I had fun with this one. It won't be a new favorite Darcy, but was still a good time. This did follow the typical formula for an isolated one by one thriller, so nothing was really that surprising. I was hoping to be a bit more thrilled.

Dead of Winter by new to me author D. Coates, published by PPenPress, is a full-length, stand-alone thriller. An poetic nailbiting story, unputdownable with great love to details.
A remote cabin, snowed in with 8 strangers who are in for the ride of their lives.
A breathtaking adventure, fast paced, complex and complicated had me the story in suspense til the last page.

Thanks to Darcy Coates, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spoilers

This was an okay thriller, though the premise has been done. My chief complaints are the abrupt beginning and ending as well as the length/lack of energy, all of which relates to the main problem, a lack of sympathy for the lead character.

So we start out with a cold open, Christa lost in the snowy wilderness, looking for Kiernan, everything already messed up. This goes on for longer than one would expect before of course flashing back to the start of the trip and explaining how the cold open happened, leading back to present. This isn't a new way to begin a story, but for some reason this cold open felt extra abrupt to me. I was expected to feel concern and sympathy and fear for characters I knew nothing about. When Kiernan vanished and Christa was desperate and heartsick, I felt nothing, because their relationship meant nothing to me. I hadn't seen it develop, knew nothing about either of them. So you and your boyfriend decided to go walking around unfamiliar territory in bad conditions you weren't prepared for. I'm really not surprised that brilliant decision ended with one frostbitten and one missing presumed dead.

Yeah, we definitely started out with a deficit in sympathy for Christa that unfortunately carried through the novel, which went on, and on, and on. I tuned out at spots in the middle and was still able to follow along. Ironically, I would've actually recommended showing more of Christa and Kiernan's relationship in the beginning to endear them to the reader; but the middle needed to be--haha--butchered. (Inside joke.) Maybe a more sympathetic, charismatic, proactive lead would have energized the novel so the length wouldn't have been felt, but as it is it just felt like things kept happening to them but nothing except panicking was being done. And I mean, you can only describe the fear and trauma a character's going through so many times before the reader goes numb to it.

As for the ending--I can't decide if the multiple red herrings were ridiculous or clever. Leaning toward ridiculous, because when the head rolled down the stairs, I was at the point where I just rolled my eyes, because of course. The villain's let-me-stop-and-explain-everything-to-you-so-you-can-bask-in-my-brilliance monologue was a portrait of the narcissism and arrogance of a psychopath. Cliche, but probably realistic; I can't imagine the villain just killing Christa without bragging.

What was abrupt about the ending was literally the end. Rescue was imminent, cut to black. No aftermath, no epilogue, no life-after-trauma. I'm not a fan of those kinds of endings. I need more closure than that.

Overall not the best Darcy Coates book. She can do better. I prefer her ghost stories to her thrillers. The Gravekeeper series remains my favorite.

great locked room mystery! I really enjoyed this one!

thank you netgalley and to the publisher for the review copy

Loved it!! I would give it 4.5 stars. This is one vacation I would not want to go on. I probably would have died in the snow. Between the endless snow, being stuck in a tiny cabin with strangers, no food or electricity and also a killer. From the start I was suspicious of everyone, but in the back of my mind I always had one person who I thought it had to be. I ended up being right, but at times I waivered. Different people kept moving up on my list, but I always had one person in mind. He/She was smart to be able to pull this off, but definitely crazy. What type of person does this??? There were so many twists and turns. The story kept me guessing until the end. The killer put so much energy into getting revenge. I'm not sure why he/she blamed some of these people. They really had nothing to do with what happened.

Definitely recommend the book. It was a great mystery/thriller. Loved the characters, story and writing style. This was the first book I read by the author and I look forward to reading more.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
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A group of people are stranded by a winter storm on their way to a vacation resort. They are stuck together in a small shelter. When someone is killed they realize one of them is a murderer.
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What I liked:
-This gave excellent “And Then There Were None”, vibes. Kudos on that. It was written really well where each person felt suspicious at a point.
-Loved the setting! The isolation was believable and the weather hindered attempts at escape.
-The build up to the ending was really good, I can’t even think of better adjectives but I was loving my time reading this.
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4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Very entertaining! Definitely enjoyed!

3.5 stars. 10 people are on a bus to a secluded mountain vacation lodge to unwind and disconnect, little do they know that they are about to be hunted and savagely murdered. Very descriptive writing, skimmed some of the descriptions. Characters are moderately developed, can’t say I felt much of a connection to any but main narrator, Christa. Full of twists and turns. I did not figure out the ending. The ending was not satisfying for me, don’t want to say more and give out spoilers but it definitely lacked closure for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

his isolation thriller follows Christa and a small group as they are forced to take shelter in an abandoned cabin during a snow storm. They all think as soon as the storm passes, they'll be able to make their way back to their tour bus and get help. But when they wake up the next day to find the tour guide missing, they become uneasy. And when they find his head impaled on a tree outside the cabin, it becomes clear that someone in the group has different plans.

This was the most gripping isolated closed circle mystery I've read in a long time and I loved every second of reading it. Coates is quickly solidifying as one of my insta-read authors. I was immediately drawn into the story and couldn't put it down until I was done. This is one of those expertly plotted thriller/mysteries where it didn't feel like there was any fluff or extra details. Every line felt integral to the plot and figuring out the mystery. Sprinkle in some great gore and horror elements and I cannot recommend this enough!

Most closed circle mysteries I've read have been multi-POV but in this, we only get Christa's POV. I found that this helped Christa become a stand-in of sorts for the reader trying to figure out what is going on in this cabin. This also expands the pool of suspects because if the other characters aren't where Christa can see them, we have no idea where they are or what they are doing. We don't get any other POVs to fill in any gaps or direct our attention to a particular person. As a consequence, we also don't know if these other characters are telling the truth or what they may be hiding. One downside was that it did take me a while to get a grasp on all the different characters

The mystery and horror aspects of this read went perfectly together and I think each heightened the other. Knowing that when someone was killed that they'd end up in such a gruesome scene really upped the stakes as well as the tension between the remaining survivors. We also get some great body horror to go along with the kills. I did figure out the 'who' of the mystery pretty early but I couldn't figure out the 'how' until it was actually revealed. But even though I ended up being correct in the end, watching the characters figure things out for themselves made me second guess myself constantly.

The setting and weather were immaculate and really enhanced the overall reading experience. The characters were always considering the weather and it was a constant struggle they had to deal with. We have a good variety of characters who all have different backgrounds and familiarity with this type of weather so some were much better equipped than others. The cover art really fits the story and is exactly how I pictured the cabin and forests. Coates does a fantastic job with the descriptions that really emphasized the cold and danger of the situation. We also see the weather interfering with the characters figuring out who the killer is because the snow keeps refilling any footprints or other clues. At times, it felt like the characters were equally threatened by the weather and the killer - the only question is which would kill them first.

Overall, this was a great read that I read from start to finish in one sitting. I do think the solution to the mystery is a little obvious, but finding out the bigger picture is well worth the journey. The setting and atmosphere are fantastic and the single POV really heightens the overall experience of figuring out who is responsible for these deaths.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. Expected publication date is July 11, 2023.

Crikey, this book is GRUESOME, but in the best possible way! A group of tourists on their way to stay at a luxury lodge in the snowy Rocky Mountains get off to a bad start when horrendous weather has them abandoning their coach to find shelter from the elements. But in this story the danger comes from more than the cold and heavy snow. It seems that there is a murderer in their midst and before long the group find themselves being picked off one by one in a most grisly fashion.

I am a huge fan of Darcy Coates, and this latest book is somewhat of a departure from other books of hers that I have read. There is none of her trademark ghost or paranormal shenanigans. This time the horror is purely human, though the weather is pretty terrifying too. A chillingly fantastic, knicker-gripping read with tons of atmosphere and tension. Highly recommended.

It's been a hot minute since I've read a Darcy Coates book ( I really like her Haunting of books.)..and this book reminded me of why I like her in the first place. My favorite thing about her writing is how she builds a scene. I may not always like the characters but it's her scenes that drag me back in. As someone who isn't a fan of snow (AT ALL) and the beginning starts with being trapped in a snow storm, outside, freezing, with zero visibility.....Yea I was freaking out a bit LOL. Overall a good thriller with And Then There Were None vibes.

*3-3.5 stars

This story is a modern-day retelling of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, published in 1939. If you've read that book, then you already know the plot twist.

Coates' version is set in the Rocky Mountains. A private tour bus is taking passengers for a two-week retreat at the Blackstone Alpine Lodge when a fallen tree prevents them from reaching their destination. When a snowstorm descends on them, they take refuge in a deserted and rustic hunting cabin. Their tour guide assures them they will be rescued as soon as visibility returns. When he is found brutally murdered, Christa, one of the travelers, has a premonition: "None of us are getting out of here alive."

The story is told from Christa's first person point of view. Something tragic happened in her life two years before and once that backstory is revealed, the reader understands the motive behind the killings.

I labelled this a horror story because the murders are pretty gruesome. Surprisingly, the tense plot becomes rather tedious and repetitive after a while. Paranoia sets in--whom can you trust? The circumstances bring out the worst in these people.

The plot does pick up in the last quarter of the book and I would give the ending five stars--that was quite exciting. All-in-all, an entertaining enough read that is probably best read in the dead of summer so you won't mind being caught in a blizzard.

I received an arc of this new thriller from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Wow! This book was insane and intense. I could not put it down. I had to know why this was happening and who was behind it. It was so well written. I fell for every mislead and didn’t see the end coming, but it fit perfectly into the storyline.

A claustrophobic but fun(?) thriller. Makes me not want to go on a winter trip in the middle of nowhere ever.

I read the first few chapters of this a few months ago and liked it but then when I picked it back up on my honeymoon last month I couldn’t put it down until I knew how it ended! I was fully invested in every twist and turn and was shocked by the ending. This story will not leave you disappointed. Rating this my fav thriller of 2023 so far!

Thank you to @poisonedpenpress for sending me a copy.

Fresh out the oven DEAD OF WINTER by Darcy Coates. This one comes out July 11.

If you’re looking for something to cool you off in this blazing summer heat, look no further than Darcy Coates’ newest release. This is actually my first book I’ve read by this author and it won’t be my last. DEAD OF WINTER is the perfect thriller, it has well developed characters, an insane atmosphere, and super tense moments that keep you flipping pages.

Go get your preorders and library holds ready, my friends!

I was already a big fan of the author before reading this book. Other books I've read by her were great.

The author comes through again with Dead of Winter. It's a mix or horror, mystery, and suspense. It's an intriguing story with interesting characters. The author keeps you guessing as to who the murderer really is right up until the end of the story. Once you start reading this book, you won't want to put it down until you finish it. I highly recommend it!

Oh my goodness, get ready for a killer vacation - literally!

When Christa is asked by her boyfriend to join him on a fun vacation, she doesn't even blink. She is excited for the time that they are going to spend together, and looks forward to possibly take the next steps in their relationship.
But an accident on the road leaves them stranded in the dead of winter, far from civilization, and the snow is falling. Soon, people start turning up dead. No one can figure out who the killer is, and one by one, they start to dwindle - their numbers becoming fewer each day.

Oh my, this was such a great book! I could NOT put it down! I was hooked from the first page. This is one that will leave you guessing as to who the killer might be until the very end.

Special thanks to Poisoned Penn Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

What a great book. I've watched movies and read countless books on this plot but be in for a surprise. I'd be willing to bet this is the best book you will read about people stranded in a cabin in the dead of winter with a killer on the loose.

Unputdownable and that's a 5 star rating for me!

Christa embarks on an adventure to a remote resort in the snowy Rocky Mountains with her boyfriend. A snowstorm soon changes their plans, and they along with the rest of the tour group become stranded. When their tour guide goes missing and is found decapitated, the tour group all become suspects in an increasingly dangerous environment.

Dead of Winter is a locked room thriller in the style of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The first half of this novel moved a little slowly for me, and I struggled to keep the many characters straight at times. This plot intensified about half way through and I enjoyed the second half of the book quite a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Fast paced, suspenseful - the epitome of a page turning thriller. I read this during the summer and it completely propelled me into another icy world.