I didn't really like this book. The characters were not multi-dimensional and I had trouble keeping track of who was who. It started out with a somewhat unrealistic premise and about the third time everyone wandered out in the snow hunting for a missing person, I found myself skimming sections of the story. The book falls into the "horror" genre but was not my "cup of tea". as it was very predictable as to who the killer was.

☁️ talk about a dream come true 💫 thank you to Poisoned Pen Press + NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read & review my first ever ARC!!

See below for my spoiler-free snapshot review of…

DEAD OF WINTER | @darcybooks | @poisonedpenpress @netgalley | release date: July 11, 2023

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“A bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps across a group of strangers traveling to a vacation lodge, forcing them to take shelter in an abandoned cabin. When overnight the tour guide goes missing, his head later found impaled on a tree, the group realizes they’re not nearly as alone as they think they are.”

❄️ slow burn, exciting as hell - I felt like I was there with the characters while they battled the storm & Coates took her time laying out this deliciously gruesome whirlwind
❄️ UNEXPECTED, juicy, a patiently crafted thriller dripping with carnage & intrigue
❄️ my favorite kind of creepy, macabre, unsettling read UGH YES
❄️ reminiscent of Agatha Christie
❄️ ended WAY too quickly - almost abrupt, even

& my good-to-knows:
🔪 GRAPHIC violence/death, but I loved it
🔪 not for the faint of heart
🔪 unputdownable
🔪 gorey goodness

I enjoyed the atmospheric and eerie setting of the book. While the story had good suspense, I think that survival themed stories tend to feel a bit repetitive and it takes a lot of plot twists to keep readers captivated in the “and then there were none” type plot. It took me a while to get through the book, I almost quit a little ways through but the story because the middle portion of the book starts to drag a bit… especially after the initial shock factor of the first murder, but it started to pick up again later! The extreme environment combines with the intensity of the murders to make a thrilling ending.

If you are ever the beneficiary of a free trip, just say no. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

A small group of tourists are traveling in the winter to a remote lodge that’s high in the mountains and normally closed that time of year. If there is a special group booking, they leave the door open and wish the visitors good luck. Why? Because that time of year has wicked snowstorms and downed trees and blocked roads and no way to ferry guests or get supplies or emergency help. But, hey, it’s free! So, we have twelve people on a mountainous road heading to a lodge when every other rational human being has shown better sense. What could go wrong?

This is a mystery/thriller/horror book, so it won’t surprise anyone when very mysterious and thrilling and horrifying things happen. Like when a freak snow storm descends, downing a tree to block the road to the lodge and covering the terrain with so much deep snow that evidence is buried as quickly as it plops headless in the snow. The intreprid travelers are forced to take refuge in a very cramped log cabin, which they find unlocked and sans the owners. Very scary things happen that make it clear, even to this trusting bunch, that someone is creeping around and killing people in a particularly gruesome manner. It isn’t surprising that the survivors begin to look askance at their cabin mates and think, am I next? Of course you are, you idiot!

Enough. I won’t be able to sleep tonight or EVER! And if you pick up this book, you won’t either. Just sayin’. Oh, and ignore the fact that Colorado is two mountainous, snowy states away from the Canadian border. The author is Australian. Give her a break!

This book will be released in July, 2023. Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

What I liked: Fast paced, lots of drama. Twists and turns, some predictable some not. What I disliked: Chapter endings were corny and forced and some storylines could have been more complete.
Recommended For: Thriller fans.

This book was an enjoyable read. It was filled with loads of mystery and suspense with a few good twists and turns thrown in. The only negative I have is that it tended to get wordy at times. This is a book which I would recommend to others.

The Dead of Winter is a locked door thriller, with some horror vibes. It is fast paced and just creepy enough. Darcy Coates did a great job with the characters and setting. I will look forward to more of her books.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my ARC.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates got everything right - atmosphere, tension, suspense, psychological mind games enveloped by a winter storm that will not stop, nor will the killer. I was pulled in and could not put this book down. The story moves at a pretty fast pace with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. The author did a good job pulling it all together at the end. I recommend the book and am grateful that I was given the opportunity to read it by the publisher for an honest review.

What an amazing book. This was my first Darcy Coates novel and definitely not my last. Between the suspense and back-to-back-back murders I was guessing until the last chapter! The imagery of the Rocky Mountains and the gruesome winter storm was so detailed, I felt like I was there myself. I swear I actually shivered once or twice. I would’ve loved an epilogue continuing the ending of the story. I feel like it left on a cliff hanger and i’m eager to find out what happens next. This is a serious page turner that will have you second guessing your next winter vacation.

This was a great thrill ride in a book with all the perfect twists and well developed characters. Unfortunately the ending just left me hanging. I need to know did they live?

ARC: Dead of Winter is gripping, each chapter leaving on a cliffhanger. It's gorey and full of mystery that will keep you guessing until the last pages. The characters and story line are woven together masterfully to gradually reveal information and keep the reader hooked. However you think this story will end, you're wrong. This is a fun, exciting read for fans of horror set in harsh winter settings.

I loved this! The isolated winter setting was so good. I thought every character in the book was the butcher at one point or another. Just when I thought they were going to figure out the killer, it would take a turn and they’d be back at square one. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I’d say it’s my favorite read so far this year, and I need to read more Darcy Coates ASAP!

Thank you to Darcy Coates, Poisoned Pen Press, and Net Galley for this ARC.

This is a high suspense, action packed novel that kept me reading late at night, early in the morning and any other time I could spare. Christa and her boyfriend go on a bus trip in the mountains during the dead of winter to a remote lodge. She has been feeling maybe he is going to propose on this unique winter experience. They run into problems on the way up, and the group on the bus has to lodge in a mountain shack. Slowly people start turning up dead. Just when you think you know who is the murderer-you don't! It is a well written "who done it?" with a great surprise ending. Thank you Darcy Coates and Black Owl Books for this advance copy of this excellent book. I loved it!

Darcy Coates never disappoints in the horror department. I love locked doors books and this was scary!

I’m from Texas and have only seen snow twice in my life, but Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates transported me to a secluded cabin in the middle of a snowstorm where a group of strangers that soon realize there is a killer among them.

This was a fun thriller/mystery/horror/suspense story that has twists and turns that are so unexpected. There were some Agatha Christie vibes though this book leans a bit more towards suspense/horror. So, this was right up my alley!

I spent a couple of nights unable to put this book down, staying up way later than I should have! This is the second story that I’ve read by Darcy Coates and am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thanks so much to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Christa and her boyfriend, Kiernan, are lost in a blizzard, trudging through the snow until they get separated.

We learn that they had been on a bus, heading to a remote lodge, when the bus got stuck on a mountain road.

Eventually, Christa finds her way to a cabin where the rest of the passengers are huddled against the cold. With no cell service and no way out, they settle in for the night. But where’s Kiernan?

Then people start disappearing…and dying. Is one of her fellow travelers a murderer, or is it a stranger in the woods? Christa has to fight not just the elements, but an unseen enemy, to survive.

This book was just ok. While it was well-written, there just wasn’t any tension for me. The characters were one-dimensional; maybe there were too many, but I honestly didn’t even think the protagonist Christa was very well fleshed-out either.

I just didn’t particularly care about the characters, didn’t feel any tension building, or feel any surprise at the ending (it did, however, leave me irritated because of loose ends).

It was a quick read, and I didn’t DNF because I kept thinking there would be a big twist that would redeem it.

Even though this one missed the mark for me , it was well-written enough that I wouldn’t hesitate to try another book from this author.

A very scary book. I loved it. Warning, once you start reading, you won’t be able to stop. I love locked door thrillers
This was one of the best I’ve read. I’ve read quite a few. Thank you Netgalley and publisher for providing this
advanced copy.

Intense, violent, scary, fast reading, hard to put down. Those would be some of the things that I would tell people about this book. This is a first time I have read anything by this author, but I intend to look up some of her other books and see if I like them as well. An interesting plot, 11 people headed for a resort are derailed by a freak snowstorm and end up in a cabin, picked off one by one. But why? What could a bunch of strangers have in common? And who will survive, if anyone? There are a lot of people to choose from to be the "bad guy" and a lot of red herrings. I thought I knew who the killer was, but I was wrong. Thank you, NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for the chance to read this book.

Fast paced and twisty! This book had me hooked from the start and I for once I didn't guess the ending until it came. I loved how all my questions were addressed and I cannot wait to recommend this to thriller and horror readers!!
Thank you for the opportunity to review this book and be prepared to tell everyone about this when released!

This is certainly a different foray for Darcy Coates! This was still in the vein of horror but more in the Final Girls sense and not haunted houses and things that go bump in the night. Ms. Coates seemingly understands that people can be monsters too and some times what we do to each other is the real horror. Go into this one with an open mind, fans.