This was an enjoyable read, for the most part. By and large, it kept me guessing and second-guessing, to the point where I didn’t know who to believe, and that’s the point. Christa embarks on a wilderness adventure with the man who has finally made her believe that she can be free again, while again, happy at last. She’s starting to believe she *deserves* to be happy. Then it all comes crashing down in the most horrendous way. 9 people trapped in a desert of pure white, and all she could think was “we’re all going to die here”. While there were a few plot points and situations that didn't seem very believable to me, I enjoyed reading this. I believe that, if done well, and with a stronger screenplay, this could be an amazing film. Let's see, right? Definitely recommended for anyone looking for a big thrill and lots of analyzing people and their motives. Thank you to Black Owl Books and NetGally for the digital ARC. This was time very well spent!

Wow, this book had me from the get-go! I want to say there were so many twists, murders, and suspicious behaviors that I didn't have a clue who was the killer.

So a group of people take a tour bus to go on a trip to a lodge and there was the MC (Christa/Chrissy) and her soon-to-be fiancé, Kiernan, were on the bus. There was a mechanic, tour guide, ex-911 woman, and several others. None of the people seemed to have any connection to each other since none of them except Christa and Kiernan and a man named Denny and his son.

They went through a lot to get to the lodge and no sooner had they gotten there than one person had been brutally murdered and one of the men had gone missing. But with stormy, freezing weather there wasn't a lot they could do to search for the MIA.

I don't want to give away more spoilers or say who was missing/murdered, but the question was whether or not it was one of the people in the group or if there was a stranger stalking and killing them off.

this had me on the edge of my seat the whole book and I couldn’t put it down. It was very immersive and the characters were amazing.

📕 Dead of Winter - Darcy Coates
Another new author and another winner! Think And Then There Were None by OG Agatha Christie. This locked room whodunnit kept me on the edge of my seat, holding on for dear life. Christa, her boyfriend and a small group are heading on a tour to the Rocky Mountains when a snow storm forces the bus to stop at abandoned cabin. All I can say from here is all hell breaks loose as the tour group is targeted by a crazed killer!
This was a perfectly executed and chilling murder mystery with horror elements that made my stomach churn.
I’ll be reading more from Darcy Coates! Clever 4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🙏 @poisenedpenpress

My oh my oh my. Darcy Coates is quickly becoming a must read author for me.
Was some predictable?
Yup.
Am I mad at it?
Nope.
Thoroughly enjoyed this!!

DEAD OF WINTER is a claustrophobic, action packed slow burn (yes, all at once!) with twists that just keep on coming. Seriously, I kept on looking at the read percentage bar on my kindle and thinking "what ELSE is going to happen?!" because there was still so much of the book to go.

Coates does an amazing job writing thrillers that keep readers on the edge of their seat, and this is no exception!

Thank you to Netgalley, author and publisher for my arc.

A vacation gone wrong when a blizzard stops them from reaching their intended destination and the others on the trip begin getting killed one by one.

The setting of this book was impeccable. I read this in the summer and yet I felt cold. I felt isolated and claustrophobic. I felt the tension building as people were dying. I felt exhausted from the lack of sleep. However, I did struggle at the beginning of the book. The first third to half took me a while to read. That being said, the pace picks up and the ending was a propulsive read that kept me up late because I needed to read the end. The last chunk has slasher vibes if that's a buzzword for you. I certainly enjoyed it! There is a villain monologue at the end where we learn who and why, but it didn't bother me at all in this book. Overall I had a fun time! The killer is messed up and you see them playing with the victims throughout the story by staging their kills for everyone to see, which brings in a bit more gore and horror to what could have been a strictly mystery/thriller. I always have a good time with Darcy Coates' books and this wasn't different. I can't wait to keep reading her books!

Phenomenal book. A fantastic spooky and suspensul story. It was eerie and full of twists. Well written. .my first read by this author and definitely not my last

I've never really understood books being described as "atmospheric" until reading this. The setting felt like it was a character of this book; I was on edge through most of it. I took several breaks to de-stress with a lighter read. I loved it!

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I almost DNF this book after the 3rd or 4th death as they all were found in the same manor with not much action about them. But I pushed through and the second half of the book made up for it. I picked the killer out within the first few chapters, and I was right in the end… but all along the way I was second guessing myself. Definitely bit my nails on the last 75-100 pages.

This book started off slow for me but when it got going I was hooked. I really underestimated the amount of intensity that this book would have. I was on the edge of my chair reading as fast as I could. I thought once the book got going the pacing was great and the writing kept me engaged and wanting more.

When Christa's boyfriend asks her to go on a 2 week vacation in the Rockies near where he grew up she of course said yes. Unfortunately on the way to the lodge their bus stops as a tree had fallen on the road. Their guide says not to worry as he'll have it moved in no time. Christa and her boyfriend go for a little walk but unfortunately Christa slips and falls down an icy path. When she awakes she is covered in snow but manages to escape, however, her boyfriend is nowhere to be found. She starts to walk in the direction she thinks is best and finds a cabin just as she passes out. Lucky for her the rest of the bus mates are already there and come to her aid. When she awakes she realizes her boyfriend is not there. She insists they go look for him but they are unsuccessful in finding him. A bad winter storm is upon them and they are stuck in the cabin for at least the night as they bus cannot be moved due to the snow. The next say they realize their tour guide is missing but find him quickly after; well, they find his head hanging from a large tree outside the cabin. One by one they are murdered. Who is the murderer and why? Will they find help before it's too late?

I'm a very big Darcy Coates fan and this book did not disappoint. It's the first time I've read a thriller/mystery from them (I usually pick their scarier books) but it was just as great as the others I've read. This kept me on the edge of my seat from the get go and held on until the very end. I must have accused each and every single member of that bus as the killer. The characters were great and you find out just enough information in little bits at a time to give you the feeling you've got the story figured out but each time I was wrong. It was fast paced, well written and the chapters were great lengths that left me wanting to keep going. I would definitely recommend this one!!

I was lucky enough to read this for free and this is my honest review.

Really enjoyed this book by Darcy Coates, and it was my first time reading her. The book was hard to put down, as the plot and pacing were great. The characters were well developed. Will definitely be reading more from Darcy Coates.

This was very different from Darcy Coates other books, but it definitely didn’t disappoint! The suspense kept me turning pages late into the night because I had to know what was going to happen next and who the villain was! This book kept me on my toes never knowing who the real killer was, even when you think you know, you don’t.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an ARC of this book!

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was very intriguing to me. It had aspects that reminded me of Ant Then There Were None or more recently Daisy Darker. It’s set against a mountain getaway with a bus of strangers that get stuck at a small cabin after a bad storm and fallen tree block their way to their final destination. Some parts of the story were pretty brutal and disturbing but the twists will definitely mess with your head! Some I saw coming, others caught me completely off guard! I would recommend to anyone who likes psychological thrillers set in a cabin!

Dead of Winter is an isolated horror reminiscent of And Then There Were None. While I guessed who the killer was early one, I was thrilled while reading. I got so wrapped into this story. I woke up in the middle of the night scared I would be murdered. I looked over my shoulder when I was outside.

Christa and her boyfriend join a tour group to stay at a remote vacation spot in the Rocky Mountains. Unfortunately, a severe winter storm hinders their journey, and leaves the group stranded in the freezing weather.

I will definitely be reading more from Darcy Coates.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I have to start by saying that I LOVE Darcy Coates. She is an incredible horror writer, she is fantastic at setting up a scene, but most of all, fantastic at creating a creepy atmosphere.

Which is why it pains me to say that Dead of Winter was not it for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I liked it, but I felt like it dragged. A LOT.

Let's start with the beginning: the official description seems a bit different than what the book feels like when starting. There is no information about her boyfriend, Kiernan, in the official synopsis, which left me a bit puzzled.

However, it has a very strong start. I LOVED it, until about 15%, when I feel like it started dragging and dragging. The chapters are short and to the point, but I couldn't really get into it about 60%.

As for the grand finale... I would love to say that I was surprised, but I actually thought it might be that way about halfway through.

Now that this book is out, I look forward to the next book in the Gravekeeper series.

True rating: 3.5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Darcy Coates book and it won't be my last! Reading this in the dead of summer sent a chill down my spine (in more than one way) and I highly recommend this one!

Darcy Coates brings readers a chilling new mystery in her latest book Dead of Winter. I love how Coates effortlessly jumps genres— typically between thriller and horror—but in this one readers get a full on mystery novel. We can’t expect Coates to totally abandon her flair for horror though, and Dead of Winter can definitely be categorized as horror for its gore and (on occasion) The Shining like feels—something about an axe wielding dude chopping though a door in an abandon mountain resort. What readers will recognize most though, is the locked-room mystery to solve and the subtle nod to And Then There Were None.

Coates kicks off this mystery with a group of strangers forced to seek refuge in the middle of the mountains after a fallen tree and massive snowstorm sidelines their trip to a remote hotel. The party is slowly picked off (beheaded to be exact) and our main protagonist Christa is doing everything she can to figure out who in their group can or cannot be trusted.

With short chapters, red herrings, cliffhangers and tense moments of suspense, Dead of Winter has the elements of a great mystery covered but also the addictive and pulse-pounding feel of a thriller. There were parts where the story dragged and while I was committed to see it through, my interest did wane at times. An avid mystery or thriller reader may also find this one on the predictable side.

All in all, Dead of Winter is another solid book from Coates and she has cemented herself for me as an auto-read author. Fans of locked-room mysteries who aren’t afraid of a little gore will especially enjoy this one and there’s no doubt that even if you read it in the middle of summer there will be moments that chill you to the bone.

This was my first Darcy Coates book! I’ve heard wonderful things about Coates’s books so I was definitely excited to read her latest horror novel. Dead of Winter follows a group of people on a snowy getaway who soon become stranded in an abandoned cabin in the wilderness. What could go wrong?? Apparently, a heck of a lot! There’s some psycho going around killing people. Is it one of the group or some deranged outsider?

Mystery/thriller fans will likely enjoy this one. I found I guessed certain things early on, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. I loved Coates’s writing. She created such a creepy and chilling atmosphere in this story. I look forward to reading her other books soon!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫