Until I read the terrifying underwater horror From Below which also featured on my Horror DNA Top Ten of 2022 I had avoided reading Darcy Coates as I had pegged her as an author of ‘cosy’ horror. Darcy is very prolific and so she has plenty of other novels to choose from, with her latest Dead of Winter blending a who-dunnit style thriller with horror. This book is far from ‘cosy’ as the setting is an isolated part of the Rocky Mountains and although much of the violence takes place off screen enough heads roll (literally) to keep the horror end of the thriller market entertained.

Fans of locked-room thrillers of old-school style Agatha Christie mysteries will have a lot of fun with Dead of Winter where the killer is either one of the characters in the room or somebody else lurking outside which is being kept hidden from the reader. For the most part the story kept the reader on their toes and it could have been either of the scenarios until far into the novel. The narrative was in the first-person present tense and did not deviate from one character, I felt this was a weakness as it limited the scope of what could be done with other characters as either suspects or victims. If we the reader are given a clue it is only because the narrator Christa picks up on it and because of this we never really get to know the ensemble of other characters/suspects as well as we should have.

This novel will definitely have you turning up the central heating as almost all of it is set in biting cold temperatures, where is the killer does not get you the weather definitely will. Darcy Coates does a great job of recreating the Rocky Mountains, with treacherous weather, every bit as well as she did deep under water with her ghost ship in From Below. There were some vividly drawn sequences when members of the group were out searching for a disappeared colleague and could not see further than the end of their noses with the danger level rocketing the party might not find themselves making it back safety to the cabin. However, considering the book was set mostly in the same location it did feel slightly too long and took too long to end. Having said that Darcy Coates does her best to avoid the Final Girl trope, but as the main character is the narrator it is relatively easy to see the direction the plot heads into (even if you don’t know who the killer is) and this kills suspense somewhat.

The story kicks off with a group of holiday makers heading for a lodge in the Rocky Mountains, the weather is terrible and a fallen tree causes them to work together to try and move it. Christa goes for a walk with her boyfriend Kieran and they get turned around in the weather and get lost. The rest of the group find an uninhabited cabin where they hole up. After a terrifying ordeal in the snow Christa finds the cabin but loses Kieran (I found her whining over his disappearance to be very repetitive). Not long after, when the group are waiting for the weather to improve, their tour guide disappears and his severed head is found in the snow close to the cabin. What follows is a diverting survival novel blended with a murder mystery.

Clues are thrown (via Christa’s narrative) thick and fast and at various times you will undoubtedly change your mind on who the killer is. All the characters seem slightly dodgy in some way or another and in finest Agatha Christie tradition Christa (who has her own secret history which is told in flashback) begins to wonder whether everybody is connected in someway and they are being targeted for some reason. Although I did not immediately guess who the killer was, I did find some of the plot to be rather telegraphed, but the claustrophobic setting and short chapters made up for it.

This novel indicates that Coates is equally skilful with non-supernatural content as she is with her more familiar haunted houses. The concept of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of strangers is a scary prospect and as Christa is not particularly outgoing and seems reliant on Kieran, makes for an intriguing scenario.

Christa joins her boyfriend on a vacation to Blackstone Lodge, deep in the snowy Rocky Mountains, but when an unexpected snowstorm suddenly sweeps in, the group of strangers have to seek shelter in an nearby abandoned hunting shack, and soon Christa finds herself trapped in the small isolated cabin. When their tourguide is discovered the following morning, with his decapitated head impaled on a tree branch, the surviving group must decide who to trust, or they'll never leave this mountain.

My favorite Darcy Coates tends to be the ones with no ghosts, I know right who even am I, like From Below, Hunted amd now this. This is a fast paced, dark, bloody, claustrophobic and twisted read that keeps you guessing at every page. You think you know who the killer is, but you dont. The atmosphere in this book is exactly what it feels like to be trapped in a tiny shed with strangers, no one of them able to escape the snow covered mountain, while anyone of them might be a cold blooded killer...

I enjoyed this well enough.

The setting was great, and it got off to a great start, but some parts felt a little long winded and a book that should be a real page turner took me quite a while to get through.

There was a lack of depth to any of the characters, I just wasn't invested in them and I wish I'd been rooting for them.

Thank you for the arc!

This was my first Darcey Coates and I’m blow. Away! She’s so descriptive in her atmosphere, I felt like I was freezing along with the character! I’ll definitely read more of her books!

I am a veteran Darcy Coates reader, and generally a huge fan. This was no exception! It was such a twisty and turn-y thriller with a super cool setting (I love the cold and winter so maybe I am a bit biased). It's an interesting blend of horror and thriller elements, too. With lots of different characters, each with pretty well fleshed out backstories, and the twists and turns this novel provides, I think a lot of people will really like this! Coates cranks out such high quality thrillers-- I can't wait to see what she writes next!

My first Darcy Coates read and it was a wild ride! If you’re looking for a thriller that will keep you guessing until the end, this one is for you!

Christa and Kiernan are headed on a romantic getaway. Christa struggles with anxiety but she seems content to be headed into the wilderness with her boyfriend and a bus load of strangers.
The tension in the opening chapter never lets up. I found myself asking if this was a thriller or horror, it has elements of both. This book has a pile of characters but it was easy to keep them straight. I’m a big fan of following the story were the writer leads. Coates did a great job of explaining the back stories, making them seem plausible without giving too much away.
This was a twisty tale that I couldn’t put down. It was entertaining and left me guessing until the end. I throughly enjoyed it and look forward to my next Darcy Coates read.

Thank you to Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've read several books by Darcy Coates and really enjoy her writing, especially her ability to create an atmosphere. The descriptions in Dead of Winter paint a vivid picture of the isolated, snow covered mountain and the small, claustrophobic cabin. It's the perfect setting for this type of story and I was stoked to read it.

I burned through this book in a day. The short chapters keep the pace going and the story is good, though it is quite predictable. I had the killer figured out right away. The reason not too long after. Maybe I've just read too many thrillers and nothing really surprises me anymore. I do wish I'd had someone to root for in this book. Main character Christa is so full of guilt and self-loathing that she spends most of her time in her own head. Since she is our only POV, we miss out on a lot of the interactions and character building that you'd expect from this type of story, especially once their numbers started to dwindle.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It kept my interest and the tension builds steadily until cranking way up in the final quarter of the story. The ending wraps things up well though it leaves a couple fates hanging, so an epilogue would be a great addition. Definitely looking forward to the next book.

Thank you to Darcy Coates, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

After Christa and her boyfriend joins a tour group to Rocky Mountains everything change. One bad move and her boyfriend is missing, Christa is found by the group and they find a cozy cabin to catch their breath for a while. But then things get really ugly: the tour guy absence is raising questions so when the group goes out to search him, they only find his severed head impaled in a tree.

And here is where everything goes south. I mean, not literary. This book was so good at keeping a creepy and icy vibe. I mean they are freezing to death there and they still have time to kill people, that is just to much energy guys. Yes, there were a lot of good moments and I simply enjoyed the first 300 pages for its descriptions, the characters and how they were made and how real and vivid everything was. I feel like I read a very nice movie, but without the clips. Not gonna lie, I really was there for the character's performance and personality growth. Even if it's a thriller book (a good one as well) I found it really nice that there existed such close resemblance to the real world when it was coming down to the group.

Everyone acted like a human being would act. They beg, they cry and when they don't get their way, they try to kill. It's actually quite simple. And this group did exactly that. I was kinda proud of them even if II wasn't fond of everyone to be honest.

And now sure, the tension was so good and everyone kept pointing fingers and they were afraid but still kicking was more than good. I mean, a thriller where there is no reception, there are a lot of snow storms and a group who's getting murdered by a killer who impales their head into a tree? Damn right it should be good.

But what was with that ending? I feel like it could've been done so much better than this. I didn't get why it had to be done like this and there again everything seems for nothing if you put it that way. I expected that killer from the beginning for a thing Christa mentioned that stuck with me a lot more than I thought it would. <i>Sometimes you just have to believe in yourself.<i> and I wanted more from that ending but I have to get satisfaction from the rest since it isn't easy to find such a good thriller book.

<b>A cold way to get away with murder in this icy cinematic book full of tension, panicking and pointing fingers.<b> <i>and I'm pretty sure it wasn't easy for the killer either.<i>

Imagine to hunt people down in that frozen place while they are cozy inside and you freeze outside. The work put in it is quite humorous.

“Dead of Winter” by Darcy Coates is an upcoming thriller that’s creepy, atmospheric and suspenseful! You won’t find any slow and dull moments with this snowy locked-room mystery thriller.

We follow the story through the eyes of the main character, Christa. Her and her boyfriend, Kiernan, head off to a winter lodge retreat in the Rocky Mountains with a group of other tourists. On their way there, they become stranded on the tour bus in the middle of a snowstorm. The group thinks they’re finally safe when they find an abandoned cabin nearby to take cover until the bitter and chilly snowstorm passes. It isn’t until they find their tour guide’s head impaled and stuck to a tree outside of the cabin, that they realize they’re far from safety and the snowstorm is no longer their biggest worry.

This claustrophobic thriller will have you wondering who the murderer is and if someone else will be next. Who can you trust and who will make it out alive?

This book is easy to read and an enjoyable page-turner, but I do wish there was more depth to each of the characters involved to bring more to the story and make the plot more interesting, meaningful and complex. I loved the suspense and the ride it took me on though!

“Dead of Winter” by Darcy Coates will be loved for those seeking a whodunit-style mystery (gore included) that takes place during a freezing snowstorm inside of an abandoned cabin in the woods.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC that is set to release on July 11, 2023 in exchange for my honest review.

This mashup of a horror and thriller left me unable to put it down while my 8-month-old played on his mat in front of me. I was absolutely glued and I've been thinking about the genius of the atmospheric writing for literal days. I want to re-read it, and I just finished reading it less than twenty-four hours ago...it's that good.

The way the author blended chilling horror with coating every word in suspense? I have to order her entire backlist. Right now. Her writing is both evocative and completely compelling. I was invested from the first sentence and she managed to lead me on a merry chase that I didn't see coming until the end.

For a reader who tends to see endings coming from a mile away, this was brilliantly done. Just chef's kiss.

I've never read a book that made sound almost a main character because of the beautiful and overwhelming part it played in the writing of the atmosphere. Somehow, the author made a snowstorm the creepiest thing in the universe and managed to make a desolate and otherwise kinda boring setting, a snowed-in cabin, reek of terror.

Seriously, I have to stop gushing about this book. Read it. Now. Do yourself a favor.

This was like reading a horror movie. I couldn't put it down.
Trying to figure out who the killer was kept me reading. And I picked them out at the start but dismissed them after the bodies started piling up.
It was fascinating, how the different personalities worked, or didn't work together. I would have enjoyed more insight into them, even a pov here and there, especially Simone and Blake.
This was my first but definitely won't be my last from this author.
Absolutely recommend, especially if you're a fan of final girl slasher type movies.
I received an advance copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a pretty good horror/who done it that keeps you questioning things until the end. At first I thought there were continuity issues, but Coates story telling wraps everything up pretty well. This is my first Coates but won’t be my last. Recommend this one.

Dead of Winter is the ultimate winter vacation gone wrong. One by one members of their tour group are murdered, presumably by someone else on the tour. There are so many red herrings that even though I sort of anticipated the outcome, I was constantly second guessing myself. When you get to the 80% mark, make sure you don’t have anything else planned. You won’t be able to put it down!
This thriller starts in the middle of a blizzard. You will feel as if you are standing on a mountain with snow swirling around you. Perfect reading if you find yourself snowed in or in the middle of a heat wave in the dog days of summer and need to mentally cool off.

This was my first book by this author and I can easily say I will be reading all of her backlist!!

This was extremely action packed and my heart was honestly racing at parts. A group of strangers are headed to an isolated lodge in a snowstorm and let’s just say… things get gory! This gave me No Exit and The Drift vibes and was unsettling from start to finish. The way the author described the setting and the weather made it so easy to get into the story and feel like you were really there! I also was obsessed with the female MC. As graphic as this was, it had an incredible storyline, and even better twists and I can definetly see it being one of my top horror/thrillers recs of the year!

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐈𝐟…
✨there’s currently a snowstorm where you live
✨you love an action packed, twisty read
✨you like short chapters

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I love a mysterious thriller. This book is just that. If you're looking for a book to escape and a mindless read then this one is for you. Darcy Coates and Dead of Winter will have you guessing throughout this book as Christa, and her boyfriend Kieran, set out for a trip that quickly goes wrong. Kieran disappears when they get separated while outside when their bus is stranded in a snow storm. Kieran is missing, and then the others on the trip start getting murdered. This is a classic who done in. It was a fun read with shorter chapters. There are many characters that can be a bit to keep up with.
Thank you Net Galley and it's publisher for the Advanced Readers Copy.

Dead of Winter - Darcy Coates

Brutal and shocking, Coates writes one heck of a mystery with an ending that sneaks up behind you and grabs you by the throat.

This is a winter storm of an isolated "locked door" mystery is about a serial killer with an agenda. Will the 8 people stranded in a cabin discover who is stalking them (and why) in time to save their lives? Read to find out.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this chilling thriller!

Until next time, don't close your eyes to danger.

the first half of this book was BAD. Horrible pacing and very baldy written characters, i had (still have) no idea who they were and never cared for them. the plot twist was predictable but it was good. the last ten chapters where great, saved the reading experience for me.

Dead of winter is about a group of people headed to a lodge to escape from there stressful lives and enjoy the wilderness during winter, until they are blocked from continuing on the road and forced to camp out in a nearby cabin. All was well when they found the cabin until the head of the camp leader was found outside the cabin attached to a tree branch. Everyone wonders , who did it? Why? Is it one of us? Was it an outsider?

This book was a decent read. There was nothing that really stuck out to me about the plot or even the writing. In my opinion i feel like it was just another basic thriller. I predicted what was gonna happen towards the middle of the book and once i was confirmed in my suspicion the book lost a star. I would’ve enjoyed it if the book were less predictable.

I however , don't hate the book. It was still a nice thriller to read even though i predicted it which is why i still gave it 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to review this book before its official release in exchange for an honest review

Dead of Winter is what I would describe as a locked room mystery (I love!) which follows Christa and her tour group stuck in a snowstorm and their tour guide discovered dead the next morning.

The deaths are all brutal and horrific with lots of unexpected twists and I had a great time following the story all the way till the last few chapters.. I have to say that predictable ending really took away the fun.

Loved the horror and mystery aspect, disappointed by the ending.

I have loved every Darcy Coates book I have read and this one did not disappoint!

A group of people are heading to a remote lodge, they are all connected but don’t know it. On their way they are stopped by a tree over the road. Christa and Kiernan become lost, the others find an unoccupied cabin.

After Christa and Kiernan become separated and Christa ends up in the cabin and a failed attempt to find him, the group tries to find resources to survive the weather and find a way out.

But there is a killer on the loose as member go missing and when they are found they are missing something.

Who is it? How are these people all connected?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I did not expect who the killer ended up being! If you haven’t read Darcy Coates, start now!