Christa joins a tour group in the Rocky Mountain wilderness. A freak snow storm cuts them off from civilization and leaves them stranded. Things are bad enough until members of the tour group are being murdered one by one.

This one was definitely a disappointment for me. There was very little character development and the story went in circles before an unsatisfying conclusion.

My thanks to NetGalley amd Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. Many thanks to Darcy Coates for the this book. It was my pleasure to read and review...as usual.
My reviews can also be found on horrorcorner.wordpress.com
Title: Dead of Winter
Author: Darcy Coates
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: July 11, 2023

A cold winter storn and a group of strangers stuck in a small hunting cabin in the Rocky Mountains? What could go wrong? Well, when said stranger start to be killed one by one, Christa wonders how, or if, she will get out alive.
Ms. Coates can always be counted on for cozy horror. Her stories are always chillling and tense. This book was no exception. I would usually place her comfortably in the horror section, but this one would be more at home in with the thrillers. This is the frist time I've read a book like this from this author. From the very first page, this story grabs the reader by the throat and starts dragging him through a frozen landscape with little shelter or food, and a violent murder per night. Of course, there's no cell phone service either. That's a given. Despite the many thriller/horror tropes, I was riveted. Sometimes, tropes are tropes for a reason. Darcy Coates presents them in her own skillful way and provides plenty of clever twists. Despite the many hours, I've spent reading and watching horror and thrillers, I wasn't able to guess each one. Is the killer among the stranded? Is it someone else out in the storm? Or is it not human at all? It's undeniable fun to find out which. The tension and gore that the reader finds along the way is nothing but fun and delightful.
While this book was delightful, it was longer than it needed to be. I enjoyed how each character was introduced and given a back story, but I felt that a little less detail would benefit the story.
All in all, this book is a twisty and fun ride. This is a great way to spend an intesely hot summer day.

This book was cold, tense, eerie, atmospheric, and CREEPY!! The setting being in a snowy, remote wilderness where people are stranded really added to the suspense of the plot. I love a good locked room thriller!

The way Darcy described the landscape really made me feel like I was there. I’m really glad I’m not by the way. 🙄🙄🙄 Terrifying!

One by one people die as there is a killer on the loose, and it’s one of the 8 people stranded in the cabin.

There were so many red herrings thrown in that I really had no idea who the killer was. Everyone looked suspicious at one point or another. None of them were great people, so it could’ve been anyone.

The slow reveal was WORTH IT though because the ending was absolutely explosive and mind blowing! It was such a jaw dropping twist I didn’t see coming at all. 😱 This 100% would make an awesome movie!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. 💕

It's hot and humid where I am right now, so what better time to read a book set in a major snowstorm in the Rocky Mountains? Dead of Winter is an extraordinary suspense story that had me on the edge of my seat until the final pages.

Christa decides to go on a trip with her boyfriend Kiernan, thinking in the back of her mind that he might be the one. Their bus gets stuck on the way to the lodge and a storm is blowing in, and so begins the action in this very entertaining story.

The bus occupants are all stuck in a cabin in the woods when bad things start happening. And when I say bad, I mean brutally bad. Everyone is on edge. There is a lot they don't know, besides the fact that someone is killing them off, one by one. The story is told from Christa's point of view and she's a terrific character in this story. I was rooting for her all the way.

I'm not going to say anymore about plot details because I don't want to spoil anything in this story. I was riveted to the pages from start to finish. The author manages to make multiple trips out into the blinding snowstorm unique and interesting and I just had to keep reading to find out just who the killer was.

And was I surprised? I didn't see the ending coming, even though there were plenty of clues that are easy to see afterward. The story is intricately designed to show those clues to the reader in a way that kept me guessing for the entire book and I loved that.

I haven't read this author in the past, but I will definitely be looking for more titles from Darcy Coates. I really enjoyed this suspenseful story and my only complaint is that I wanted a few more pages at the end to wrap up a few items left hanging. But that is a small complaint next to a big recommendation for this title if you like a suspenseful whodunit. The stakes are very high and I thought Christa was awesome.

I really enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend it, especially if you like suspenseful serial killer stories.

I love suspenseful winter thrillers that give me goosebumps as my eyes quickly scan the sentences to see what happens next. This book did not disappoint!

Dead of Winter follows eight strangers as they head to a remote luxury ski resort vacation in the wilderness. When an unexpected storm sends them scrambling to a nearby cabin to survive, the trip only gets worse as a killer among them begins to pick them off one by one. With temperatures low and tensions high, our protagonist Christa struggles to stay alive and figure out who the killer is within the group. I love a locked door mystery, especially one that takes place in a snowy/winter atmosphere. And this actually exceeded my expectations! This is a total snow-filled slasher with pretty gnarly gore and an interesting cast of characters that did keep me guessing until the end. This book is super atmospheric and I was really craving a winter themed slasher, so this was a perfect mood read.

I'll be posting my review on my instagram @boozehoundbookclub

While this one started slow for me, the latter half was all gas no brakes! My heart was actually pumping in the last few chapters as the story came together. I would definitely recommend this one to any suspense or horror fan!

Thank you so much to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thrilling. Terrifying. Essentially my worst nightmare. What they group goes through is the stuff of nightmares and Coates does a great job of putting us front and center, making us feel their terror as they are picked off, one by one. My one issue is that, despite spending time with all of these characters, I don’t feel like I really know them; they are all somewhat flat except for Christa. Other than that, it was a great book with a good story and tons of suspense to keep you guessing.

engrossing, chilly, suspenseful, and spooky. I was unable to put it down! All that's left is a bus that must halt, people looking for refuge, a frozen landscape, and a lot of danger.

Who doesn't enjoy a good finger-pointing novel that keeps them on the tip of their seats, turning the pages, and alert?

Read it now.

This was a fun wintery thriller about a group of people snowed in at a tiny hunting cabin, never having made it to their mountain resort destination. They start being gruesomely murdered one by one, and each death ratchets up the distrust and paranoia between surviving group members. Don't get too attached to any characters! Overall, I found this story to be fast-paced and exciting, but not particularly memorable, and with a little too much body horror for me at a few moments. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for something a little scary that will have you glued to the page, especially if you love that snowed-in-with-a-killer-on-the-loose scenario.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates

Description:

Christa and eight strangers find themselves stranded in the Rocky Mountains after their bus gets trapped in a snowstorm. Finding an abandoned cabin provides them shelter from the bitter cold, but someone or something is lurking, waiting for each member to wonder off by themselves so they can attack.

Review:

Picking up a book with a winter setting while I currently sweat through every pore in the dog days of summer was a little weird at first, but Darcy Coates does an amazing job with making you shiver while you read. With a mystery that pulls you in every direction and suspense that makes you clinch your jaw, Dead of Winter is a must read. Add it to your TBR now because this one will be talked about for a very long time!

The only thing better than a locked-room mystery set in a wintry cabin is reading it while it snows outside! It’s currently the middle of summer, but I still really enjoyed reading this gory horror/thriller.

This was my first Darcy Coates and it didn’t disappoint. If you like some descriptive (if a little shocking) gore in a page-turning thriller, look no further. This book really had it all. A group of total strangers who find themselves stranded in a secluded cabin, totally isolated from everything with a horrific killer in their midst. One by one, each character is brutally taken out while the reader is left to piece together the reason why it’s happening and who the killer is.

I went back and forth over who I thought the killer was and every time I thought I had it figure out, that person was dead. Dead of Winter was fast paced with great cliff hangers that had me turning pages, eager to find out WTF was going on.

My only criticism would be that the writing was a little bare bones and the author could flesh out her characters just a bit more to make them more easily differentiated from each other. Overall though, a really fun thriller that I would definitely recommend to read beside a crackling fire as the snow flies outside.

Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Darcy Coates for giving me this free eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions above are my own.

This was a bit hard for me to get into in the beginning. Started off a little slow. I am glad I finished. Excellent writing with a good plot. My only complaint is I wish I would have read it in the winter, to really feel the atmosphere of the story but Coates did a good job bringing that setting to life.

This is my first novel by Darcy Coates. Dark and compelling, I was unable to put it down! I can’t wait to read more from this author.

a 4.5 stars read.

Oh wow I really enjoyed this one, it's entertaining and captivating from the get go.

What I like:
- The story. It's like a classic Agatha Christie locked room mystery with horror and gory details. Yups I got the creepiness, the suspense and the details it's really gruesome and brutal. I got all those feelings from the first chapter and since then it's full adrenaline, edge of my seat, soooo intense (especially that last few chapter) and absolutely loving it.
- The setting. It's in Rocky Mountains with raging snowstorm. This setting totally upped the ante.
- Characters, each has their own charms, each keeps me suspecting them and keeps me guessing.

What I don't like:
- Predictable, If you read agatha christie you can guess it early on, but still id doesn't take away all the fun
- A bit unbelievable

Recommended: Definitely if you're looking for a horror locked room mystery with gory details.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an arc edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect for this summer heat! This “closed room” murder mystery can chill anyone to the bone. We follow Christa as she goes on an adventure with her boyfriend on a romantic small group tour of the Rocky Mountains. Quickly into the story a storm comes in and diverts the tour plans to a small unknown cabin. One by one people go off and when the group finds their head mounted on a tree do they begin to realize that a killer is among them. A survivalist story when not only are you in dire freezing conditions but you have a devious murderer on your tail. Christa must figure out who is killing off the group and also how to get out alive.
Exciting and nail biting! A fun who done it until the end…

There’s a reason why Darcy Coates is one of my favorite authors - I haven’t been disappointed by ANY book i’ve read by her yet. this one was AMAZING. literally, GO BUY IT RN. I read this on my kindle but definitely want a physical copy on my shelves. the suspense starts right away and doesn’t let up the entire time - I was constantly on the edge of my seat. I loved the eerie abandoned cabin in the woods setting. It was a classic whodunnit between the travelers/survivors on the trip making you think about who can be trusted. the twists kept coming and the overall plot was absolutely insane. you will NEVER see the ending coming - it was excellent.
It was the perfect amount of thrill/horror/mystery combined which made it a total fast paced and mind boggling book.

Dead of Winter was my 2nd book by Darcy Coates and I am officially a fan. For most of this book, I would've compared this to your "usual" blizzard thriller, but with that Darcy flair of extra graphic, extra creepy, extra horror. But then, of course, the twist... and that other twist... ooh, and that other twist!

I asked the question on my Instagram if anyone found it challenging to read winter thrillers in the middle of summer, and the resounding answer was NO! The consensus is that they are the perfect escape from the summer heat and humidity, so head out and grab this one, make a hot cocoa, sit directly in front of the A/C, and enjoy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC and I sincerely apologize for my horrible reading slump, which prevented me from finishing it in time for pub day last week!

In this fast-paced thriller from best-selling author Darcy Coates, Christa is part of a small tour group stranded in a snowstorm in the Rocky Mountains and forced to take shelter in a small abandoned cabin to wait out the storm. Their tour guide goes missing during the night and the next morning the group makes the gruesome discovery of his head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. One of the eight strangers that she is trapped with is a killer and as the survivors are killed off one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust if any of them are to get out alive.

A closed room mystery comparable to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None but better described as horror as the murders are quite grisly. The description of the murders was a bit much but that's a me problem as I should have realized that this sat more in the horror genre and wasn't for me. The author does an excellent job at creating an eerie atmosphere with the snow and cold and the claustrophobic feeling of the remote cabin in the Rocky Mountains. I figured out who the killer was just a few chapters in so it was lacking in suspense for me but still a good read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Dҽαԃ σϝ Wιɳƚҽɾ by Darcy Coates

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, she's hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes they'll be safe as they wait out the storm. She couldn't be more wrong. Deep in the night, their tour guide goes missing...only to be discovered the following morning, his severed head impaled on a tree outside the cabin. Eight drops to seven and it becomes clear that someone in the group is killing for sport.

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: This was a phenomenal locked room mystery and truly met all of my expectations. I liked the characters and the dynamics between them. I enjoyed the mystery and felt every aspect of the suspense. Who is the killer? Who will survive? Why is this happening? All of the elements that anyone would enjoy in a murder mystery-thriller book. Once I started reading it, I didn't want to put it down.