This is my first novel by Darcy Coates. Dark and compelling, I was unable to put it down! I can’t wait to read more from this author.

a 4.5 stars read.

Oh wow I really enjoyed this one, it's entertaining and captivating from the get go.

What I like:
- The story. It's like a classic Agatha Christie locked room mystery with horror and gory details. Yups I got the creepiness, the suspense and the details it's really gruesome and brutal. I got all those feelings from the first chapter and since then it's full adrenaline, edge of my seat, soooo intense (especially that last few chapter) and absolutely loving it.
- The setting. It's in Rocky Mountains with raging snowstorm. This setting totally upped the ante.
- Characters, each has their own charms, each keeps me suspecting them and keeps me guessing.

What I don't like:
- Predictable, If you read agatha christie you can guess it early on, but still id doesn't take away all the fun
- A bit unbelievable

Recommended: Definitely if you're looking for a horror locked room mystery with gory details.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an arc edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect for this summer heat! This “closed room” murder mystery can chill anyone to the bone. We follow Christa as she goes on an adventure with her boyfriend on a romantic small group tour of the Rocky Mountains. Quickly into the story a storm comes in and diverts the tour plans to a small unknown cabin. One by one people go off and when the group finds their head mounted on a tree do they begin to realize that a killer is among them. A survivalist story when not only are you in dire freezing conditions but you have a devious murderer on your tail. Christa must figure out who is killing off the group and also how to get out alive.
Exciting and nail biting! A fun who done it until the end…

There’s a reason why Darcy Coates is one of my favorite authors - I haven’t been disappointed by ANY book i’ve read by her yet. this one was AMAZING. literally, GO BUY IT RN. I read this on my kindle but definitely want a physical copy on my shelves. the suspense starts right away and doesn’t let up the entire time - I was constantly on the edge of my seat. I loved the eerie abandoned cabin in the woods setting. It was a classic whodunnit between the travelers/survivors on the trip making you think about who can be trusted. the twists kept coming and the overall plot was absolutely insane. you will NEVER see the ending coming - it was excellent.
It was the perfect amount of thrill/horror/mystery combined which made it a total fast paced and mind boggling book.

Dead of Winter was my 2nd book by Darcy Coates and I am officially a fan. For most of this book, I would've compared this to your "usual" blizzard thriller, but with that Darcy flair of extra graphic, extra creepy, extra horror. But then, of course, the twist... and that other twist... ooh, and that other twist!

I asked the question on my Instagram if anyone found it challenging to read winter thrillers in the middle of summer, and the resounding answer was NO! The consensus is that they are the perfect escape from the summer heat and humidity, so head out and grab this one, make a hot cocoa, sit directly in front of the A/C, and enjoy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC and I sincerely apologize for my horrible reading slump, which prevented me from finishing it in time for pub day last week!

In this fast-paced thriller from best-selling author Darcy Coates, Christa is part of a small tour group stranded in a snowstorm in the Rocky Mountains and forced to take shelter in a small abandoned cabin to wait out the storm. Their tour guide goes missing during the night and the next morning the group makes the gruesome discovery of his head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. One of the eight strangers that she is trapped with is a killer and as the survivors are killed off one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust if any of them are to get out alive.

A closed room mystery comparable to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None but better described as horror as the murders are quite grisly. The description of the murders was a bit much but that's a me problem as I should have realized that this sat more in the horror genre and wasn't for me. The author does an excellent job at creating an eerie atmosphere with the snow and cold and the claustrophobic feeling of the remote cabin in the Rocky Mountains. I figured out who the killer was just a few chapters in so it was lacking in suspense for me but still a good read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Dҽαԃ σϝ Wιɳƚҽɾ by Darcy Coates

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she's hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they'll be safe as they wait out the storm. She couldn't be more wrong. Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing...only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Eight drops to seven and it becomes clear that someone in the group is killing for sport.

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: This was a phenomenal locked room mystery and truly met all of my expectations. I liked the characters and the dynamics between them. I enjoyed the mystery and felt every aspect of the suspense. Who is the killer? Who will survive? Why is this happening? All of the elements that anyone would enjoy in a murder mystery-thriller book. Once I started reading it, I didn't want to put it down.

I thought that I would love this book. I love thrillers and with it being so hot and humid outside, the setting was great as well. The opening hooked me with quick action and an apparent closed door mystery setting. Unfortunately, the primary protagonist was not likable to me and I found her decisions frustrating. She also was initially obsessed with trying to unilaterally find her significant other who is out in the storm, but simultaneously is trying to sort of figure out the mystery. I’m not adverse to characters sleuthing and yet, this time, it didn’t work for me.
The atmosphere was great and this book will totally work for some readers.
#DeadofWinter #NetGalley #PoisonedPenPress

Save some time to get through this when you pick it up. Fast paced, great story, lots of twists to keep your mind reeling, your heart pounding, and your fingers turning pages. You won't want to put it down
It's a fun read designed for entertainment in a well developed setting along the lines of Agatha Christie. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I love a good lock room mystery and this one fit the bill!

A group of people, stranded in the Rocky Mountains in a cabin, begin to die one by one. Who is doing the killing? It has to be one of them right? Or is there?

This book was a nail biter. I was on the edge of my seat. Had several theories, which would be plucked away as the next person died.

The setting was perfection and the story well done!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I was not expecting this book to be so good. The author keeps you going all the way until the last page and I was totally surprised by the person who was the killer. You have the main person really Christa who along with her boyfriend joins a tour group in the Rocky Mountains. The bus has to stop because of a tree down in the road and along with the storm that has come through you begin to feel something is going to happen. It does many somethings as each person in the group is being killed, the fear amongst the people and everything that goes along with that and survival just adds to this story. A really good book with good characters.

3.75 stars

I didn't realize before reading that this was so heavily inspired by "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie--I'm not sure if it's technically a retelling, but if you've read both you will be able to predict exactly what happens in this by around 40% in. That being said, ATTWN is one of my favorite mysteries of all time, and the twist is a good one, so I wasn't mad about reading a riff on it.

"Dead of Winter" follows Christa, who is joining her boyfriend, Kiernan, for a vacation at a remote lodge in the snowy Rocky Mountains. Their tour group has 11 people in it, all from varying walks of life. On the way to the lodge, the bus has to stop while the guide removes a fallen tree from the road. Excited to get their romantic trip started, Christa and Kiernan take the opportunity to go for a hike in search of a scenic overlook.

A sudden winter storm leaves them lost and separated from the group and each other in dangerous conditions. Frostbitten and delirious, Christa stumbles upon a cabin, where she finds the rest of their tour group, having taken shelter after the roads became too hazardous for the bus. Christa is devastated that Kiernan has not found his way to shelter yet and is determined to spend the following day searching for him, despite the rest of the group's protests. When they wake to find their tour guide's severed head on a spike outside the cabin, though, they realize they have bigger problems. One by one, they are picked off and have to face the idea that they might be locked in a cabin with a killer.

If you have not read Agatha Christie, you will probably love this even more--it's a very well-done homage, and kept me up literally all night reading, even being 99% sure of the outcome, just to see if I was right. There were still a few twists I didn't see coming, which made things fun, and the atmosphere is very creepy. The author did a good job of mixing elements of murder mysteries, horror, and thrillers to create a fast-paced, tense story. I'd absolutely watch this as a movie.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, & the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have read a few books by Darcy Coates and I was aware this one was different going into it. It was presented to me as a thriller. It is not a thriller. It is a horror book. I won't say what kind because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. This is my first read of this sub genre. I'm rating it a solid 5. The first 2 chapters of this book had my nerves completely tore up and I did not want to stop reading. I'm not sure if I like this type of horror, but I can tell you that she has done an amazing job. It was so anxiety inducing, suspenseful, and had gross body horror I never once was able to figure out which character was the villain either. If you love horror, it is definitely worth the read. I do think it should have been released in winter though.

I really liked the concept for this novel and the overall plot but the writing could have been improved.

The other thing that bothered me was how quickly everyone was killed off and how quickly the other characters moved on. It was almost like they were always just waiting for the next dead person to show up.

I liked the ending and final reveal, but it was pretty easy to guess what was going to happen. I think it could have been a bit more dramatic and had a better payoff.

Despite those things, I'd still recommend if you like thrillers and locked room mysteries.

8 strangers in the middle of no-where in the DEAD OF WINTER with a killer on the loose with no place to hide! Gripping, chilling, intense, mesmerizing! I took one Saturday and read the whole book in one sitting! The plot centers around a group of people who find themselves stranded in a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere! As the story unfolds, they start getting picked off one by one, which adds a lot of suspense and keeps you hooked. The storyline is quite interesting, and it definitely held my interest throughout. #netgalley #deadofwinter

“We are ll going to die”

The author jumps right in to this psychological thriller and does not stop! The characters are mysterious and all hiding something. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you on edge and turning pages.

I like to read before bed, and this book gave me the craziest dreams.

I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

To be honest, I'm not sure why I requested this one, it's not in the genres I read at all (I really never read adult thrillers, because they really freak me out). So I did end up DNFing a few pages in, once I did realize this was a thriller (I typically do not read the blurb before picking it up), but I probably will still end up buying this for my library because I know tons of patrons who would jive with this one.

Dead of Winter was a propulsive, engaging thriller that had me staying up late into the night, finding myself freezing in spite of the 100+ degree temps.

A trip to the Rocky Mountains to stay in a remote lodge end in disaster when the bust is forced to stop before making it to its destination. Travelers begin to disappear and then the tour guide's dismembered head appears .

With all of the wit of an Agatha Christie locked-room mystery and the compelling story of Ruth Ware, Darcy Coates writes a heart-pounding, gripping thriller that kept me going until I finished it. This was my first Darcy Coates but it will not be my last.

Man was this book creepy! A nice wilderness vacation turns deadly and nobody knows who the killer is. Full of twists and turns this book kept me turning pages even though I am not usually a fan of horror.

A very good , suspense-filled mystery. Eight strangers on a bus traveling to a winter resort end up stranded in an isolated cabin during a raging blizzard. One by one, heads get chopped off and hung on a tree in a macabre display. Even though this may be a common-themed, locked-room style mystery, it is well told. The characters are appropriately suspicious of one another and the tension continues to build to an exciting ending.