Christa’s boyfriend invites her to a remote lodge in the mountains for a romantic getaway. She agrees, not knowing what she is getting into. The bus gets stuck on the way, and she and the other guests get off to help try and get it going again. After discovering it’s not moving, they move off in search of shelter. When the tour guide goes missing in the night and bodies start to appear, Christa realises she isn’t getting the vacation she thought she was.

This was such a fun, entertaining read. It literally read like a slasher movie, which I was so into. The chapters were short and action packed. The plot was fast paced and I couldn’t stop turning the pages. It was a great claustrophobic whodunnit mystery that kept me guessing. The ending was totally satisfactory and had me squirming. I will definitely read more by this author!

I love Darcy Coates and her brand of horror and ghost stories. This story follows a small group of tourists headed to a secluded lodge in the mountains. Unfortunately, a blizzard stops them in their tracks and they are forced to seek refuge in an abandoned cabin. The cold and the dark and isolation and the blizzard would be enough to scare anyone, but then people start disappearing and their bodies are found. Who will survive? Who is killing this group slowly?
The idea of this is great and admittedly, I probably would have enjoyed this more had I not read it in the middle of July. But also, the people in the group don't seem overly scared. They are concerned (validly) with surviving, but not about the killer on the loose. And I have have read too much Darcy Coates (no such thing), but I had this one figured out less than half way through, so the twists didn't pack that much of a punch.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced digital copy. All opinions are mine.

Dead of Winter deals, according to author Darcy Coates, with "a lot of themes about how well we can move past trauma and learning to survive with life-altering circumstances." As the story opens, Christa Bailey has just embarked on a two-week vacation at Blackstone Alpine Lodge in the Rocky Mountains with her boyfriend, Kiernan. He invited her because the lodge is situated in the area where he grew up and he wants to share his love of the region with her. Their relationship has moved quickly. Although they have only been dating for four months, Christa is fairly certain that Kiernan has planned the getaway so that he can propose in the picturesque setting.

They are enroute to the lodge with a small group led by Brian Hernandez, their bus driver and guide. Steve Peltz, a trucker, is making the trip with his wife, Miri. They were notified that the trip was a raffle prize. Hutch Huang is a disc jockey planning to assess the lodge's suitability as a wedding venue for one of his friends. Blake Shorey has recently retired from her job as a 911 dispatcher. Simone Wall is a mysterious former member of the military and Alexis Barras is a quiet, withdrawn young woman in her twenties. Denny Olstead is a mechanic accompanied by his teenage son, Grayson. As the story progresses, readers learn that each of the travelers came to be on the trip in different ways.

Christa is a customer service representative with a troubled past. Something horrible occurred on August 8, a little more than two years earlier, that so traumatized her, she quit her job and barely left her home, draining her savings in order to cover her living expenses. She met Kiernan during an "awkward encounter" in the library. Kiernan was studying English literature at the local university and asked Christa for assistance with one of his courses. A month later they began dating. Christa feared that her emotional struggles would derail the relationship, as she explains in her first-person narrative through which Coates relays the story. "When I looked at our future all I could see was a toxic end. So I began pulling back." But Kiernan would have none of it, taking Christa to meet his mother in the care facility where she resided. The woman barely communicated, and Christa learned that Kiernan's younger brother died tragically. Soon after, their father took his own life and their mother "crumbled into a person who barely resembled the vivid, laughing figure from his childhood." Despite the tragedies that befell his family, Kiernan remained an upbeat, happy person and Christa realized they were more alike than different. "He gave me hope. More than that, he became someone I could trust. Someone I could let myself love."

As the bus proceeds to the lodge, they discover the mountainous road is blocked by a fallen tree. Brian assures the group he carries a chainsaw and fuel for just such a situation. As the rest of the group is busy working on clearing the road, Kiernan asks Christa to take a walk up the hill with him, certain there is a good lookout nearby. Reluctantly, Christa agrees, even though a storm is brewing. Predictably, they become disoriented and unable to find their way back to the bus. Alone, Christa, injured and with a nasty case of frostbite setting in, finds her way to a cabin. The rest of the group is gathered there, having discovered the unlocked cabin after the bus became stuck in the snow.

A blizzard rages as the group huddles in the small cabin with few supplies, no map, no electricity, no cell phone reception, and no means with which to call for help. Since they were scheduled to spend two weeks at the lodge, they know that no one will realize they never reached their destination for many days. As Christa looks around at her fellow travelers, she strongly senses danger and that, aside from their being stranded, something is terribly wrong. She has a "premonition that something bad is coming. Like a storm threatening to break. I've learned not to ignore that feeling. The last time I tried was on August 8. And the cost it exacted was extreme."

They manage to start a fire, but it is still cold in the small, cramped cabin. With no idea how far from their destination the cabin is, a few of them strike out in search of a trail or road that might lead them to the lodge or some other place where they might be able to summon help. The snowstorm has nearly obliterated visibility, however, and they have no choice but to hunker down for the night, sharing what food they can gather from their own suitcases and what the cabin's owners left behind. However, Brian goes missing and when they make a grisly discovery -- Brian's severed head is hanging on a branch in a nearby pine tree -- Christa recognizes that her intuition was accurate. She and the other members of the group are in danger. But who poses a threat to them? Is there someone else lurking in the vicinity of the cabin, ready to ambush the next member of the group who dares to venture outside on their own? Or is the killer one of them? And if so, why was Brian the first victim? Will there be more victims? Is there some connection between them and the killer? If so, what could make someone want to take their lives?

The tense story proceeds at an even pace as more members of the group are felled, their heads displayed on "the tree of the damned." Simone emerges as the leader of the group and attempts to set up safeguards, insisting that they take turns staying awake at night to monitor each other's movement, organizing a search of every member's luggage and personal belongings, and gathering up and stowing away any weapons, such as pocket knives, that they may have brought on the trip with them. But none of those measures prevent the body count from climbing as the food supply dwindles, the storm continues pounding the cabin, and their hope of surviving the ordeal grows dimmer with each successive murder.

Coates deftly takes readers on Christa's journey to learn the identity of "the butcher," as she calls the killer. She has no idea who, if any of her fellow stranded travelers, she can trust, and her suspicions shift repeatedly as time elapses. Readers are kept guessing along with Christa as Coates makes them privy to her thought processes and gradually reveals details about what occurred on that fateful night of August 8. As the number of survivors dwindles, she frantically searches for a route through the snow-covered mountains that will lead her and her companions to safety.

Christa is a likable, bright, and sympathetic young woman who recognizes and acknowledges her flaws, takes responsibility for her actions, and hoped Kiernan offered her a chance to find happiness again. Accordingly, readers will find themselves cheering her on. Likewise, the supporting characters are intriguing, with varied backgrounds and histories, although not all are as amiable or appealing as Christa. Alliances appear to be formed, although all of them suspect each other. And they make foolish, confounding choices, including leaving the confines of the cabin by themselves when they know there is a vicious killer either in their midst or nearby.

Dead of Winter is an absorbing, graphically violent tale that will especially delight fans of closed-room mysteries, and keep readers perplexed until Coates delivers the final, shocking plot twist, divulging the identity and motivations of "the butcher."

Dead of Winter is a thriller, vacation gone wrong tale with fast pacing and interesting characters.
Christa is taking a vacation with her boyfriend, a step towards overcoming a tragic event and trusting others. Things get off on the wrong foot almost instantly. A massive snowstorm befalls the area, and the small tour group is forced to take shelter in a hunting cabin. The group is optimistic that after a night in the cabin, they will find safety. But the next morning their tour guide and missing and his severed head is found hanging from a tree outside the cabin. It is then that Christa realizes this will be the deadliest vacation of their lives.
Unfortunately, I figured out the ending very early in the book. But what is so great about this book is that Darcy Coates keeps the book interesting and even manages to throw me a twist where I questioned myself. The book was action-packed, keeping the reader engaged with a perfect balance of tension and moments of quiet breaths. The frightening aspects weigh with the mystery so even if the mystery is solved how you get to that ending is the fun part.
I loved figuring out how each character fit into the overall story. The characters were from verified backgrounds and had varied temperaments. Reading the human behavior and how each person played off each other was interesting and added to the tension. At one point, one character had me completely fooled and I love surprises like that.
This is a chilling thriller that I definitely wouldn’t read in a lamp-lit cabin

Publication Date: July 11

I received an ARC; all opinions are my own.

Darcy Coates writes excellent mix of horror and thriller and this one is a good one. I was on the edge till the end and couldn't guess the bad guy nor any twists.
NOTE: this is a closed circle not a locked room
I recommend it
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Dead of Winter
By Darcy Coates
Pub Date: July 11; 2023
Poisoned Pen
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
What a thriller this was:
I highly recommend it, just don’t read it on a night when you can’t sleep and the cold winds are blowing.
The plot revolves around a group who find themselves stranded in a dangerous wintery setting .
The narrator did an excellent job of describing the situation.
Try it!
4 stars

Darcy Coates is an auto buy author for me. I love all her books, especially her haunted house books. This isn’t a haunted house book, but I absolutely loved it. It’s also summer and not winter, but I am currently on a mountain so I feel like that’s close enough.

A group of strangers take a trip to a ski resort in the Rocky Mountains. Bad things start happening before they even get there. A tree fell on the road and is blocking their path. Two of the guests take a walk while the tree is being removed and get lost in a snowstorm. Everyone is forced to take shelter in a one room cabin until the storm passes. Then one of them is murdered when they go out for a bathroom break. Then another. And another.

This is a page turner, but it’s definitely more horror than thriller. People will ask me if a book is scary and I can rarely answer that question because I read so much horror. If you don’t read a lot of horror, I think you will think this is scary.

If you love horror or want a good scary book, then I highly recommend this one.

I always enjoy anything that Darcy Coates writes, and Dead of Winter was no exception. A great premise, great pacing, and a great ending. I love a good thriller, and this did not disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

As is usual, I could not put this Coates books down. Dead of Winter was immediately captivating, drawing me in right away. As I have written in several of my other reviews for books by Darcy Coates, I was not disappointed. What I love about Coates's books is that I typically know what to expect, yet it's somehow always different or surprising. Dead of Winter is worth the read, whether you've read her before or this is your first sampling.

"Dead of Winter" by Darcy Coates is a chilling and gripping thriller that blends the suspense of a locked-room mystery with that of a horror book. Christa joins a tour group going into the remote Rocky Mountains to get away from her haunting past. When an unforgiving snowstorm traps them in an abandoned hunting house, emotions rise and the atmosphere feels stifling. As the night goes on, the tour guide strangely leaves, and the next morning, his terrible end is found. The group is getting smaller by the second, and it's clear that a cruel killer is hiding among them.

Coates tells a scary story of survival and betrayal that keeps readers on the edge of their seats from the beginning to the end. Setting the story in a snowy desert adds to the drama and makes the story even more interesting. The author's ability to mix mystery, horror, and excitement makes for a book that will get your blood moving and your heart racing.

"Dead of Winter" is an exciting change from the usual spooky house stories, and it shows that Coates is a master at what she does. This USA Today best-selling horror author shows once again why she is a force to be reckoned with in the genre with a fast-paced plot and surprising turns. "Dead of Winter" by Darcy Coates is the perfect book if you want to read something that will give you chills and keep you up all night. Just make sure to keep someone who makes you feel safe close by as you go deeper into this snowy nightmare.

***A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.***

This was a fairly by the numbers, locked room/isolated setting thriller where the characters are eliminated one by one. More brutal than the average Darcy Coates book, which I appreciated and I enjoyed the setting. I found the plot a bit too predictable and the characters were a bit one-dimensional. Overall, this is an enjoyable read that doesn't do anything wrong but won't necessarily stick with you either.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Another riveting, chilling read by Darcy Coates.

As with all this author's books, I was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end, unable to look away even as the bodies start to stack up and the fear of the remaining characters grows ever higher. The background of the frozen landscape and the desolation of the cabin lent to the feeling of terror. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this author's stories scare the shit out of me, but I can't help but keep coming back for more.

Another great read. Highly recommend if you enjoy the horror genre.

Published by Poisoned Pen Press, "Dead of Winter" by Darcy Coates is an icy and atmospheric thriller that flits between moments of sheer terror and deadly banality. This chilling novel takes readers on a gripping journey of suspense, horror, and total isolation.

At its heart, "Dead of Winter" is a story of trust — or, more specifically, a profound and chilling lack thereof. We follow Christa, a woman in search of catharsis and healing from her haunted past, as she joins a group of adventurers into the snowy depths of the Rocky Mountains. When Christa's fiance disappears during a snowstorm and the group find themselves stranded in an abandoned cabin deep in the wilderness, the book takes on the claustrophobic feeling of a "locked room mystery".

Coates' narrative grips like the cold, a beautiful and horrifying mélange of fear and suspicion. The storm outside the cabin mirrors the rising one within its occupants. They are all suspicious of each other, and each seem to be holding onto their own pain, grief, fear or anger. Yet, the relentless snowfall isn't the only threat to their survival - one amongst them is a killer. As the group's number dwindles with alarming speed, trust becomes as rare as warmth in this tale of icy suspense.

While this book was extremely engaging, Coates' narrative can sometimes feel repetitive. The novel falls into a pattern of discovering another body, a brief bout of terror, and then talk of escape - and repeat, etc. This rhythmic predictability somewhat dilutes the experience that was building.

I did guess the huge twist fairly early on. And it's a great one. It didn't detract from my enjoyment - mostly because I wanted to know if I was right! I wasn't sure who Christa should trust - even down to herself. She always seemed to be teetering on the precipice of a breakdown, and no wonder.

The characters are also another area where "Dead of Winter" shines. Most of them are exceedingly unlikeable, but somehow, I did care about their untimely demises. A lot of what they did made me shake my head (STOP GOING OUTSIDE ON YOUR OWN). However, their descent into paranoia, driven by cold, fear, and suspicion, is hauntingly portrayed, making it impossible not to share in their terror.

By the end, I wasn't sure how Christa was still standing, so props to her. A great horror thriller, perfect for reading INSIDE, far from severed heads. To that end, I thought it was a missed opportunity not to make this a fall release. This would have greatly improved with a glass of wine and snow outside!

I just finished Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates and here is my review!

Running from the ghosts of her past, Christa and her boyfriend join a tour group heading deep into the rocky mountains to unplug from the real world. On the way there, bad weather has them stuck on the road with snow falling like heavy blankets…

During the night their tour guide goes missing but in the morning… the group finds his severed head… Suspicion falls on everyone in the group and worst still….. Maybe it is someone they have upset… out there.

I have to admit, I was so curious about this book. Darcy Coates writes horror and I love her horror books so to see she had written a thriller with her old school horror edge… Had me beyond excited. She nailed it. Truly nailed it. I had gotten to the point where thriller books were all starting to feel the same and this one really felt like it opened the thrill of the rush back to me again.
Christa was involved in an accident years before and she was barely hanging in there. Her boyfriend wanted to take this trip together so they could get out and do something together. The character development was really well done. The way Christa felt was so tangible and realistic, that I could not help flipping through the pages as fast as my eyes could read. You get to know all the people on the bus and that helps to give a real well rounded book cast!
I’m not a huge fan of snowy plots because cold temps are always a given but I felt this one had something that made it feel unique! I am not going to lie. I guessed the ending. I’ve read so many thrillers in my time and it’s hard to deke me out. I knew from the middle of the book what was what but I am in the minority. It is an epic rollercoaster ride and I was glad I took it.


I would have liked more from the ending. I just needed to know the after effects from Christa but it wasn’t needed to complete this brilliant book.
5 stars! Thank you so much to @netgalley and poisonedpenpress for my gifted copy

<B>I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

If you need trigger warnings, this is not the read for you.

My Review</b>: What you need to know is that this author's already famous, and has done this work for over twenty books now. This means there are Expectations from Darcy Coates readers, plus the hook is baited with care and attention to the creation of more Darcy Coates readers. This effort is successful, and pays off. The sentences flow past you, making perhaps only a modest impression separately. The cumulative effect, like the river's flow of my metaphor, is powerful and impressive. I'm not all that impressed with the author's effort until I step back and consider what the journey I've been on has left me to feel and think about.

There are always, always comparisons of "stranded together, death stalks them" stories to And Then There Were None. Inevitable; unfair. The standard-setter of the subgenre will usually win because that's the nature of literary analysis. When one is held up to a known standard, one is seldom going to be the one coming out on top in the comparisons. So let's get this out of the way: Darcy Coates isn't Dame Agatha. And you know what? That's just fine with me. I enjoy the set-up enough to get the story on its terms, not my literary snobby standards.

One of those standards is mysteries don't reveal the gore; thrillers do. Author Coates, then, delivers a thriller. Given a lot of her work is horror, that isn't in any way out of character. Also notable is the truism that thriller characters live to die, and more often than not aren't givena lot of development before or after their deaths. Another tick in the thriller column.

The freak-storm trope always decreases my pleasure in a mystery/thriller. If it was unexpected, how did the miscreant plan and execute (!) all these elaborate endings? How were these people, all with vile secrets that meant I was utterly indifferent to their murders (in a couple cases, actively pleased they'd died horribly), assembled with the assurance that they'd be incommunicado? That was always the flaw in my own pleasure when reading this particular set-up by anyone. It means I've literally never rated one of these reads above four stars.

Looking above, you'll see all four of those stars. I loved the experience of being chilled to the bone by Author Coates's wintertime evocation. I was, ironically, delighted with the nurderer's choices of victims. The issue for me was there were too many of them for the sketchy chsracterizations to keep me interested in their fates. Being inside Christa's head made the technique inevitable. The use of very short chapters suits the need to keep the story moving but ultimately make that action, propulsive as it is, feel more repetitive than it should in order to propel the story to greater-than-the source heights. The tragedies, as I've said above, seem less effective as character establishing mechanisms than as justifications for the briyality inflicted on these rotters because there isn't the scope to do more than report them.

Cavils like these aside, I join the chorus of Goodreads readers wondering where the hell the movie is—I can already see it, done by (say) Guy Ritchie...it's got his blend of violence and moral ambiguity and visual power.

Book Review

-Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
Pub Date: 7.11.2023

Such a good read. This was my first read by Darcy Coates (even though I have like 3 of her other books on my shelf).

The suspense, thrill, mystery was all there. I enjoyed the short chapters. Right amount of horror. I absolutely was hooked from beginning to end. I had my suspicions of who it could be but then it keep switching through the book and was not expecting who it actually was.

Do check trigger warnings on this.

If you love a good mystery, camping/outdoor setting this is the book to read.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Darcy Coates & I very much enjoyed it! The writing is easy and engaging and really works for this type of a book. While I did have the killer figured out right away, I thought the way the story was told was interesting to keep me turning the pages. I would've liked to know if the other two people survived, but that's just me, It wasn't necessary to the story! I'll be checking out Darcy's other books for sure!

Darcy Coates had me until the last head rolled and that was fantastic and very unusual. This dark and disturbing, graphically suspenseful novel had me so wrapped up I couldn’t stop reading until the last word was read.

I don’t even have the breath to scream. My face is to the sky, my back to the empty white void beneath me as I plunge, carrying a wave of snow in my wake.

And that is only the beginning of Christa’s nightmare. Nine people begin the tour and only one person will be left standing. I figure…it has to be her…doesn’t it? But, how will the others be taken out and who is the one doing it that is the question.

At first I rated Dead Of Winter by Darcy Coates a four, but as I wrote this review, seeing the novel had everything I could want in a suspense novel and an ending that deserves a star of it’s own, I had to raise my rating to a 5. I mean, I love a good storm, whether in the cold climes leading to a blizzard or the warm climes leading to a hurricane, an isolated location, a killer amongst them, bloody, gruesome and graphic deaths…I mean, what more could I possibly require for a mind numbing thrill ride into the depths of depravity and revenge?

We have those ‘don’t go out there’ moments…and I love it.

The writing and pacing keeps the suspense at a high level, the story flowing seamlessly. The list of suspects included all of the tour goers, Darcy Coates making me suspicious of them all, at one time or another. I couldn’t eliminate anyone, except Christa. Did I see who the villain was and the need for revenge? Sure, there was a hint or two here and there of the reason, but it did not lead me to the villain…until Darcy Coates exposed him. I bow to her for a job WELL DONE.

OH, I forgot to mention the gorgeous cover and the intriguing title that screams, “Read me!”.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates.

See more at http://www.fundinmental.com

I spent this book on a ride to guess who the killer was. I guessed in chapter two. I was right and only thought I was wrong for about half a chapter. There were far too many clues to guess the killer.

That being said, as always I loved Darcy's writing style and her ability to give you the absolute ick factor in any situation. The cold and the crowded room feeling and the dread were put across the page so well here. That definitely added to the fun. On the other side, this was not my favorite work of Darcy's. I think I prefer her haunted house stories to this.

Like many locked room (in this case locked snowstorm) mysteries, the clues are there from the beginning to figure out whodunnit. For me, this one was pretty obvious from the start. But I am well-read in my Agatha Christie, so maybe it comes easier to me. I did enjoy the ride and seeing if there would be a final girl at the end. This is a bit gorier than classic AC, so if you're looking for a a cozier read, this is not the book for you.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.