Christa and her boyfriend are on a bus tour to a lodge in the mountains when a tree is downed across the road and a blizzard strikes. Things turn sinister when the group seeks refuge in a remote cabin when it becomes apparent that a serial killer is on the loose. With nowhere to run in the bitterly cold wilderness, how will Christa and her tour mates survive?

I could not stop turning the pages of this bloody suspense story. Coates knows how to keep you on the line until the last page. No character was above suspicion, and terror rang through this locked room mystery.

My only hangup was a medical situation that persisted throughout the story that I found distracting. I tried to research the condition, but it was more complicated than I wanted to pursue to satisfy my niggling questions. That's just me, though.

This one fits the bill if you want to curl up with a chilling, wintery suspense story. As you follow Christa's harrowing ordeal in the remote, blustery wilderness, you'll get the shivers despite the summer heat!

Pulse pounding suspense, very atmospheric and claustrophobic feel set to the back drop of a giant snowstorm and a killer on the loose. The pacing lagged just a bit towards the mid point of the novel but really gained traction. Overall a solid and entertaining read.

What an amazing, gripping, nail biting thriller!! I loved it. I was literally hooked from the first page!!! I'd definitely describe it as a horror.
I literally could not put it down!!

Dead of Winter is an engaging whodunnit with elements of a “locked door” mystery, people being stranded at an isolated cabin.

Christa and her boyfriend Kiernan are on a bus headed for a remote cabin getaway when a storm derails their bus, and they get stranded. Somehow along the way, Kiernan disappears, and Christa ends up inside a remote cabin with a bunch of strangers. One by one, people come up dead, and the author spares no details in describing the grisly details of their deaths.

Told from the point of view of Christa, readers are taken on a twisted mystery of whodunnit and along the way, the people inside the cabin must try to figure out who is doing the killings, who they can trust, and how do they survive. Perhaps I’ve read enough of these types of stories over the years that it was obvious to me from the start who the killer was, but the author does a really great job of leading the reader along and throwing a few misleading clues into the mix along the way to make you question who you think it is.

This was a horror story not in the paranormal sense, but in the grisly graphic details of each murder and in how the elements played such a huge role in all that was happening. It certainly gave me shivers along the way. The story was gripping, and I stayed glued to the pages until the very end. Not sure this will be a book I’ll ever reread, only because I don’t want to read all the gory stuff again, but I am impressed with the author’s writing style and delivery.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

his book is very similar to another murder mystery 'whodunnit' that seems to get a lot of retellings, but I'm not going to name it exactly because I feel like this 'twist' in this one will be guessed pretty much immediately after I say it. Pretty much every book based on that has the same twist, which isn't a bad thing, but it is hard to keep suspense or surprise because of that. That being said, I had a great time reading this one. Even though I kind of knew the twist, the pacing, gore, and survivalist aspect made it so fun. I very nearly finished it in a single day. I can't say it really added anything new or that it is one of my new favorites, but it was really fun and a great time I think, despite the lack of the shocking aspect. It still served the thrilling feeling that I wanted out of it, with the killer being meticulous and specifically doing things that they know would scare their targets.

Happy publication date 7/11/2023 !
Thanks to Netgalley , author Darcy Coates & Poisoned Pen Publications for sharing the ARC in exchange for honest review.
Dead of winter a big group of travelers stranded because of breakdown of their bus end up finding a remote unoccupied cabin to take shelter only to be hunted by ruthless and sly killer who butchers them one by one ! It’s down to survival now and with no help on sight and sign of anyone else close by , it’s pretty clear that one of them is the butcher and will anyone survive?
How crazy good was this pageturner! I couldn’t put it down until the very end , my detective cap was one from Page 1 trying to figure out the killer , motive . The snow ridden mountains , secluded cabin , people in peril with one of them to be killer captivates your attention. The author managed to transport me mentally to the location and ongoing events , my stomach churned with dread of next kill and a feeling of urgency to figure out who was responsible and why ? I though I had it all figured out and the reason to , but towards the end it turned out not to be the case! But ultimately turned out to be right , what a ride !!!
This would be great thriller to read during winters or Halloween time to make it more atmospheric.
This is first book I am reading from this author , turns out she’s got lots more of her books out there , I am checking them out for sure .
It’s a 4.5 / 5 star read .

Many thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

It is super rare that I rate a thriller 5 stars, but this one pulled me in from the first page and would not let go.

8 strangers board a tour bus destined for the remote expanse of the Rocky Mountains. When the bus breaks down, they are forced to take shelter in a small hunting cabin. As night turns to day, the tour guide is missing only to be found with his head severed and impaled to a tree outside the cabin. These 7 strangers soon realize one of them is a murderer and they all may just die out here.

Holy smokes, this is how a thriller should be! The story is plausible, creepy but not too creepy with an ending you don't see coming. I loved how Coates dropped little nuggets throughout the entire book but I was still shocked at the ending. Looking back, I probably should have figured it out but there was a smoking gun that had me blindsided. It was good! Fast paced with short chapters makes for a super easy and entertaining read!

Highly recommend if you enjoy:
*Serial killers
*Isolation
*Unreliable characters
*Light gore

So, yes, it’s me. The one who gets a freakish glee over mysteries in the style of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. You probably know the premise: a group of people are invited to an isolated location and then they start getting knocked off until . . . .

In Darcy Coates’ version, The Dead of Winter (please note the double meaning of the title 😉 ), travelers are expecting to stay at an inn in the Rocky Mountains when they are stopped by a fallen pine in the roadway and then a blizzard that moves in swiftly and ferociously. They find refuge in a tiny cabin that barely houses them. And then one-by-one, these stranded travelers begin to die gruesomely. The remaining travelers eye each other with suspicion. Who is the killer in their midst?

The main character is Christa, a young woman who was involved in a tragedy a couple of years earlier and is slowly beginning to regain her footing in the world, much of it thanks to boyfriend Kiernan. It’s through her eyes and thoughts that the reader ventures into this mystery, who to suspect, who might be innocent, but also her lack of steadfastness in adhering to her own intuition.

For the most part this is a delicious romp of a horror (does that make me sound like I am drooling blood? hmm). When Darcy Coates is writing action and building tension, she does it very, very well. Honestly I would have said that this was a much shorter novel because I went through it so fast–a page-turner, folks. While I did guess positively who the slayer was at 65% and had guessed less solidly earlier on, Coates tossed in a nice little twist in the final scenes that made me doubt myself (oh, no!).

A gruesome little caper of survival.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dead of Winter is a suspenseful mystery revolving around a small group of people on a tour going to a lodge in the Rocky Mountains for a two-week getaway. Nature has its own ideas as a fallen tree blocks their path and a blizzard strands them near a cabin. One of the group goes missing, they attempt to locate them. But a search and rescue quickly turns into a fight for your life as one by one are murdered.

This was an intense murder mystery. I can't say that I liked any of the characters, but what do you expect when you are on a tour with people you don't know. But it was well written and holds the reader's attention until the final pages.

This was everything I hoped for!

I loved the atmosphere of the story once things really started heating up. Isolated in a frozen area without a way to reach authorities as one by one the travelers are being killed off in the most brutal of ways had me skittish and curled up in expectation of the next scene of horror that would play out. I loved the setup of the story and the characters were all very well developed and kept me guessing. I did guess the killer at one point but I admit, I moved on to someone else and then someone else as I was never certain the who and why of it all. The author gives tidbits of information along the way that had me constantly reaching for the next dangling carrot as it was never enough. The ending was satisfying and I’m questioning why this is my first book by this author. It certainly will not be the last.

Wow this a crazy good well thought out plot with a nice steady flow of twist and turns and a cast of characters that truly reflect just how flawed our prospective of others can be this was a page turner with a ending that was a total surprise it is very rare that I don't have the killer pegged within the first few chapters well done.

This was a such a good eerie book it will make you never think of a winter cabin the same again! I highly recommend this one!

A heartpounding thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. I felt very Agatha Christie And Then There Were None vibes and really felt the cold winter setting! The perfect book to read curled up by the fire with a hot drink!

Christa and her boyfriend, Kiernan, are traveling to Blackstone Alpine Lodge. Their bus stops due to a tree across the road. Kiernan convinces her to go exploring. She falls over a ledge, and she finds herself in the deepening snow, with Kiernan nowhere in sight. Christa manages to find an abandoned hunting cabin, where the others on the bus and their tour guide are, but no Kiernan. To make matters worse, someone or something is, killing them, the tour guide first. They find his head impaled on a branch of a large tree outside the cabin!

Darcy Coates is known for her haunted house horror, but now she is tackling a serial killer thriller. There is suspense and she still applies the horror, this time to an unknown killer and a snowy mountainous range where none of the victims know where they are, no cell phones are working, and are suspicious of each other, wondering who the killer among them is. Ms. Coates sends the reader through a thrilling icy race with the same heart-pounding scares she uses in her haunted-house books.

4 1/2 stars.

This book made me shiver although it’s very warm outside.
It’s like the most graphic gruesome slasher film cime to life.
The theme is revenge. People get stuck in a mountain snow strip and literally Lose their heads. Don’t read if you have a delicate stomach.
I had no clue who the killer was but it all made sense.
For the more bloodthirsty readers.

Happy Pub Day! Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for advanced copy for honest review.


Let me start by saying, this was my first Darcy Coates book and I have since downloaded three other books of hers.
With no spoilers…Christa and her boyfriend set off into the mountains of a remote area, during off season, with 8 other strangers, to stay at closed resort with a snow storm looming, what could possibly go wrong?!? Well, everything! Now that we are all cozy in this locked room mystery, Christa wakes up surrounded by 8 complete strangers in a very very small cabin. One by one and for one reason or another, when they get separated from group, the next time they are seen, they are are a head above, dead. Things grow tense as they all start suspecting each other. Who is doing this? Why? Are they all here by mere happenstance?

Hooked in and remained seated till the last page! 5 stars, highly recommend

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press, Darcy Coates, and Net Galley for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I have been a fan of Darcy Coates for ages and while most of her books I find to be best described as “cozy horror” (usually with supernatural aspects) this book is more of a “mystery horror”. Think Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” but make it violent and bloody! As in “head on a stake” bloody!

We are immediately pulled into the action as ten people head to a lodge in the Rocky Mountains for a two-week vacation far away from civilization; Nothing but snowy mountains and blizzards. Their bus stops because of a fallen tree across the road, just before they reach the Lodge. A few go off to see the scenery and get lost, while others cut the tree. Some find a small (but poorly stocked) cabin to seek refuge. Lost, hungry, and cold, they decide to stay the night in this cabin. What awaits them as they wake up the next morning is terrifying. There is a killer in their midst. But who of the eight strangers on the bus is the killer?

This was a creepy read that kept me turning the pages and kept me up way too late! Always the mark of a good book! There are a lot of chapters, but they are short so the book flies by. The story is told in first person, through the eyes of our main character, Christa. This really puts the reader in the midst of the events. As the story unfolds through the eyes of Christa, we know only what she knows and feel all the anxiety and paranoia that she feels. This makes the reader more immersed and invested in Christa’s horrifying journey.

This would be a great Winter read or if, like me, you are looking to escape the heat of summer and long for the snowy days of Winter. 4 star read! Don’t sleep on this one. This is one of Coates's best works!

WOW! What a ride. Winter tour group's bus breaks down, tour guide goes missing, let the killing begin. That's all I'm going to say about that.

What I will say is this book was fantastic. Had me going one way, then another. Well-written, heart thumping thriller. If you like this time of book, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

4.5 stars - I loved it.

This was such a edge of your seat whodunit mystery thriller that I just could not put down.

I really enjoyed reading from the MC POV, and all the other characters were at times likeable but also had a fair amount of flaws that had you question everything that you thought you figured out. I hate winter weather so this felt extra nightmarish to me. This was amazingly written, its my 5th book by Darcy Coates and I think its safe to say that she is officially a favourite author for me.

Even though I was able to guess the "big twist" it did not take anything away from the overall enjoyment of the book, the path to the big twist was wonderfully suspenseful and heart pounding.

Only issue for me, is that I wish it had one more chapter. I don't want to spoil anything so I'm just going to say that I wanted one other little thing answered and it was not. This is the only thing that prevented me from giving it a full 5 star rating.

read this if you love: Rocky Mountains, winter settings, remote settings, whodunit mysteries, survival, light body horror.

Thanks to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Darcy Coates for sharing a digital copy for me to read and review. As always, opinions are my own 🤘🏻💀🤘🏻

I was so excited to receive an early copy of Dead Of Winter.

The queen of horror wrote a locked in style thriller. But oh, this is not your ordinary locked in thriller at all.

I LOVED this book. It was hard core and so fun. I had an idea who ‘the killer’ was but kept wavering as the red herrings are real here.

Christa is trapped. In the mountains. In a crazy snowstorm. With strangers. Strangers that keep dying one by one in the most horrific way. Can she figure out who is doing this to them and why?

Loved it. So well written and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. I need more. 🤌🏻🤌🏻