Although Dead of Winter borrows from one of Agatha Christie's most famous novels, don't expect a nice cozy mystery. Dead of Winter is deeply atmospheric and graphic in its murders. A locked-room mystery set in the Rocky Mountains during winter, the book follows a group of tourists who are snow-bound in a small, remote cabin. The danger of being stranded during a blizzard is bad enough, but then their tour guide is murdered, with his severed head left as a nightmarish token. The POV belongs to Christa, but readers meet the other tourists, but the characterization wasn't as deep as I wanted. Because of this, I did have a little trouble at the beginning keeping track of who was who. The book also ran a bit long and was repetitive in spots. A solid mystery, but far-fetched with (to me) an obvious villain.

I thought I'd cool off reading a book about winter in the heat of the summer and this book definitely proved to be cold in many ways. A very fast paced psychological thriller all the way. It sounded like a great read with strangers coming together on a tour group in the Rocky Mountains that goes terribly wrong. But Boy did it ever go wrong and with such twists and turns that I didn't see coming. A literal killer ending. This book is not for the faint of heart. Thank you to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and the Author Darcy Coates for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has everything you want in a good thriller: suspense, mystery, high body count, and horror with a little gore. The action kicks in pretty quickly and is consistent throughout.

There were a few things that kept it from being 5 stars for me.
1. I found myself getting pretty annoyed and rolling my eyes at so many sketchy things!! Like the fact that there's a killer on the loose and people are going out for walks by themselves at night, which is when the killer tends to strike!
2. It was a tad too long. I'm like, when is this book gonna end?
3. Very descriptive, which tends to make me lose focus.
4. The ending left questions unanswered, which ticks me off to be honest.

I was able to figure out the majority of the twists about halfway through, but it's one heck of a ride! Thriller fans will love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC.

This is my third attempt at Darcy Coates, and while I appreciate her style and contributions to the horror lit landscape, I just don't think she's my cup of tea. Everything about the description seemed fascinating and exciting. An isolation thriller/horror where something is killing the trapped? Yes, sign me up. But the characters felt a little one-dimensional and I found myself skimming. I still think this is purely my own taste and there is definitely a broad audience for this. I wanted to love it. I just didn't.

I rounded up to 4 from 3.5 stars.
An edge of your seat story where you are stranded with 8 people when suddenly someone starts to kill them one by one. The killer is severing heads and impaling them to a tree...but how does no one hear the killer doing the deed? The remote cabin is in the Rockies and a storm is brewing.
8 strangers, a boyfriend missing, and a killer on the loose!

Now I did enjoy the story but had a hard time with the narrative being so wordy. I feel the story could have been toned back 50 pages and it would have gotten a true 4.5 star rating. The author kept me guessing on who the killer was and then surprise!

Please don't go by my rating of 3.5 stars read other reviews and read the book. Make up your own mind if you liked it or not. I liked it. The story is complex and will keep you guessing until the end and then you will be like "What just happened?"

This book perfectly blends a locked room mystery, a winter thriller and a good slasher. It has great plot twists and the relationships between the characters keep you invested and guessing. This has a little bit of a different feel than DCs haunted house works but it still flows really well.

This was my first Darcy Coates book and it's the first of many. Absolutely loved it. Strangers travelling to a secluded lodge in the rocky mountains, a tree blocking the road, seeking shelter in an unlocked cabin. Sounds like the start of a horror movie! It's a horror movie I'd love to see. One by one, the numbers dwindle and you will not predict the twists. Everyone is a suspect.

A group of Rocky Mountain tourists shelter from a dangerous winter storm in a remote hunter's cabin after their bus is stranded on the road. But soon the weather is not the the worst of their problems. A vicious killer, who may be one of their own, begins to target any member who strays from the main group. Readers who enjoyed Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None will love Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates.. The characters are well drawn, the action is non stop and the twists and turns are many.

"We're all going to die here."

When Christa joins her boyfriend on a trip to a remote lodge in the Rocky Mountains, she's hoping the weekend might end in a marriage proposal. Instead she ends up fighting for her life as one by one her fellow travelers are picked off by a faceless killer. Is the murderer an unknown stranger hiding in the woods, or, even more disturbing, one of their own group?

This was an intense and suspenseful page-turner. If you don't take the book too seriously, or pay too close attention to the implausibility of it all, and you should have a blast.

This is a roadrunner book. Constant action, cardboard flat characters, and no time to make actual sense of anything that is happening. It almost hangs together, but not quite. There are quite a few holes when you have time to think, but it's written to not give you that time. If you just want a thrill ride, this is the book.

The book was a great read. The tour group stumbles open a cabin to save themselves from the harsh coldness. Then, one by one, they started falling dead. I liked how the book was able to bring forth that creepy feeling until the end. Also, there wasn't even a single moment of boredom, as the story went on really fast.
There were a diverse range of characters and all of them were well created. The central character of the story was Christa, and her fears and thoughts were shown through this book. This was such a great book and I think that every fan of mystery lovers will love it.

I love Darcy Coates! This was a great read, perfect atmosphere, great characters, just a great read! My ONLY complaint is I figured out the killer from soon on in the story. Get your hands on it!

This novel was too repetitive for me, i.e., everyone goes outside and find a dead person, then go back inside, then go back outside a few hours later and find another dead person…repeat, repeat, repeat. After that, people were still being murdered but with more action involved so that improved. lol I liked the setting and the survival aspect as limited as that was. I think more of that embedded in the front end of the story would have made this one much more enjoyable. It’s definitely a horror book with gruesome descriptions, just a heads up (pun intended).

This book was as entertaining as it was perplexing. I spent half the time mentally arguing with the author for doing things that ruined my willing suspension of disbelief. Like, there's no way that could happen and no one noticed anything! Lazy writing!

Well, the joke was on me. It could happen, because the author neatly disguised a key fact, unobtrusively, and masterfully. Well done! It certainly could have been done better. There is some suspension of disbelief required. But overall, it's a decent read for a rainy day, and a good enough thriller.

If you enjoy horror/thrillers, pick this one up.

This book was fast paced and had lots of twists and turns. You definitely can’t trust anybody. It’s an And Then There Were None-esque closed door mystery set in a remote wintry location.

I was worried at first that it was going to be more of a surviving the elements type story but it was definitely a horror story in true Darcy Coates fashion and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Highly recommend picking this one up. It’ll be a great winter read if you’re OK with a little or actually a lot of gore.

Mind blown! This is an intricate thriller filled with nuance and lots of oh my goodness moments! What starts off as a winter vacation escape of one’s dreams turns exactly into that except that people often forget nightmares are dreams too. A group of strangers are all together for this adventure that turns into a murder mystery when the bus to their vacation breaks down. Which amongst them is the murder or is it someone that is following their journey? This one really had me guessing and the details were exquisite yet often gruesome as well. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this read.

What a perfect thriller/mystery to read in the winter! The writing was very atmospheric and you could feel the dread and isolation through the characters. The characters were not well developed and I guessed the plot twist very early on in the story but overall an enjoyable read.

Eight strangers, one killer, a tour bus headed to a cabin in the Rockies. Tour guide goes missing, a severed head. Great locked room mystery.

This was a wild ride! Grief is a very powerful emotion and it can drive people to do some unspeakable thinks! A group of would be strangers are on a trip to a secluded cabin far up in the mountains. The weather is moving in quick and becomes increasingly bad. There is a blockage in the road preventing passage but their tour guide seems to have everything under control. The passengers get off the bus to either help or look around. Two go wondering off too far into the dangerous terrain of the snow covered mountains. The group had no choice but to look for them. And now they are all at risk not just from the weather but from a killer. Who is doing this? Why them? A discussion later helps them see what connects them all. But no one trusts anyone and people are dying!! Will they manage to get help or figure out who the killer is before it’s too late? Will any of them survive or be rescued? Hang on and jump in. This book grips you from the beginning and keeps you guessing the entire time! Even when you think you’re sure you have it figured out, think again! Thank you to poison pen press for allowing me access to this amazing book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest book by Darcy Coates - 5 stars!

Christa and her boyfriend are part of a tour group heading into a lodge deep in the Rocky Mountains. But when a snowstorm sweeps in, the group takes shelter in a small abandoned cabin. Christa and her boyfriend had ventured away from the group, and she wakes up in the cabin with the others, injured, but her boyfriend is missing. Soon, the tour guide goes missing and is found dead. Christa is now with a group of 8 strangers, none of whom she trusts, and one by one they are dying.

Wow - this was a heart-pounding thriller that I couldn't put down! The abandoned cabin, the snowstorm, the strangers, the bleakness of the situation will have you turning the pages as fast as you can to figure out the locked-room mystery of who is behind the gruesome deaths. I had no idea who the culprit was and loved feeling suspicious along with the characters. Great book!