Absolutely could not put this book down, it was such a fast read! Each chapter ended in something drastic happening and it made you want to keep reading to find out. It was twist after twist after twist! I didn’t think the twists would end! Every time you were sure you finally found out who was doing it, it would change! It was really good, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

That being said, I 100% guessed who did it and why in the first 1/3 of the book! I have never been able to do that before. So was it a bit predictable and a little drug out? Yes. But I still somehow really enjoyed it and recommend. The only part I was unhappy about was the very ending because you don’t find out what happens after the rescue. I would have 1000% appreciated an epilogue.

Thank you for this eARC that was generously by the publisher and author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

How could a vacation opportunity for Christa to spend time with her boyfriend in a beautiful resort out in the Rockies turn into a nightmare? As if a blizzard, eight strangers with seemingly no connection stranded a tiny cabin and no connection to the outside world isn’t enough…….. macabre attacks on the group  start singling them out, killing them: think Agatha Christie.
   The story, while gripping, was slow moving. That was until you hit Chapter 55 and it all came together in a rush and took off like a rocket. The compilation of this group wasn’t random, as we learn, and the planning of it had taken years: this was revenge at the highest magnitude.
   A horror story told in explicit detail, it has the reader cringing on every page. And just when you think the end is near, a whole new shock rocks whatever you expected.
   A compelling read for the lover of horror and murder mystery.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

***

I stayed up until 4:30 AM to finish this one, which is a common theme with Coates books. I love her brand of cozy horror, but this was certainly a departure from the last few haunted house books I have read.

There's a killer on the loose picking off stranded tourists hunkered down in a desolate cabin lost somewhere in a mountain snowstorm. I was engaged and needed to finish this one in a single sitting.

I was able to guess the killer about halfway through the book, but I still enjoyed the ride.

2.5 stars

I usually enjoy whodunit mysteries with isolated settings, but this one fell short. I thought I would enjoy the wintery setting and the tension the weather would provide, but it soon grew tiresome, as there's only so many times you want to read the same descriptions about people trudging through a blizzard.

The story was also full of one-dimensional characters making stupid decisions. I got so frustrated wondering why those idiots kept going out on their own with a killer on the loose? You'd think they'd learn their lesson after the first couple of people were brutally butchered, but no...they just kept going out on their own and getting killed.

Finally, my first five star read of the year!

After an initial struggle to get off the ground, this turned into one amazing book. I was truly hooked from start to finish, finding any spare few minutes to read just that little bit more. Despite reading this in the middle of summer, I felt the harsh chill of the icy mountains and shivered during the long cold nights spent in that isolated cabin. My stomach churned at the macabre displays left for them each day and I felt the fear and suspicion as they all started to suspect each other. All of the characters were well fleshed out and I never had trouble telling them apart. The only bad thing I have to say about this book was the fact I correctly predicted the outcome from the second chapter. It was so obvious I was screaming at the pages, willing someone to see it. Or not see it to be fair. I will always recommend Darcy Coates for bringing that little extra to the table every time.
Publishing July 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Darcy Coates for granting me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dead of Winter takes place in a cabin, in the middle of a snowstorm, far up a mountain. When 8 strangers find themselves stranded there they are hoping to wait it out, that is until people start turning up dead.

If I am being honest, this was not my favorite Coates book. However, Coates will forever be an auto buy author for me. It was not that I did not think this book was outstanding, however that thriller, who-done-it storyline is not my favorite; especially considering that I am more of a fantasy or romance reader. There were however, several aspects of this book that I did appreciate. One being that it was difficult to discern who the killer was right up until the end. I suspected all but Christa at different points of the book. While I could figure out some of the big twists as the story goes on, the one I could not get was the killer, which makes it all the better. This was a very well set up story with a great presence, and a fabulous take on popular tropes. For me, my three-star rating simply came down to the fact that if this was not a Coates book, I likely would not have picked it up. It was my love of the author that attracted me to this book and if you are a bigger thriller person than I am, I am certain this book will be your next 5-star read.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates definitely reminded me a little bit of "Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie. Not the same but similar as to the whodunit aspect with a tinge of gore which I appreciated very much.

A group of strangers are traveling together on a 12 day get away when they get stranded in a winter gale. They find a log cabin to lodge in until rescue comes. Until they slowly start getting murdered one by one. Someone is the murderer amongst them. Are they really strangers?

The start was a bit slow for my liking. The middle was alright, and the last ¾ was where all the action was. I'm not sure if it's because I truly didn't connect with the MC. I found Christa annoying, and lacked common sense/better judgement. Being in her brain for 300+ pages wasn't great. She was that girl in horror films that did EVERYTHING wrong.

I felt the murders were a little repetitive and not creative. Getting murdered in the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter... there's other ways than getting ____________ on repeat. The characters were hard to connect with. It may have been the authors intention to keep the reader in the shadows regarding the characters but... still. Another downfall: I figured out immediately who the murderer was and how they were connected. For a thriller junkie as myself it wasn't difficult to figure out.

It's not a story that stands out amongst all of the thrillers I read, but it wasn't awful and was a good read.

Thank you Darcy Coates, Poisoned Pen Press, & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


For starters, I will say that I very much so enjoyed this book. It was a very unique and fun take on a classic, stuck in the middle of no where horror.

I have read a ton of Darcy Coates horrors and have enjoyed them all. This particular one, while I think was very predictable in the "who" the butcher was, was fun and entertaining. She did a great job of building tension and fear in the survivors and made it so it was interesting to see what they would do and who they would point to as the murderer next.

The only issue I had with it is that it was easy to see who it was going to be in the end, despite there being an obvious attempt at a "twist." It didnt spoil the fun for me though.

As for the author and her work in general, I find them fun, light horror reads that are always entertaining and enjoyable. I think that the character development needs more work but outside of that, great.

A group of people stuck in a blizzard while on route to a skiing vacation; they try to find refuge in a local cabin but then the bodies start turning up. In the tradition of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", this book is a thriller/horror novel about a woman named Christa who has to find her strength to survive frostbite, very little food or heat and most of all a murderer on the loose. Christa and her boyfriend Kiernan are on a bus headed for the Blackstone Lodge in the Rocky Mountains. The couple haven't been together for all that long but are very much in love. They are traveling with 6 other people when a blizzard hits and a big tree across the road prevents them from going any further. With no cell phone service and little in the way of provisions, Christa and Kiernan decide to go for a walk to see if they can find any help when Christa falls down a hill and Kiernan disappears.

I wish we would have got to know the other people on the bus before they were stranded because it took me quite awhile to tell the characters apart. I know the author wanted to conceal some of the twists but a few sentences about the various characters would have been helpful. Christa cannot find Kiernan and the group walk until they find an abandoned cabin which provides a little food and shelter from the storm. Then people start to go outsides for fresh air or a bathroom break and they are found dead in a very gruesome fashion. Is one of the remaining 7 a murderer or is someone else stalking the group? And Why?

The author does a good job in describing the storm and the difficulties in braving the weather even resulting in frostbite, I thought the killer's identify was obvious but it did not prevent my enjoyment of the book. The book stalls a bit in the middle when the story keeps repeating itself but then it gets very exciting towards the end as Christa and the others left are trying to gather their wits and their strength to survive, There were some twists I didn't see coming and I enjoyed the scary elements and the feelings of claustrophobia while they were trapped in the cabin. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

My first read by author Darcy Coates. This novel was well written! Coates had this reader feeling claustrophobic,
wanting to yell Don't Go Out There, and in general totally engrossed in the read. The only thing , I had figured out who the culprit was before the end. If I hadn't have done that, it would have rated a 5 star.

I am a big fan of Darcy Coates and Dead of Winter continues her streak of awesome horror novels. This book was full of suspense and a wonderful sense of dread. I love isolation horror and this really scratched that itch.

Christa joined the tour group for their journey deep into the Rocky Mountains. She had hoped that this would be the trip that would finally allow her to put her past behind her. But as fate would have it, she was about to be thrown into a terrifying situation that would leave her fighting for her life.
The group found themselves trapped in an abandoned hunting cabin after a bitter cold snowstorm hit the region. Christa tried to remain calm, believing they would be safe as they waited out the storm. But when their tour guide disappeared in the middle of the night, only to be found the next morning with his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin, Christa knew they were not alone.
As the storm grew more dangerous and the group dwindled in numbers, Christa found herself trapped with eight strangers, one of whom was a cold-blooded killer. She couldn't trust anyone and the fear of not knowing who the killer was made her uneasy. The eerie silence of the cabin was only disturbed by the sound of the wind howling and the sound of footsteps in the night.
The killer was toying with them, picking them off one by one. Christa knew that she had to stay alive, but with every passing moment, she felt her chances slipping away. The paranoia was getting to her and she was unsure who to turn to. Was it the friendly old man, or the quiet couple in the corner? As the tension grew, she knew that she had to make a decision before it was too late.
This book had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Darcy Coates has done an excellent job of creating a suspenseful and eerie atmosphere that leaves the reader wanting more. The twists and turns in the plot kept me guessing until the very end. If you're looking for a heart-pounding thriller that will leave you breathless, then look no further than this book. It will have you hooked from the first page to the last, leaving you wanting more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! I haven't read a thriller like this in a while! It was quick paced, had me on the edge of my seat, and made me gasp out loud a number of times. This book was so incredibly well done that I don't have anything to nitpick on. I went into this book blind, and thought it was a better read due to that, so I'd recommend others go into this book blind. This is a 5-star thriller read for me!

This book was not for me. I found it so drawn out and there were too many characters to keep track of. However, I thought the ending/reveal was really good. Coates is a good writer but this book just didn't appeal to me.

If you're a fan of snowy wilderness settings and locked in 'whodunit' mysteries, this is the book for you.

What's meant to be a relaxing two week tour to a lodge deep in the Rockies turns into a fight for survival that leaves the tour group sheltering in a lil cabin in the woods when they are unable to reach the lodge in a snowstorm.

As if that doesn't sound bad enough, someone is already missing, and THEN our characters wake up to find a head impaled on a tree outside the cabin.. and it's only the first night. Tensions are high, everyone's a suspect and no one can be ruled out.

Okay so I'd like to start off by saying I finished this in one day! Is that out of the norm when I'm reading Darcy Coates books?? Well.. no. But every time I read one I'm like maybe this'll be the time I don't absolutely love one of her books. But thankfully it was not! I was reading before work, on my breaks and after work because I didn't want to put it down. It started you off right in the deep end, no slow build up and easing into anything which I love.

Darcy Coates has always been one of my favorite authors but this book with its snowed in, locked room mystery really gave me 'And Then There Were None' vibes which is another one of my favorite books!

I DID guess the killer around the halfway mark just based on a feeling but there were moments I doubted myself. Either way I still felt satisfied with the ending!

My final thoughts: chilling, well paced and creepy af. Darcy Coates has done it again.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Whoa! What did I just read?! One night I read a few chapters before bed and realized that I shouldn’t have done that when I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat! That’s what I like in my horror, mysteries, and thrillers! You get a reaction from me like that; you’ve sold me on your story. This was a well-written book. The author did excellent with everything from character development to the plot to the ending was so well done! The main female point of view was just so engaging! She was such a strong, badass character that it made me think I probably wouldn’t have done half the stuff she did. Kudos Christa!! The twisty nature of the plot kept my mind reeling. When I thought I knew whodunit, I didn’t. I love that it kept me on my toes and guessing every step of the way. And it didn’t hurt that the story occurred during a snowy winter, my favorite season! If I were you, dear readers, run and get this book! You will not be disappointed! Preorder now! It will be released on July 11, 2023.
*Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley, and Darcy Coates for the advanced copy of the book!

Wow. This was absolutely an incredible book. For MUCH of it I was equal parts absolutely horrified, completely terrified, and 100% hating snow.

The setup was a perfect thriller/horror. A remote lodge, a bus filled with people who don’t know each other, and a snowstorm for the ages. And then the bus gets stuck. And the road is blocked. And there’s concern about frostbite. And then someone goes missing, and someone else is found dead. And all of that is just the beginning.

There were a ton of characters to keep track of, but they all had their own personalities and flowed well. Was I completely surprised by the big reveal? Not 100%, but I read entirely too many thrillers and I imagine the vast majority of readers will be absolutely shocked at the twists.

Will I now be starting at the beginning of Darcy Coates’ backlist to read my way through it? Absolutely.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Poisoned Pen Press for this review copy!

Holy smokes this book was INCREDIBLE. Gripping from the first chapter, non stop action, full of tension and suspense! Absolutely everything I love in a thriller. Phew. I can honestly say I did not expect the twist AT ALL. I was shook. Amazing book!

This book was great! I couldn't put it down! The premise was fresh and new, which is hard for me to say as I read so much each year! Sometimes it feels as though I keep reading similar stories, but this was a so original!

Darcy Coates wrote a beautifully terrifying suspense novel that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. This isn't one of her supernatural novels, but still gave the reader a heavy dose of chills and excitement. I loved this book!