I’m a firm believer that books like this should be rated purely on entertainment value, and this one is really a doozy.

I’m a sucker for any book that plays on the tropes of And Then There Were None, especially if the action takes place in a desolate place beset by snow and cold.

There’s not really anything new in the bones of this one, but it’s so well paced and fun, and it hits all the right notes for this subgenre.

There are some elements to the killings in this one that take it from the Thriller genre to the Horror genre, but as long as you’re not really creeped out by severed heads, you can read this one and enjoy it even if you’re a bit squeamish about true Horror like me. The killings are gruesome, but they mostly don’t happen on page and there’s a cartoonish aspect to them that makes them easier to take.

The structure and suspense in this one is excellent, notably so compared to other books that work with a similar model and setting. I did guess the killer and the ending, but it’s a clever one and Coates keeps the tension high and the excitement rolling all the way to the finish line.

Claustrophobic and tense, this story will keep the hairs on the back of your neck stiff. I felt the fear and paranoia through the dialogue and pacing. I recommend a read to those seeking a wild ride in a tight space.

Reviewing my past reads, and realized I never posted my review of this! I thoroughly enjoyed this read by Darcy Coates, and am very appreciative to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy!

Although it's been quite some time since I read this one, it has stayed with me. The character development, intrigue, and writing kept me enthralled and was descriptive enough to feel cold while reading. Haha! The twist surprised me, and that doesn't happen too often since I read so many thrillers. Highly recommend!

What a fine example of a locked-room mystery. A group of travelers are stranded in a snow storm. They find an uninhabited cabin and one by one, they start to die. It's a bit far-fetched and it's on the graphic side (especially for a lover of cozy mysteries), but it will keep you guessing. I loved that we gradually got to know each traveler and their strengths as well as their character flaws. I'm also a fan of strong female protagonists. I'm not 100% sure I believe that she could do all the things she did in her circumstances <spoiler>like when she ventures out into the blizzard almost immediately after regaining consciousness and treating frostbite</spoiler>, but it was fun to get swept up in the story and not question such things. It's probably not for the squeamish, but it's a great winter thriller.

I enjoyed this book even though I was fairly sure who it was at the very beginning of the book. I think I would have probably second guessed myself had I not read a spoiler that gave it all away. Regardless, this is definitely worth reading. Especially if you are a younger reader. I didn't find it as gory as some. I don't know if I would have figured out the motive if not for the spoiler. That is my fault though.

I received this from Netgalley.

I've quickly learned that I'm a Darcy Coates girly. Her writing is easy to read, but still mesmerizing. Honestly, every book I've read from her has been fun and this book is no exception! 10/10 recommend.

Talk about gruesome! This winter thriller is not for the faint of heart!
When Christa goes away with her boyfriend on what should have been a safe snowy expedition near his home town, she gets more than she bargained for. 
The story starts with a bang, we are in a blinding blizzard, with no idea how Christa got in this position or how she is going to get herself out of it. 
This book was nonstop- didnt let up for a minute! The group Christa is with begins to disappear and only their heads are left behind...who is doing this? Is it someone in the group? 
We go back and forth between the horror and what brought Christa to the fateful trek that day. We slowly learn about her and why this is all happening. 
With all the action, this would make a fantastic movie.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates is a chilling, atmospheric thriller based loosely on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. This was my first novel by Coates and I didn't realize that it was classified as a horror book when I requested it. I don't tend to choose horror books, but this was not bad. It was grisly, it was gory, it was bloody - don't get me wrong. But overall it was pretty good!

Christa and her boyfriend of six months have taken a two week long vacation to an isolated lodge in the Rocky Mountains and are travelling there with a handful of other people when their bus comes across a fallen tree blocking the road. While some of the passengers help to cut up and remove the tree, Christa and Kiernan take a little hike, but a snowstorm starts up and things just go downhill from there. The vacationers are now hunkered down in a vacant cabin to wait out the storm and one by one they start to get killed off.

The first half of the book was a little slower for me. I thought it was a little repetitive between the killings. I mean, there's only so much people in a snowstorm in the mountains can do/say as they wait it out. We find out a little about the background of each of the people stuck in the cabin, but not much.

The last part of the book was heart-pounding and exciting, with a few twists that you might be able to figure out but are still fun. If you like strong female characters that don't give up, atmospheric settings that pull you in, and locked room type tropes, you will enjoy this novel by Darcey Coates.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I’m obsessed with loved room mysteries, and this one did not disappoint. Christa and her boyfriend are traveling on a Rocky Mountain tour group when their bus is stopped on by a tree in the road. The group hikes to a nearby cabin for shelter. One by one the group is picked off. But who is the killer, and why? Whoa this was insane. The killer was twisted and this book contains a good amount of gore. There are quite a few different characters, but once I got going, I couldn’t stop. A great horror read for a winter night. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Darcy Coates novel, and now I am excited to find more! I really loved the snowy, trapped-in setting and mysteries to uncover. It was great to try to figure out where the story was going, and who you could trust. I read through this one quickly, because it kept my interest and I could not wait to find out how things wrapped up! I highly recommend this to my thriller-loving friends!

I couldn't connect with the characters. Even though I liked what was going on and the atmosphere, there was something about the characters that didn't resonate with me, although I'm not sure if it was the writing style or the pace, fast or slow at times. I do want to read the author's other books, but this one wasn't for me.

Thank you to Darcey Coates, Net Galley, and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC! I have loved many of Darcey’s books so I was so excited to read Dead of Winter. This novel was a good mix of thriller and horror with many tropes that I knew I already loved. I am a sucker for an isolated setting with a one by one style story, and this one did not disappoint! While some of the answers were easy to guess at in this story, there were several twists that had me on the edge of my seat.

Another great book by Darcy Coates. I enjoy every book she writes and I add them to my classroom library. My students are also fans. Thank you for continuing to produce readable material that we can have lively discussions about.

This isolated thriller really worked for me. I was hooked from the very beginning. I needed to know what would happen and how the ,Ian character would fair throughout this harrowing tale.

There are some areas of the story where the reader has to almost suspend their disbelief in order to enjoy the ride. Not everything is completely plausible but the dramatic effects that those events hvae on the overall story are well worth it.

This was my first Day Coates. I have been wanting to check out her work for quite a while. I’m so glad I was able to get a taste for her writing in this book. I really enjoyed the way she structured sentences. Her vivid descriptions kept me fully immersed within the story. I can’t wait to check out more of her work!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

I really enjoyed this, it was written well and was very tense and creepy to read at times. The characters were likeable enough though I didn’t feel attached to them.

I will say that I guessed the plot twists, they were quite predictable but that didn’t take away the enjoyment of reading them.

So, with this being my 4th book that I have read now, by Coates, it was another that I thought was not well written. It was like reading a bad 'chick flicks' script for a BAD Lifetime movie. Sorry cannot recommend this as horror and will not read anything else by Coates.
2 ehs.

Wow! What a gripping, edge of your seat thriller! I was hooked from the very first chapter and devoured this book in a day!
If you are looking for a locked room winter thriller, look no further! A group traveling to a remote vacation lodge in the Rocky Mountains gets stranded in a snow storm, and things very quickly take a deadly turn as they get picked off one by one.
It was entertaining, fast paced and had lots of fun little red herrings. I did guess who the killer was early on, but still enjoyed the premise despite it!

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I was really pumped to read Dead of Winter. I had really high hopes that I would love it. I love "stranded in a cabin with strangers" mysteries. Unfortunately, this one did not live up to my expectations. It was OK... but not great. I called the ending very early on because the "twist" was glaringly obvious. The story is told only through the eyes of Christa. I think this was a mistake. The suspense would have been better had we had more than one point of view. I also found Christa a bit tiring to spend time with because she made really bad decisions sometimes. The one thing I did really like was the level of gore and the cold creepy atmosphere. I haven't had a good horror novel with good gore in a while. It's not a bad book, it's just not what I was hoping for. I think fans of this author will really enjoy this one.

I live in a vert remote area, so reading this alone at noght was not the best idea. How Darct Coates comes u with these things, the headds I dont know. But I'll keep reading every book she writes.