This was my first Darcy Coates book and it's the first of many. Absolutely loved it. Strangers travelling to a secluded lodge in the rocky mountains, a tree blocking the road, seeking shelter in an unlocked cabin. Sounds like the start of a horror movie! It's a horror movie I'd love to see. One by one, the numbers dwindle and you will not predict the twists. Everyone is a suspect.

A group of Rocky Mountain tourists shelter from a dangerous winter storm in a remote hunter's cabin after their bus is stranded on the road. But soon the weather is not the the worst of their problems. A vicious killer, who may be one of their own, begins to target any member who strays from the main group. Readers who enjoyed Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None will love Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates.. The characters are well drawn, the action is non stop and the twists and turns are many.

"We're all going to die here."

When Christa joins her boyfriend on a trip to a remote lodge in the Rocky Mountains, she's hoping the weekend might end in a marriage proposal. Instead she ends up fighting for her life as one by one her fellow travelers are picked off by a faceless killer. Is the murderer an unknown stranger hiding in the woods, or, even more disturbing, one of their own group?

This was an intense and suspenseful page-turner. If you don't take the book too seriously, or pay too close attention to the implausibility of it all, and you should have a blast.

This is a roadrunner book. Constant action, cardboard flat characters, and no time to make actual sense of anything that is happening. It almost hangs together, but not quite. There are quite a few holes when you have time to think, but it's written to not give you that time. If you just want a thrill ride, this is the book.

The book was a great read. The tour group stumbles open a cabin to save themselves from the harsh coldness. Then, one by one, they started falling dead. I liked how the book was able to bring forth that creepy feeling until the end. Also, there wasn't even a single moment of boredom, as the story went on really fast.
There were a diverse range of characters and all of them were well created. The central character of the story was Christa, and her fears and thoughts were shown through this book. This was such a great book and I think that every fan of mystery lovers will love it.

I love Darcy Coates! This was a great read, perfect atmosphere, great characters, just a great read! My ONLY complaint is I figured out the killer from soon on in the story. Get your hands on it!

This novel was too repetitive for me, i.e., everyone goes outside and find a dead person, then go back inside, then go back outside a few hours later and find another dead person…repeat, repeat, repeat. After that, people were still being murdered but with more action involved so that improved. lol I liked the setting and the survival aspect as limited as that was. I think more of that embedded in the front end of the story would have made this one much more enjoyable. It’s definitely a horror book with gruesome descriptions, just a heads up (pun intended).

This book was as entertaining as it was perplexing. I spent half the time mentally arguing with the author for doing things that ruined my willing suspension of disbelief. Like, there's no way that could happen and no one noticed anything! Lazy writing!

Well, the joke was on me. It could happen, because the author neatly disguised a key fact, unobtrusively, and masterfully. Well done! It certainly could have been done better. There is some suspension of disbelief required. But overall, it's a decent read for a rainy day, and a good enough thriller.

If you enjoy horror/thrillers, pick this one up.

This book was fast paced and had lots of twists and turns. You definitely can’t trust anybody. It’s an And Then There Were None-esque closed door mystery set in a remote wintry location.

I was worried at first that it was going to be more of a surviving the elements type story but it was definitely a horror story in true Darcy Coates fashion and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Highly recommend picking this one up. It’ll be a great winter read if you’re OK with a little or actually a lot of gore.

Mind blown! This is an intricate thriller filled with nuance and lots of oh my goodness moments! What starts off as a winter vacation escape of one’s dreams turns exactly into that except that people often forget nightmares are dreams too. A group of strangers are all together for this adventure that turns into a murder mystery when the bus to their vacation breaks down. Which amongst them is the murder or is it someone that is following their journey? This one really had me guessing and the details were exquisite yet often gruesome as well. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this read.

What a perfect thriller/mystery to read in the winter! The writing was very atmospheric and you could feel the dread and isolation through the characters. The characters were not well developed and I guessed the plot twist very early on in the story but overall an enjoyable read.

Eight strangers, one killer, a tour bus headed to a cabin in the Rockies. Tour guide goes missing, a severed head. Great locked room mystery.

This was a wild ride! Grief is a very powerful emotion and it can drive people to do some unspeakable thinks! A group of would be strangers are on a trip to a secluded cabin far up in the mountains. The weather is moving in quick and becomes increasingly bad. There is a blockage in the road preventing passage but their tour guide seems to have everything under control. The passengers get off the bus to either help or look around. Two go wondering off too far into the dangerous terrain of the snow covered mountains. The group had no choice but to look for them. And now they are all at risk not just from the weather but from a killer. Who is doing this? Why them? A discussion later helps them see what connects them all. But no one trusts anyone and people are dying!! Will they manage to get help or figure out who the killer is before it’s too late? Will any of them survive or be rescued? Hang on and jump in. This book grips you from the beginning and keeps you guessing the entire time! Even when you think you’re sure you have it figured out, think again! Thank you to poison pen press for allowing me access to this amazing book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest book by Darcy Coates - 5 stars!

Christa and her boyfriend are part of a tour group heading into a lodge deep in the Rocky Mountains. But when a snowstorm sweeps in, the group takes shelter in a small abandoned cabin. Christa and her boyfriend had ventured away from the group, and she wakes up in the cabin with the others, injured, but her boyfriend is missing. Soon, the tour guide goes missing and is found dead. Christa is now with a group of 8 strangers, none of whom she trusts, and one by one they are dying.

Wow - this was a heart-pounding thriller that I couldn't put down! The abandoned cabin, the snowstorm, the strangers, the bleakness of the situation will have you turning the pages as fast as you can to figure out the locked-room mystery of who is behind the gruesome deaths. I had no idea who the culprit was and loved feeling suspicious along with the characters. Great book!

Really enjoyed this snowy, locked room thriller about a group of travelers who find themselves stranded in the middle of the Rocky Mountain wilderness as they are trying to get to a remote lodge.

Okay, but they are adaptable. They find a remote cabin and take shelter. Then they are targeted by a killer, one by one. Who lured them there and why?

Chilling fun!

Okay book but slow pacing in the beginning. It was good but I wanted more from this particular author.

This book was gifted by Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Dead of Winter is following in the aftermath of a winter storm that leaves a group of people secluded in the middle of the storm with one small setback. A killer. Oh and an abandoned cabin in the middle of the storm. They’re going to be fine right…..?

I think that this book confused me slightly, It should have been released during the fall/winter. It did not give the summer vibes that I was wanting to read this time of year, because its hot outside. I think that hindered my enjoyment slightly, which isn’t the fault of the author. I would recommend that mood readers hold off on picking this up until it vibes with winter.

Otherwise, I thought that this was a pretty good book. It wasn’t anything that I haven’t read before, but Coates did a fantastic job of setting the scene and making it slightly spooky!

3.75 stars. Thanks to Negalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the E-Arc. This book really surprised me it had me on the edge of my seat the whole way. I knew nothing the FMC was literally the one telling me what to think and I loved that since sometimes you can usually figure out what is going on. The only thing I did not enjoy was the ending but other than that it was a super solid read

Super short review bc I am a fan of the author but this one didn’t really work for me and it should have-wintery isolated setting, closed door whodunit mystery- it checked lots of my boxes and yet it still fell flat. The characters in particular fell flat and the storyline was predictable. Maybe lots of others will enjoy it more, and it won’t stop me from reading future books by the author, but I found myself going “yawn, skim, yawn, skim” through a good bit and even the big reveals weren’t anything big.
Christa joins a tour group going to the Rocky Mountains but a snowstorm knocks a tree down in the road making it impassable so they have to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. As the temperature drops when the storm rages, things go from bad to worse as members of the tour start coming up dead and christa is trapped with eight strangers and one of them is a killer.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This is my second Darcy Coates book and I was so excited when I was given the chance to read and review it for NetGalley. 

From the very beginning, I was on the edge of my seat. The book starts with a snowstorm as the main character is fighting for survival on the very first page. The rest of the book continues this theme, although the storm is not the biggest threat out there. All I wanted was for her to be safe and sound, and well, warm. Instead, I got a horror story - and I loved it. Yes, it's gory and graphic. Yes, if I heard a sudden noise while reading this book I jumped. Yes, I wanted to finish it so I wouldn't have to close it and be scared for the characters anymore. 

These are all the benchmarks of a great book. If you're roasting in the sun this summer, I recommend picking up a book that will promptly remind you how awful winter can be, like Dead of Winter. And if you're somewhere cold, I recommend picking up Dead of Winter to be reminded that, while cold, at least no one is picking members of your group off one. by. one.