Despite a description that sounded right up my alley, I just could not get into this book and it was a DNF for me.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley.

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. 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. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport...and they're far from finished. As the storm grows more dangerous and the number of survivors dwindles one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust before this frozen mountain becomes her tomb.

First of all, I have to say that this book was a lot more gory than I thought it would be and this story just reaffirms the fact that I would much rather be on a hot, sandy beach than the article freezing temperatures of the Rocky Mountains. Just like in every horror story, the characters make some wildly dumb decisions. Christa was a strong character, I think I did end up liking her the best out of all of them. She had a way of critically thinking that put her (mostly) on the right path. Frankly, I guessed the whodunnit part basically at the beginning of the book and I was slightly disappointed by the very, very ending.

You absolutely will not catch me in the mountains after reading Dead of Winter. I absolutely love a locked room mystery and I could not put this book down until I got to the end. Darcy Coates has me thoroughly hooked. Pick this book up if you're looking for a mystery to suck you in and refuse to let go.

This book while a compelling read has a degree of gore that can be quite disturbing. Other than that aspect it is a very interesting book and keeps the reader guessing till the end.

I thought this was a fun thriller and I love the dreary setting. Darcy Coates did a great job with the imagery and I could feel myself being propelled into the freezing cold and all the anxiety and that the characters felt.

I will absolutely allow an author to gaslight me for a few hundred pages, IF they’re successful. Darcy Coates definitely succeeded. She had me questioning if I was the Butcher by the end if this book.

It feels like Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” & Stephen King’s “The Shining” had a one night stand. Which, I think I would pay money to see. DONT JUDGE ME 😬👀🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m not sure I can add anything else because the gaslighting is just so delicious, and I wouldn’t want to deprive anyone of that mind f*ck of an experience.

Thank you NetGalley & Poison Pen Press for reinforcing that my fear of getting stuck in a blizzard with no cell signal is NOT irrational.

4.5 stars

An engrossing thriller that will leave you guessing!

Christa accompanies her boyfriend to a remote mountain lodge with the belief that an engagement proposal is imminent. Before they can reach the lodge, their tour group is stranded in the wilderness. The group takes shelter in a nearby cabin, but are picked off one by one. Eventually, the group realizes they all share a horrifying connection and race to figure out who is responsible for their fate.

I didn't want to put this book down and would highly recommend to any thriller fans!

eARC kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Classic isolation, one by one murder, Christie style murder mystery. I called culprit and motive within the first quarter of the story BUT I did enjoy the journey to see if I was correct. All in all, not mind blowing but lots of fun.

A group of people are on their way to a secluded lodge in the mountains. But the weather and other circumstances leave them stranded in a small cabin before they can reach their destination. Christa (the protagonist) gets separated from Kiernan (boyfriend) and is later found by the other people in her group… but Kiernan is nowhere to be found.
That night the first murder happens… it all goes downhill for this people.
A very good premise with a good execution. I felt anxious and scared sometimes and I felt for Christa, her fears, insecurities and paranoia were my own.
Even though I guessed who was the killer halfway through the book, the reveal was satisfying.
Overall a very good book with a great insight of the human psyche and the process of grief and what it can do to people.

OMG this was so freaking good! I read this in practically one sitting because I could not put it down. I’ve never been so terrified of snow in my life. It is everything creepy and eerie that you want in a horror. Warning… this story is not for the faint of heart (the body horror alone… don’t eat while reading this lol). It is brutal and gory. But holy shit was it thrilling! It has the stranded, locked-room element with a whodunnit mystery where everyone is a suspect. I loved every second of it. It is truly an edge of your seat read that will have you turning the pages. It will make you question everything. I was excited and terrified and I felt every tragic, gruesome moment of it.

The thing that spoiled it all for me into not being a five star was the end. I had the twist guessed really early on and then at the end it was like that comical infodump that all the villains do when they reveal their evil master plans and reasoning shortly before being thwarted. But I still highly recommend this to thriller and horror readers! I will definitely be watching for this author’s next release.

NetGalley supplied the book, I supply the review. I prefer reading mysteries over suspense but this book intrigued me. With a mystery I can continue reading but with a suspense when something scary happens I have to put the book down, that happened a lot with this book. Who would have thought so many of these winter vacationers would end up with their heads hanging from a tree when all they had planned on was a winter vacation at Blackstone Alpine Lodge. They realized early that one of them was guilty but they couldn’t understand why one of them would want them all dead. They had nothing in common…or did they. The author takes us through each gruesome beheading leading us to suspect one, then another, then another of the group. She does a good job in keeping us guessing and does a wonderful job at the end of explaining it all. You’ve got snow storms, great location, interesting individuals with a great and to me a surprising ending. Hats off to the author for coming up with so many ways to chop off a head.

Now THIS is a page-turner. I've been looking for something unsettling to read and have been disappointed with all of my choices. Until I found this book.

I was hooked from the start and could not put it down (don't start reading late on a Sunday night when you have to get up early for work the next day). I found myself saying, "Just one more chapter' because every single chapter ended with a cliffhanger. Good thing the chapters were short!

I thought I had the plot figured out many times during the read and as I neared the end, I wondered if it really was that simple - a let-down, really - but then the true identity is revealed and I was blown away.

Running now to see what else I can read by this author because this was done really well.

Towards the end, there were quite a few errors, words missing, etc., but I'm assuming this is because it's an ARC and these will be fixed before the final release.

I love reading anything by Darcy Coates, and Dead of Winter was no different!

The start of the story was kind of slow for me, but once Christa made it to the cabin, it took off. Every time I thought I figured out who the killer was, another curve ball was thrown (I should've stuck with my initial guess). I couldn't put this book down, it was such an amazing read.

Must read! So many twists and turns in this whodunit. Will definitely keep you up trying to figure out who the killer is. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Mystery/Thrillers.

This book kept me guessing! Intriguing, brilliant, terrifying and fascinating in equal parts. Love this author and can't wait til the next book!

4 STARS

Another one of my “group trapped in a remote location during a blizzard” reads! I do recommend this - I was surprised with the beginning of the book as it drops you right into a tense situation that I thought would have been the ending. But oh there is so much more!

As each character is brutally picked of by “the butcher” it becomes clear that no one can be trusted. I wasn’t shocked by the identity of the killer as there’s subtle clues throughout, but I was quite surprised by a couple of twists and turns! I have an issue where I usually figure out the end of the book too soon and the book becomes boring, but this kept me engaged with unexpected moments and second guessing myself!

This was such a good locked-room mystery! Gripping in the beginning and tense throughout. Coates’ descriptions made you feel like you’re in the story, freezing your tail off in a blizzard with a group of strangers. I loved that I guessed every single character and was completely wrong. Each chapter was short, suspenseful and left you on the edge of your seat. I couldn’t put a majority of it down. Toward the end, it felt repetitive and drawn out. I enjoyed learning about all the character connections in the end. I don’t think I’ve read anything like this before.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

And then there was….yet another take on “And Then There Were None”.

The pros for me:
*Quick read.
*Well written.
*Does have suspenseful moments.

The cons for me:
*Too much lingering on EVERYTHING. Too long describing scenery, observations, and gore. It all felt longer than it needed to be.
*A very easy to guess antagonist.
*Ending is neither satisfying nor dissatisfying. Just is.

The problem with doing a new take on an old classic is that it’s been done A LOT. The formula has been set for so long that it’s going to be fairly easy to figure out who the bad guy is. Knowing that, you have to make the journey a whole experience assuming that your audience already guessed who done it. If the experience along the way is still suspenseful and enjoyable then hooray! Unfortunately for me, this ain’t it.

This is my first Darcy Coates book. I'd say there's enough in the writing that I would try other books, banking on the fact that they can't all be retellings of another story so I'd be willing to see if I like other books better than I did this one.

I read this straight through! The atmosphere, the pacing, so good! This book is perfect for suspense fans who don't mind a little macabre creepiness and want to feel like they are there watching the scenes unfold. I enjoyed the characters, the plot twists, the setting. The closer to the end you get, the more you feel like you're fighting along with the main character for survival.

I am a fan of Darcy Coates haunted house novels, so I was excited to try something different from her. I really enjoyed the book, but I was able to guess who the killer was from the very beginning. It was pretty obvious, but besides that the book was a good read. Not my favorite from her but good nevertheless.