This book had me hooked from page one, and it only kept better more intense, more nerve-racking with each page. I couldn’t do anything without thinking about what was going on in the book. Therefore, I really didn’t do much else until I was done reading it.

It reminded me of 𝑇𝑒𝑛 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠by Agatha Christie, but—and I never thought I would say this—I think it is better.

A group of people who mostly don’t know each other all go on a tour in the winter. A blizzard hits while they are traveling by bus to a lodge deep in the Rocky Mountains when they must stop because of a huge tree that has fallen across the road. They manage to make their way to a cabin, and amazingly, the door is unlocked. But they are in the middle of nowhere, not close to civilization, alone with each other. And one by one, they are being murdered. Not the best situation to be in. And none of them are on this trip by mistake.

The book opens with Christa (the main character) and Kiernan (her boyfriend) lost in the blizzard. Things aren’t looking good. But the others find Christa, and when she come to, she is in a cabin and hears talk about her fingers being frostbitten. Kiernan is still lost out there, and now Christa is trapped in the cabin with eight total strangers. They decide to wait out the storm. After all, they’re safe in a cabin. What could go wrong?

Not long after, the head of their bus driver appears, speared onto the end of a branch. Then one by one, the surviving members of the group are taken out until only Christa is left alone with the killer.

The ending is very satisfying, but in the pages leading up to the ending, you could possibly bite your nails to the quick.

I received an advance copy of this book for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Dead of Winter has become my favourite thriller so far this year, and Darcy Coates is quickly becoming one of my favourite thriller/horror authours.

To the other thriller books I've read and loved this year, I'm sorry, but Dead of Winter has my favourite thriller trope - the isolated-locale (especially in the middle of a snow storm). You just can't compete with that.

This book was extremely well written. It had me on the edge of my seat. I don't often find books give me that heart-pounding suspense or scare that a thriller movie does. You know where you are partially covering your eyes because you are afraid to look, but you also want to know what's going to happen. Darcy Coates has a way of writing that gives me this feeling.

The characters were well written, all fairly likeable but with some flaws that kept you guessing as to whether they were the killer or not. I thought I had it all figured out, and then Coates threw in a twist, and I realized I was all wrong. And then the ending threw in another twist I hadn't expected! I definitely enjoy a thriller that's unpredictable.

There aren't any really graphic scenes of actual murders, but as the victims start to fall, there is some graphic imagery of the bodies. Just a warning if you don't really like gorry details.

Overall, this was a fast-paced, unputdownable thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

Wow! This book was incredible,

I will preface my review by saying I would have given this book a 5 stars but I knocked it down to 4 because I had this entire book figured out from the first death. After learning about August 8th, the rest became crystal clear.

However, I must state that even guessing how this book was going to turn out… I was blown away with Darcy Coates ability to tell a story. I was utterly captivated from start to finish. This book was bone chilling, blood curdling, grip your seat good.

This book was ominous and spooky in the best way. I read this in bed in the dark for a little while and found myself rushing to turn a light on. I felt chills up and down my spine. My goodness, this book is going to sit with me for a very long time. 10/10 would recommend! Can’t wait for this to hit the shelves.

Thank you so much Net Galley, Darcy Coates and the publishers at Poisoned Pen Press for the amazing opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A vacation that became a nightmare. Using a well worn movie device, Darcy Coates drops us right into the middle of the action, with Christina and her boyfriend Kiernan battling against the elements, struggling to find their way in the middle of a massive snow storm, and then getting separated in a dramatic fashion. We then jump back in time to see how they got there. They were part of a small tour group enroute to a lodge in the Rockies. It’s off season because of the rough weather, but they never expected it to come in so quickly. A downed tree halts their bus and while others work to clear the tree so they can be on their way, Christina and Kiernan go for a walk. That’s when the storm system came rushing in. Christina eventually ends up with the other passengers in a small cabin in the woods, but none of them have seen Kiernan. I was already hooked as Darcy does a wonderful job of pulling us in and making us feel the intensity of being lost in a whiteout. (And as someone who was once in a whiteout, though nothing as bad as what is described in the book, I’ll say she nailed it.) But then Ms Coates kicks it up several notches when their guide goes missing and his head is later found impaled in a tree! Is there someone else in the woods with them or is there a killer among them and one of the passengers is to blame? And what about being rescued? Is anyone looking for them? Does anyone know where they are or that they are even in need to help? In this eclectic group of characters who if anyone can be trusted? This is a seriously intense, fast paced thriller. I’d like to thank Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Dead of Winter.

Dead of Winter is a high speed thriller set in a cold, wintery, isolated setting. Think Agatha Christie's Then There Were None, but at a bit of blood, slasher vibes and an ending you will not see coming. This book is definitely a good time. Very fast paced, easy read that keeps you guessing till the end. Christa, the main lead of the story, is a strong female character, who finds herself wrapped up in a killers scheme and must try to figure out how to survive. If you like a fast paced novel, that hooks you right from the start, love isolated settings with locked room vibes, read this book!

Whoa! 👀

A group of people are on their way to stay in a mountain lodge for a couple weeks. However, along the way they run into a blizzard, then their tour guide goes missing, and then is found dead! A nice relaxing trip turns into a trip of survival! Someone is out to kill but who is it and why?

This one is intense! It is so dark and chilling you will not be able to put it down. Things are happening so quickly, you can’t stop until you find out who is behind these horrific events! You will feel like you are on top of that snow covered mountain with this group of strangers.

I wish there was an epilogue or a “one month later” chapter but I also was glad it ended the way it did. I didn’t think I could take anymore🤣

Oh Darcy Coates… your book was disgustingly amazing!!!! So much blood… body parts… not for the faint of heart.

This novel brings you action, adventure, gore, and an immense amount of suspense!!!

The terrifying story of strangers trapped together in a tiny cabin struggling to stay awake for fear one of them is the killer. What would you do to survive so your severed head doesn’t end up on a tree branch??

LOVED this book!!!

3.5 stars

This was fast and exciting, with short chapters, and an intriguing closed-door type-mystery set-up. This felt a tad too long, and I found myself annoyed by the fact that the main character kept referring to the killer as "the butcher" instead of "the killer" (one of those things that once you notice just gets more and more irritating), but it was really clever how the people were interconnected and the twist at the end caught me completely off guard.

Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and most importantly Darcy Coates for the advanced copy of this chilling thriller!

Christa has stayed hidden away in secluded of her apartment for the past 2 years. To help her get back to herself, her boyfriend, Keirnan, arranges a luxury mountain getaway with a small tour group.

The tour bus gets stuck behind a fallen tree, and Keirnan takes Christa on a hike to the mountain top. A possible proposal? 💍 Not quite! Mother Nature has plans of her own and an insane blizzard separates the two! ❄️

Christa, while struggling from frostbite and below freezing temps, finds a remote hunters’ cabin where the rest of the tour is hunkering down. Low on food, freezing, no cell service, and no way to reach the outside world, will they survive?

Ohhhh nooo that’s not all this group is facing. One by one the group is being beheaded! Is it one of their own? Is it a killer on the loose?

Reading this book in the heat of summer is exactly the cold chill I needed! ❄️ I wouldn’t consider this book horror as it was suggested. Rather, this was an edge-of-your-seat and page-turning thriller with the typical isolation trope. Even though I guessed some of the twists, the twists and turns did not stop coming until the very end!

This was my first read by Darcy Coates. And I will be happy to say I have already added another of her books to my shelf. Whether it’s a horror or thriller, I am absolutely here for it!

This book reminded me of a cross between the movie "Clue" and a slasher horror film. Like most horror films, I can't say I particularly liked any of the character, but that ended up being a good thing considering how many get killed off. Though I was able to guess the end, I still found it an enjoyable read and would definitely recommend it to fans of horror movies and thriller readers alike. My biggest critique was that I wish there was a little more unpacking after the climax of the book--the last chapter finished so abruptly I was genuinely surprised it was the end of the book.

Another great story by one of my favorite authors. I love what Coates did here and I cant wait to see what else she comes up with in the future.

My thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of "Dead Of Winter" in exchange for an honest review.
Allow me to catch my breath and wash the gallons of blood off me, which in this book, flows out almost as fast as the flooded elevator in "The Shining"...
"Dead Of Winter" honestly stunned me, a horror-whodunit mash-up of Dame Agatha's "And Then There Were None" and......well, feel free to slot in any recent horror film with a high body count and equivalent gore to match.
Since the book also functions as a Christie-worthy puzzler with double wow twists and reveals, there's nothing I'd ever dare discuss in any detail........or I'd risk enraging an army of fellow readers to hunt me down and hand out punishment equal to what happens to some of the characters here.....
Simply put, we have a disparate tour busload of vacation travelers on their merry way to a middle-of-nowhere getaway cabin complex nestled in the Rocky Mountains. -the very, very snowy, windy, blizzard=stricken Rocky Mountains.
Given these terrible conditions, the bus can't go anywhere when a tree falls in front of it. While some of passengers chip in to help their driver-guide make short work of the tree with a chainsaw. Christa and boyfriend Kiernan decide to hike around a bit........which leaves Kiernan lost in the storm and Christa and the rest braving the blizzard to find him.
Once the constant snow and wind force them all to take refuge in a small cabin apparently designed for stranded travelers, non-stop death and horror commence. With a vengeance, it seems........cause someone among them has a list......and they've already checked it twice and judged everyone naughty, not nice.
Author Darcy Coates takes you on a dark, dark ride here, and you'll feel every inch of cold sweat and freezing fear that overwhelms those luckless, unusual suspects. You can try to guess all you want as to what's going on and who's doing what to whom......but chances are you'll never see that massive reveal when it hits you in the face.
But those who prefer their mysteries civilized with tea and scones included should take the hints I dropped earlier in this review.......keep in mind that this may sound like "And Then There Were None", but it's ripped heart lies deeper in "Halloween" and "Friday The 13th" territory, with a heap of the kind of icebound fear loathing and paranoia among the characters similar to the the guys in John Carpenter's "The Thing"
Proceed if you dare and a surprising and, bloody good time is guaranteed.

In short: 8 strangers on a tour in the Rocky Mountains are forced to seek refuge in an abandoned cabin amidst a winter storm.

What to expect:
❄️Locked room, abandoned cabin
❄️Winter landscape where the setting was its own character
❄️Told from single POV as the other 8 guests die one by one

Final thoughts: This was a fantastic wintery, locked room thriller where I had NO idea who the killer was. I was completely captivated by this book and the tense, gripping writing. My only regret is that I didn’t read this in the winter when I first received the early copy. This is a book that definitely should be published in the depths of winter, not summer.

While this one started out gripping it lost me about halfway through. I guessed the killer in the first few chapters and had a good idea of motive before it was revealed. The ending was abrupt. Not my favorite read by this author.

4.5 Stars. I wish to extend thanks and appreciation to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. This riveting and intense locked-room mystery introduced me to its author Darcy Coates. Plenty of recent books follow the formula of a group of people stranded in a remote location through impassible roads and bad weather. They are being killed off one by one. None know the reason or who to trust. Darcy Coates has written an intense, suspenseful mystery with added gory passages to provide horror. This was a spellbinding read and an example of what a shocking locked-room mystery should be.

A diverse group of people have been invited to spend two weeks in a remote lodge deep in the Rockies. An intense blizzard is raging outside. The bus with eleven passengers breaks down after they have removed a fallen tree blocking their path. Despite the heavy snowfall, Christa and her new boyfriend, Kiernan, wander off to view the magnificent mountain scenery. Christa falls into a ravine and becomes separated from her boyfriend. She has lost a glove, and her fingers start to become badly frostbitten. She makes a futile search for Kiernan. With the howling storm, it is unlikely he can survive the night. After her search, Christa stumbles upon a deserted hunting cabin where the other bus passengers have taken refuge. There is no food, heat, or electricity, and they cannot call for help.

Christa is distraught over losing her boyfriend and persuades others to search with her. The first one murdered is their guide. His body is missing, but his severed head is grotesquely displayed on a tree branch. Next, the wife of one of the men is killed and displayed in a similar fashion. Kiernan's teeth are placed on a windowsill, and later Christa finds his mutilated body. It is no wonder that everyone is starting to panic and suspect other group members. The remaining men and women refer to the unknown killer as the 'Butcher' whose weapon is an axe. Soon a teenage boy is killed and displayed in a horrific manner. There are reasons to suspect both men and women remaining in the cabin, but what could their motives be? The deaths are ones of gut-wrenching horror.

The book started rapidly, lagged slightly in the centre, and then became pulse-pounding with frantic action towards the end. With only a few left alive, Christa is chased through deep snow by a man wielding an axe. She tries to reach the empty lodge and hide, but he pursues her there. Is she safe in the lodge? How can she survive the madman? Is help coming? There is now a far-fetched and weird twist that not every reader will welcome.

I would have preferred an extra chapter showing the outcome of all the extreme trauma. Two people were left seriously wounded. Do either survive? Does Christa need her frostbitten fingers or hand amputated? Recommended for the relentless pace and intensity of the story. A thriller that actually thrills and constantly surprises. To be published July 11.

This is a kinda gruesome (well, gory) locked (snowed in) mystery that will keep you guessing. Christa finds herself in serious danger as someone is picking off members of the tour group she's stranded with. Who is the villain? No spoilers from me but know that I was surprised. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A page turner!

Picture this. It's July 1st, 3728 degrees outside, and I'm laying out on the beach reading. Naturally I'm reading a book about a group of people trapped in a snow storm in the Rocky Mountains getting brutally murdered one at a time, right? 🫠

I guessed the ending right away, but it didn't take away my enjoyment since there were 10 other stories to try and piece together. It's very a And Then There Were None type of books. The ending got a little bizarre, but in a few months when it's cold and you're looking for a fun fast paced mystery, definitely give this one a go.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates is an exciting survivalist horror thriller that definitely wanted me to keep reading well past my bedtime. A group of travelers are stranded in the mountains during a winter storm and have taken shelter in a small cabin. Very quickly they start getting murdered one by one in some pretty grisly ways and find themselves in a struggle to survive the harsh elements and a murderer. The premise behind this story is not something new or original. It has been done by some amazing authors, such as the great Agatha Christie and Ruth Ware; however, Darcy Coates has still made it feel fresh and compelling. There were times where I needed to stop reading (because work) and I really wanted to read just one more chapter. The chapters are short and help to keep the pacing of the story so that you want to keep reading. I did figure out the killer and motive early on in the story, but even knowing that information did not make this story any less thrilling to read. This is not my first Coates novel and will definitely not be my last. I highly recommend this book!

This is such a fun and fast paced thriller with a mix of horror. I couldn’t put it down and it genuinely shocked me with the twist at the end

You must read this book! This is one of my favorites so far this year. I was hooked from the beginning and absolutely did not see the ending coming. Don’t trust anything or anyone.