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.

Holy hell. Now this is how I like my thrillers. This was a nail biter from beginning to end. And reading about this atmosphere in the middle of a heatwave was *chef’s kiss.* What a brilliant book.

This is the first Darcy Coates book I've read and I'm not sure how to feel about it. I feel like this book is different than what she usually writes based on the covers and titles of her other works.

I wasn't a huge fan of how this book popped us right into the action. We didn't get a little introduction or anything at first. We get this scene that I'm sure the author meant to hook us with but I almost ended up dnf it right there. But I pushed through it.

Christa is one of the most boring characters in this book she doesn't do a whole lot and she isn't very interesting when your in her head. She just keeps repeating we are all going to die. Which is understandable but I feel like this book would have been better if we got to have all the people's point of views or if the story was told from Alexis point of view. Anything to make it more interesting.

This book repeated alot. Someone would separate from the group get killed. They would all go back together and then get killed once they separated from the group. I don't understand why they kept going off on their own.

This book had almost too many characters to keep up with. I'm not sure who all did what and who was who. I kinda figured that the reason for them all being there had to do with the car wreck once it was mentioned.

I didn't know who was the killer to be honest I didn't see it coming. The whole reasoning for the killing was a bit much in my opinion and I feel like the character that was the killer had a lot more to them then we got to see.

Overall it kept my attention even when it dragged in some places. I will definitely try some of her other books.

THIS BOOK.

You need to drop everything you're doing and get your hot little hands on this book.

When Christa's boyfriend suggests a vacation at a lodge settled into the snowy Smoky Mountains, Christa thinks maybe this will help to put her past behind her and get her eyes on the future. There's a small group of people together on the tour bus, and everyone seems to have their reasons for wanting to get away. What could go wrong?

Everything.

Soon, the group has to find shelter in a small hunting cabin. Christa gets lost in the snow, and when some finds the group at the cabin, she does so without her boyfriend. What could be worse?

And then, the cabin members start getting murdered... one by one.

This book is right in my wheelhouse, but I had no idea how much I would love it. The twist at the end is mind-blowing I actually guessed it rather early on in the book but then disregarded it later. The minute the twist happened, I texted my book bestie, told her to drop everything she's doing, and pick up this book. It's that good.

Don't walk, run. Read this book today.

I think I may not have read this one the same as other reviewers. Don't get me wrong, I liked the plotline and the writing was fine, but I guessed who the killer was in the beginning and I rarely ever do that.

I also did not find this very scary or nerve wracking, so if you are wondering how bad this is, its not that bad.

I did enjoy the snow, it seemed to be as much a MC as Christa was.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates is a chilling and suspenseful locked-room mystery set in the snowy Rockies. A tour group finds themselves trapped in an abandoned cabin with a killer among them. With elements of horror woven into the plot, this gripping novel is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats, needing a comforting presence to cope with the intensity. Perfectly unsettling.

Christa and her boyfriend Kiernan are on a winter getaway to a remote lodge in the Rocky Mountains when a snowstorm strands the tour bus. Now they must take shelter, along with eight other travelers, in a small hunting cabin. Only instead of this just trying to survive the elements and worry about food, they must worry about a bloodthirsty killer. Their guide is murdered and displayed horrifically. Is the murderer among their small group? If so, why and who’s next?

Dead of Winter had a definite horror movie vibe. A small group cut off from civilization being picked off one by one, suspicious of everyone and trying to stay alive. I wanted to know why? There were some hints, and I had my suspicions but there were red herrings too. This felt sort of like a graphically gory Agatha Christie, a bit unbelievable in parts, but still horror movie fun! The stark winter setting was atmospheric, intensifying the feeling of danger.

Things got crazy and I didn’t want to put it down once everything started coming together! Tension built up page by page for a thrilling conclusion! Of course, I was rooting for Christa to figure things out, and survive! The killer and motivation are revealed in the end, but there were a couple of loose ends I wished had resolution. All in all, a sit-down-and-buckle-up kind of thrill ride!

There is nothing like a horror story to cool you off in the dead of summer….. Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates is not for the faint of heart. Eight strangers trapped in a snowstorm, and one of them is a ruthless killer. Grab a cup of coffee, a blanket and perhaps turn on the lights for this intense thriller.

Christa and her boyfriend, along with a group of travelers, are on a bus headed to a resort in the Rocky Mountains. We learn this time of year is off season for the resort and that they will be the only guests. A downed tree turns into an unexpected turn of events when a snowstorm bears down on them, forcing them to abandon their bus and seek shelter. Soon after, the murders began…first their tour guide and the only one familiar with the area.

The only thing keeping this from a five star was the fact that I knew who the killer was quickly. I see many readers were taken by surprise. However, the story was well done as the survivors worked together while eyeballing each other. The murders themselves, while not shown, were horrifying. The murderer displayed them. Feel free to freak out as the author makes the reader feel as if they are trapped in that cabin. No heat, cut off from the outside world, with limited food and a killer among them. The tension was high.

The story is told from Christa’s point of view, and I connected with her from her tragic past to how she handled events as they unfolded. The why and how was clever, twisted and well done.

Fans of And Then There Were None, will enjoy this dark thriller. I highly recommend you add this to your horror and thriller TBR pile. I definitely plan to explore more of these authors’ titles.

Christa’s boyfriend invites her to a remote lodge in the mountains for a romantic getaway. She agrees, not knowing what she is getting into. The bus gets stuck on the way, and she and the other guests get off to help try and get it going again. After discovering it’s not moving, they move off in search of shelter. When the tour guide goes missing in the night and bodies start to appear, Christa realises she isn’t getting the vacation she thought she was.

This was such a fun, entertaining read. It literally read like a slasher movie, which I was so into. The chapters were short and action packed. The plot was fast paced and I couldn’t stop turning the pages. It was a great claustrophobic whodunnit mystery that kept me guessing. The ending was totally satisfactory and had me squirming. I will definitely read more by this author!

I love Darcy Coates and her brand of horror and ghost stories. This story follows a small group of tourists headed to a secluded lodge in the mountains. Unfortunately, a blizzard stops them in their tracks and they are forced to seek refuge in an abandoned cabin. The cold and the dark and isolation and the blizzard would be enough to scare anyone, but then people start disappearing and their bodies are found. Who will survive? Who is killing this group slowly?
The idea of this is great and admittedly, I probably would have enjoyed this more had I not read it in the middle of July. But also, the people in the group don't seem overly scared. They are concerned (validly) with surviving, but not about the killer on the loose. And I have have read too much Darcy Coates (no such thing), but I had this one figured out less than half way through, so the twists didn't pack that much of a punch.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced digital copy. All opinions are mine.

Dead of Winter deals, according to author Darcy Coates, with "a lot of themes about how well we can move past trauma and learning to survive with life-altering circumstances." As the story opens, Christa Bailey has just embarked on a two-week vacation at Blackstone Alpine Lodge in the Rocky Mountains with her boyfriend, Kiernan. He invited her because the lodge is situated in the area where he grew up and he wants to share his love of the region with her. Their relationship has moved quickly. Although they have only been dating for four months, Christa is fairly certain that Kiernan has planned the getaway so that he can propose in the picturesque setting.

They are enroute to the lodge with a small group led by Brian Hernandez, their bus driver and guide. Steve Peltz, a trucker, is making the trip with his wife, Miri. They were notified that the trip was a raffle prize. Hutch Huang is a disc jockey planning to assess the lodge's suitability as a wedding venue for one of his friends. Blake Shorey has recently retired from her job as a 911 dispatcher. Simone Wall is a mysterious former member of the military and Alexis Barras is a quiet, withdrawn young woman in her twenties. Denny Olstead is a mechanic accompanied by his teenage son, Grayson. As the story progresses, readers learn that each of the travelers came to be on the trip in different ways.

Christa is a customer service representative with a troubled past. Something horrible occurred on August 8, a little more than two years earlier, that so traumatized her, she quit her job and barely left her home, draining her savings in order to cover her living expenses. She met Kiernan during an "awkward encounter" in the library. Kiernan was studying English literature at the local university and asked Christa for assistance with one of his courses. A month later they began dating. Christa feared that her emotional struggles would derail the relationship, as she explains in her first-person narrative through which Coates relays the story. "When I looked at our future all I could see was a toxic end. So I began pulling back." But Kiernan would have none of it, taking Christa to meet his mother in the care facility where she resided. The woman barely communicated, and Christa learned that Kiernan's younger brother died tragically. Soon after, their father took his own life and their mother "crumbled into a person who barely resembled the vivid, laughing figure from his childhood." Despite the tragedies that befell his family, Kiernan remained an upbeat, happy person and Christa realized they were more alike than different. "He gave me hope. More than that, he became someone I could trust. Someone I could let myself love."

As the bus proceeds to the lodge, they discover the mountainous road is blocked by a fallen tree. Brian assures the group he carries a chainsaw and fuel for just such a situation. As the rest of the group is busy working on clearing the road, Kiernan asks Christa to take a walk up the hill with him, certain there is a good lookout nearby. Reluctantly, Christa agrees, even though a storm is brewing. Predictably, they become disoriented and unable to find their way back to the bus. Alone, Christa, injured and with a nasty case of frostbite setting in, finds her way to a cabin. The rest of the group is gathered there, having discovered the unlocked cabin after the bus became stuck in the snow.

A blizzard rages as the group huddles in the small cabin with few supplies, no map, no electricity, no cell phone reception, and no means with which to call for help. Since they were scheduled to spend two weeks at the lodge, they know that no one will realize they never reached their destination for many days. As Christa looks around at her fellow travelers, she strongly senses danger and that, aside from their being stranded, something is terribly wrong. She has a "premonition that something bad is coming. Like a storm threatening to break. I've learned not to ignore that feeling. The last time I tried was on August 8. And the cost it exacted was extreme."

They manage to start a fire, but it is still cold in the small, cramped cabin. With no idea how far from their destination the cabin is, a few of them strike out in search of a trail or road that might lead them to the lodge or some other place where they might be able to summon help. The snowstorm has nearly obliterated visibility, however, and they have no choice but to hunker down for the night, sharing what food they can gather from their own suitcases and what the cabin's owners left behind. However, Brian goes missing and when they make a grisly discovery -- Brian's severed head is hanging on a branch in a nearby pine tree -- Christa recognizes that her intuition was accurate. She and the other members of the group are in danger. But who poses a threat to them? Is there someone else lurking in the vicinity of the cabin, ready to ambush the next member of the group who dares to venture outside on their own? Or is the killer one of them? And if so, why was Brian the first victim? Will there be more victims? Is there some connection between them and the killer? If so, what could make someone want to take their lives?

The tense story proceeds at an even pace as more members of the group are felled, their heads displayed on "the tree of the damned." Simone emerges as the leader of the group and attempts to set up safeguards, insisting that they take turns staying awake at night to monitor each other's movement, organizing a search of every member's luggage and personal belongings, and gathering up and stowing away any weapons, such as pocket knives, that they may have brought on the trip with them. But none of those measures prevent the body count from climbing as the food supply dwindles, the storm continues pounding the cabin, and their hope of surviving the ordeal grows dimmer with each successive murder.

Coates deftly takes readers on Christa's journey to learn the identity of "the butcher," as she calls the killer. She has no idea who, if any of her fellow stranded travelers, she can trust, and her suspicions shift repeatedly as time elapses. Readers are kept guessing along with Christa as Coates makes them privy to her thought processes and gradually reveals details about what occurred on that fateful night of August 8. As the number of survivors dwindles, she frantically searches for a route through the snow-covered mountains that will lead her and her companions to safety.

Christa is a likable, bright, and sympathetic young woman who recognizes and acknowledges her flaws, takes responsibility for her actions, and hoped Kiernan offered her a chance to find happiness again. Accordingly, readers will find themselves cheering her on. Likewise, the supporting characters are intriguing, with varied backgrounds and histories, although not all are as amiable or appealing as Christa. Alliances appear to be formed, although all of them suspect each other. And they make foolish, confounding choices, including leaving the confines of the cabin by themselves when they know there is a vicious killer either in their midst or nearby.

Dead of Winter is an absorbing, graphically violent tale that will especially delight fans of closed-room mysteries, and keep readers perplexed until Coates delivers the final, shocking plot twist, divulging the identity and motivations of "the butcher."

Dead of Winter is a thriller, vacation gone wrong tale with fast pacing and interesting characters.
Christa is taking a vacation with her boyfriend, a step towards overcoming a tragic event and trusting others. Things get off on the wrong foot almost instantly. A massive snowstorm befalls the area, and the small tour group is forced to take shelter in a hunting cabin. The group is optimistic that after a night in the cabin, they will find safety. But the next morning their tour guide and missing and his severed head is found hanging from a tree outside the cabin. It is then that Christa realizes this will be the deadliest vacation of their lives.
Unfortunately, I figured out the ending very early in the book. But what is so great about this book is that Darcy Coates keeps the book interesting and even manages to throw me a twist where I questioned myself. The book was action-packed, keeping the reader engaged with a perfect balance of tension and moments of quiet breaths. The frightening aspects weigh with the mystery so even if the mystery is solved how you get to that ending is the fun part.
I loved figuring out how each character fit into the overall story. The characters were from verified backgrounds and had varied temperaments. Reading the human behavior and how each person played off each other was interesting and added to the tension. At one point, one character had me completely fooled and I love surprises like that.
This is a chilling thriller that I definitely wouldn’t read in a lamp-lit cabin

Publication Date: July 11

I received an ARC; all opinions are my own.

Darcy Coates writes excellent mix of horror and thriller and this one is a good one. I was on the edge till the end and couldn't guess the bad guy nor any twists.
NOTE: this is a closed circle not a locked room
I recommend it
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Dead of Winter
By Darcy Coates
Pub Date: July 11; 2023
Poisoned Pen
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
What a thriller this was:
I highly recommend it, just don’t read it on a night when you can’t sleep and the cold winds are blowing.
The plot revolves around a group who find themselves stranded in a dangerous wintery setting .
The narrator did an excellent job of describing the situation.
Try it!
4 stars