriller-horror, the twists kept coming and fast.

Just imagine being cold, hungry, no service (which means you can’t call for help), and feeling stuck when people begin to die. It’s not obvious if it’s a serial killer, one of the group or just monsters involved. But, somehow as the reader I needed to find out!

I really enjoyed Darcy’s style of writing and excited to pick another one up soon!

Thank you to NetGalley, Darcy Coates and Poisoned Pen Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I am obsessed with Coates, I literally cannot get enough. This is one of my favourites of hers; it’s dark, gory and takes place in a winter storm that gets everyone stuck in a remote cabin. It’s amazing and you all need it!

If I could rate this more than 5 stars I would, favorite book of 2023 so far!
I currently have a book hangover because I just finished this book and I think my brain exploded.
The gripping suspense this book gives is like no other that I’ve read. The insane twist and turns and drama and utter madness around every corner is terrifying in the best possible way!
I could not put this book down, every time I had to I was sitting there stressed out trying to figure out how things were going to go. I really thought I had this book figured out about 4 separate times and was utterly wrong every time. This was the most fast paced, well written, throughly thought out and executed storyline and characters I have ever seen in a book. I am so intensely impressed by this book and am going to need some time to recover from this!
Absolutely recommending this to everyone I know and have left this review of my own free will after receiving an advanced reader copy from net galley thank you for this utter work of perfection!!

This was an enjoyable read, for the most part. By and large, it kept me guessing and second-guessing, to the point where I didn’t know who to believe, and that’s the point. Christa embarks on a wilderness adventure with the man who has finally made her believe that she can be free again, while again, happy at last. She’s starting to believe she *deserves* to be happy. Then it all comes crashing down in the most horrendous way. 9 people trapped in a desert of pure white, and all she could think was “we’re all going to die here”. While there were a few plot points and situations that didn't seem very believable to me, I enjoyed reading this. I believe that, if done well, and with a stronger screenplay, this could be an amazing film. Let's see, right? Definitely recommended for anyone looking for a big thrill and lots of analyzing people and their motives. Thank you to Black Owl Books and NetGally for the digital ARC. This was time very well spent!

Wow, this book had me from the get-go! I want to say there were so many twists, murders, and suspicious behaviors that I didn't have a clue who was the killer.

So a group of people take a tour bus to go on a trip to a lodge and there was the MC (Christa/Chrissy) and her soon-to-be fiancé, Kiernan, were on the bus. There was a mechanic, tour guide, ex-911 woman, and several others. None of the people seemed to have any connection to each other since none of them except Christa and Kiernan and a man named Denny and his son.

They went through a lot to get to the lodge and no sooner had they gotten there than one person had been brutally murdered and one of the men had gone missing. But with stormy, freezing weather there wasn't a lot they could do to search for the MIA.

I don't want to give away more spoilers or say who was missing/murdered, but the question was whether or not it was one of the people in the group or if there was a stranger stalking and killing them off.

this had me on the edge of my seat the whole book and I couldn’t put it down. It was very immersive and the characters were amazing.

📕 Dead of Winter - Darcy Coates
Another new author and another winner! Think And Then There Were None by OG Agatha Christie. This locked room whodunnit kept me on the edge of my seat, holding on for dear life. Christa, her boyfriend and a small group are heading on a tour to the Rocky Mountains when a snow storm forces the bus to stop at abandoned cabin. All I can say from here is all hell breaks loose as the tour group is targeted by a crazed killer!
This was a perfectly executed and chilling murder mystery with horror elements that made my stomach churn.
I’ll be reading more from Darcy Coates! Clever 4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🙏 @poisenedpenpress

My oh my oh my. Darcy Coates is quickly becoming a must read author for me.
Was some predictable?
Yup.
Am I mad at it?
Nope.
Thoroughly enjoyed this!!

DEAD OF WINTER is a claustrophobic, action packed slow burn (yes, all at once!) with twists that just keep on coming. Seriously, I kept on looking at the read percentage bar on my kindle and thinking "what ELSE is going to happen?!" because there was still so much of the book to go.

Coates does an amazing job writing thrillers that keep readers on the edge of their seat, and this is no exception!

Thank you to Netgalley, author and publisher for my arc.

A vacation gone wrong when a blizzard stops them from reaching their intended destination and the others on the trip begin getting killed one by one.

The setting of this book was impeccable. I read this in the summer and yet I felt cold. I felt isolated and claustrophobic. I felt the tension building as people were dying. I felt exhausted from the lack of sleep. However, I did struggle at the beginning of the book. The first third to half took me a while to read. That being said, the pace picks up and the ending was a propulsive read that kept me up late because I needed to read the end. The last chunk has slasher vibes if that's a buzzword for you. I certainly enjoyed it! There is a villain monologue at the end where we learn who and why, but it didn't bother me at all in this book. Overall I had a fun time! The killer is messed up and you see them playing with the victims throughout the story by staging their kills for everyone to see, which brings in a bit more gore and horror to what could have been a strictly mystery/thriller. I always have a good time with Darcy Coates' books and this wasn't different. I can't wait to keep reading her books!

Phenomenal book. A fantastic spooky and suspensul story. It was eerie and full of twists. Well written. .my first read by this author and definitely not my last

I've never really understood books being described as "atmospheric" until reading this. The setting felt like it was a character of this book; I was on edge through most of it. I took several breaks to de-stress with a lighter read. I loved it!

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I almost DNF this book after the 3rd or 4th death as they all were found in the same manor with not much action about them. But I pushed through and the second half of the book made up for it. I picked the killer out within the first few chapters, and I was right in the end… but all along the way I was second guessing myself. Definitely bit my nails on the last 75-100 pages.

This book started off slow for me but when it got going I was hooked. I really underestimated the amount of intensity that this book would have. I was on the edge of my chair reading as fast as I could. I thought once the book got going the pacing was great and the writing kept me engaged and wanting more.

When Christa's boyfriend asks her to go on a 2 week vacation in the Rockies near where he grew up she of course said yes. Unfortunately on the way to the lodge their bus stops as a tree had fallen on the road. Their guide says not to worry as he'll have it moved in no time. Christa and her boyfriend go for a little walk but unfortunately Christa slips and falls down an icy path. When she awakes she is covered in snow but manages to escape, however, her boyfriend is nowhere to be found. She starts to walk in the direction she thinks is best and finds a cabin just as she passes out. Lucky for her the rest of the bus mates are already there and come to her aid. When she awakes she realizes her boyfriend is not there. She insists they go look for him but they are unsuccessful in finding him. A bad winter storm is upon them and they are stuck in the cabin for at least the night as they bus cannot be moved due to the snow. The next say they realize their tour guide is missing but find him quickly after; well, they find his head hanging from a large tree outside the cabin. One by one they are murdered. Who is the murderer and why? Will they find help before it's too late?

I'm a very big Darcy Coates fan and this book did not disappoint. It's the first time I've read a thriller/mystery from them (I usually pick their scarier books) but it was just as great as the others I've read. This kept me on the edge of my seat from the get go and held on until the very end. I must have accused each and every single member of that bus as the killer. The characters were great and you find out just enough information in little bits at a time to give you the feeling you've got the story figured out but each time I was wrong. It was fast paced, well written and the chapters were great lengths that left me wanting to keep going. I would definitely recommend this one!!

I was lucky enough to read this for free and this is my honest review.

Really enjoyed this book by Darcy Coates, and it was my first time reading her. The book was hard to put down, as the plot and pacing were great. The characters were well developed. Will definitely be reading more from Darcy Coates.

This was very different from Darcy Coates other books, but it definitely didn’t disappoint! The suspense kept me turning pages late into the night because I had to know what was going to happen next and who the villain was! This book kept me on my toes never knowing who the real killer was, even when you think you know, you don’t.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an ARC of this book!

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was very intriguing to me. It had aspects that reminded me of Ant Then There Were None or more recently Daisy Darker. It’s set against a mountain getaway with a bus of strangers that get stuck at a small cabin after a bad storm and fallen tree block their way to their final destination. Some parts of the story were pretty brutal and disturbing but the twists will definitely mess with your head! Some I saw coming, others caught me completely off guard! I would recommend to anyone who likes psychological thrillers set in a cabin!