I thought that I would love this book. I love thrillers and with it being so hot and humid outside, the setting was great as well. The opening hooked me with quick action and an apparent closed door mystery setting. Unfortunately, the primary protagonist was not likable to me and I found her decisions frustrating. She also was initially obsessed with trying to unilaterally find her significant other who is out in the storm, but simultaneously is trying to sort of figure out the mystery. I’m not adverse to characters sleuthing and yet, this time, it didn’t work for me.
The atmosphere was great and this book will totally work for some readers.
#DeadofWinter #NetGalley #PoisonedPenPress

Save some time to get through this when you pick it up. Fast paced, great story, lots of twists to keep your mind reeling, your heart pounding, and your fingers turning pages. You won't want to put it down
It's a fun read designed for entertainment in a well developed setting along the lines of Agatha Christie. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I love a good lock room mystery and this one fit the bill!

A group of people, stranded in the Rocky Mountains in a cabin, begin to die one by one. Who is doing the killing? It has to be one of them right? Or is there?

This book was a nail biter. I was on the edge of my seat. Had several theories, which would be plucked away as the next person died.

The setting was perfection and the story well done!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I was not expecting this book to be so good. The author keeps you going all the way until the last page and I was totally surprised by the person who was the killer. You have the main person really Christa who along with her boyfriend joins a tour group in the Rocky Mountains. The bus has to stop because of a tree down in the road and along with the storm that has come through you begin to feel something is going to happen. It does many somethings as each person in the group is being killed, the fear amongst the people and everything that goes along with that and survival just adds to this story. A really good book with good characters.

3.75 stars

I didn't realize before reading that this was so heavily inspired by "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie--I'm not sure if it's technically a retelling, but if you've read both you will be able to predict exactly what happens in this by around 40% in. That being said, ATTWN is one of my favorite mysteries of all time, and the twist is a good one, so I wasn't mad about reading a riff on it.

"Dead of Winter" follows Christa, who is joining her boyfriend, Kiernan, for a vacation at a remote lodge in the snowy Rocky Mountains. Their tour group has 11 people in it, all from varying walks of life. On the way to the lodge, the bus has to stop while the guide removes a fallen tree from the road. Excited to get their romantic trip started, Christa and Kiernan take the opportunity to go for a hike in search of a scenic overlook.

A sudden winter storm leaves them lost and separated from the group and each other in dangerous conditions. Frostbitten and delirious, Christa stumbles upon a cabin, where she finds the rest of their tour group, having taken shelter after the roads became too hazardous for the bus. Christa is devastated that Kiernan has not found his way to shelter yet and is determined to spend the following day searching for him, despite the rest of the group's protests. When they wake to find their tour guide's severed head on a spike outside the cabin, though, they realize they have bigger problems. One by one, they are picked off and have to face the idea that they might be locked in a cabin with a killer.

If you have not read Agatha Christie, you will probably love this even more--it's a very well-done homage, and kept me up literally all night reading, even being 99% sure of the outcome, just to see if I was right. There were still a few twists I didn't see coming, which made things fun, and the atmosphere is very creepy. The author did a good job of mixing elements of murder mysteries, horror, and thrillers to create a fast-paced, tense story. I'd absolutely watch this as a movie.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, & the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have read a few books by Darcy Coates and I was aware this one was different going into it. It was presented to me as a thriller. It is not a thriller. It is a horror book. I won't say what kind because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. This is my first read of this sub genre. I'm rating it a solid 5. The first 2 chapters of this book had my nerves completely tore up and I did not want to stop reading. I'm not sure if I like this type of horror, but I can tell you that she has done an amazing job. It was so anxiety inducing, suspenseful, and had gross body horror I never once was able to figure out which character was the villain either. If you love horror, it is definitely worth the read. I do think it should have been released in winter though.

I really liked the concept for this novel and the overall plot but the writing could have been improved.

The other thing that bothered me was how quickly everyone was killed off and how quickly the other characters moved on. It was almost like they were always just waiting for the next dead person to show up.

I liked the ending and final reveal, but it was pretty easy to guess what was going to happen. I think it could have been a bit more dramatic and had a better payoff.

Despite those things, I'd still recommend if you like thrillers and locked room mysteries.

8 strangers in the middle of no-where in the DEAD OF WINTER with a killer on the loose with no place to hide! Gripping, chilling, intense, mesmerizing! I took one Saturday and read the whole book in one sitting! The plot centers around a group of people who find themselves stranded in a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere! As the story unfolds, they start getting picked off one by one, which adds a lot of suspense and keeps you hooked. The storyline is quite interesting, and it definitely held my interest throughout. #netgalley #deadofwinter

“We are ll going to die”

The author jumps right in to this psychological thriller and does not stop! The characters are mysterious and all hiding something. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you on edge and turning pages.

I like to read before bed, and this book gave me the craziest dreams.

I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

To be honest, I'm not sure why I requested this one, it's not in the genres I read at all (I really never read adult thrillers, because they really freak me out). So I did end up DNFing a few pages in, once I did realize this was a thriller (I typically do not read the blurb before picking it up), but I probably will still end up buying this for my library because I know tons of patrons who would jive with this one.

Dead of Winter was a propulsive, engaging thriller that had me staying up late into the night, finding myself freezing in spite of the 100+ degree temps.

A trip to the Rocky Mountains to stay in a remote lodge end in disaster when the bust is forced to stop before making it to its destination. Travelers begin to disappear and then the tour guide's dismembered head appears .

With all of the wit of an Agatha Christie locked-room mystery and the compelling story of Ruth Ware, Darcy Coates writes a heart-pounding, gripping thriller that kept me going until I finished it. This was my first Darcy Coates but it will not be my last.

Man was this book creepy! A nice wilderness vacation turns deadly and nobody knows who the killer is. Full of twists and turns this book kept me turning pages even though I am not usually a fan of horror.

A very good , suspense-filled mystery. Eight strangers on a bus traveling to a winter resort end up stranded in an isolated cabin during a raging blizzard. One by one, heads get chopped off and hung on a tree in a macabre display. Even though this may be a common-themed, locked-room style mystery, it is well told. The characters are appropriately suspicious of one another and the tension continues to build to an exciting ending.

Holy hell. Now this is how I like my thrillers. This was a nail biter from beginning to end. And reading about this atmosphere in the middle of a heatwave was *chef’s kiss.* What a brilliant book.

This is the first Darcy Coates book I've read and I'm not sure how to feel about it. I feel like this book is different than what she usually writes based on the covers and titles of her other works.

I wasn't a huge fan of how this book popped us right into the action. We didn't get a little introduction or anything at first. We get this scene that I'm sure the author meant to hook us with but I almost ended up dnf it right there. But I pushed through it.

Christa is one of the most boring characters in this book she doesn't do a whole lot and she isn't very interesting when your in her head. She just keeps repeating we are all going to die. Which is understandable but I feel like this book would have been better if we got to have all the people's point of views or if the story was told from Alexis point of view. Anything to make it more interesting.

This book repeated alot. Someone would separate from the group get killed. They would all go back together and then get killed once they separated from the group. I don't understand why they kept going off on their own.

This book had almost too many characters to keep up with. I'm not sure who all did what and who was who. I kinda figured that the reason for them all being there had to do with the car wreck once it was mentioned.

I didn't know who was the killer to be honest I didn't see it coming. The whole reasoning for the killing was a bit much in my opinion and I feel like the character that was the killer had a lot more to them then we got to see.

Overall it kept my attention even when it dragged in some places. I will definitely try some of her other books.

THIS BOOK.

You need to drop everything you're doing and get your hot little hands on this book.

When Christa's boyfriend suggests a vacation at a lodge settled into the snowy Smoky Mountains, Christa thinks maybe this will help to put her past behind her and get her eyes on the future. There's a small group of people together on the tour bus, and everyone seems to have their reasons for wanting to get away. What could go wrong?

Everything.

Soon, the group has to find shelter in a small hunting cabin. Christa gets lost in the snow, and when some finds the group at the cabin, she does so without her boyfriend. What could be worse?

And then, the cabin members start getting murdered... one by one.

This book is right in my wheelhouse, but I had no idea how much I would love it. The twist at the end is mind-blowing I actually guessed it rather early on in the book but then disregarded it later. The minute the twist happened, I texted my book bestie, told her to drop everything she's doing, and pick up this book. It's that good.

Don't walk, run. Read this book today.

I think I may not have read this one the same as other reviewers. Don't get me wrong, I liked the plotline and the writing was fine, but I guessed who the killer was in the beginning and I rarely ever do that.

I also did not find this very scary or nerve wracking, so if you are wondering how bad this is, its not that bad.

I did enjoy the snow, it seemed to be as much a MC as Christa was.

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates is a chilling and suspenseful locked-room mystery set in the snowy Rockies. A tour group finds themselves trapped in an abandoned cabin with a killer among them. With elements of horror woven into the plot, this gripping novel is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats, needing a comforting presence to cope with the intensity. Perfectly unsettling.

Christa and her boyfriend Kiernan are on a winter getaway to a remote lodge in the Rocky Mountains when a snowstorm strands the tour bus. Now they must take shelter, along with eight other travelers, in a small hunting cabin. Only instead of this just trying to survive the elements and worry about food, they must worry about a bloodthirsty killer. Their guide is murdered and displayed horrifically. Is the murderer among their small group? If so, why and who’s next?

Dead of Winter had a definite horror movie vibe. A small group cut off from civilization being picked off one by one, suspicious of everyone and trying to stay alive. I wanted to know why? There were some hints, and I had my suspicions but there were red herrings too. This felt sort of like a graphically gory Agatha Christie, a bit unbelievable in parts, but still horror movie fun! The stark winter setting was atmospheric, intensifying the feeling of danger.

Things got crazy and I didn’t want to put it down once everything started coming together! Tension built up page by page for a thrilling conclusion! Of course, I was rooting for Christa to figure things out, and survive! The killer and motivation are revealed in the end, but there were a couple of loose ends I wished had resolution. All in all, a sit-down-and-buckle-up kind of thrill ride!

There is nothing like a horror story to cool you off in the dead of summer….. Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates is not for the faint of heart. Eight strangers trapped in a snowstorm, and one of them is a ruthless killer. Grab a cup of coffee, a blanket and perhaps turn on the lights for this intense thriller.

Christa and her boyfriend, along with a group of travelers, are on a bus headed to a resort in the Rocky Mountains. We learn this time of year is off season for the resort and that they will be the only guests. A downed tree turns into an unexpected turn of events when a snowstorm bears down on them, forcing them to abandon their bus and seek shelter. Soon after, the murders began…first their tour guide and the only one familiar with the area.

The only thing keeping this from a five star was the fact that I knew who the killer was quickly. I see many readers were taken by surprise. However, the story was well done as the survivors worked together while eyeballing each other. The murders themselves, while not shown, were horrifying. The murderer displayed them. Feel free to freak out as the author makes the reader feel as if they are trapped in that cabin. No heat, cut off from the outside world, with limited food and a killer among them. The tension was high.

The story is told from Christa’s point of view, and I connected with her from her tragic past to how she handled events as they unfolded. The why and how was clever, twisted and well done.

Fans of And Then There Were None, will enjoy this dark thriller. I highly recommend you add this to your horror and thriller TBR pile. I definitely plan to explore more of these authors’ titles.