I loved this book, as I love most everything that Darcy Coates writes. Very fast paced and entertaining and I flew through it in two days. I wasn't able to guess the killer, which was a plus. Very isolated and snowy thriller/horror tale.

Many thanks, NetGalley and Poision Pen Press, for this ARC! Immediately upon starting this book, I was HOOKED. I could not put down this book once I started it. I loved that I second guessed every single character and their motive. I love a thriller trope of stuck in the same place - I think that it makes for the most exciting hook. I am so excited to recommend this book to others. Murder, mayhem and mystery? Count me in.

Oooh this one was an eerie page-turner! It was definitely one of the more atmospheric books I’ve read! And downright GRUESOME with the murder descriptions.

I love locked-room thrillers and trying to determine the killer. It’s always a fun game of “are you smarter than the characters?” for me. This one definitely gets bonus points because I never did completely guess what was going on! I think the not knowing was definitely what made me so engrossed with this one as it definitely wasn’t the characters. I wanted to shake them all at one point or another!

Although I didn’t completely guess the ending, I wasn’t exactly satisfied with it either. The motive touches on my all-time least favorite thriller trope and l wanted a little more closure than we were given. Consider me needy!

Thank you @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for the opportunity to read and review this arc!

Wow, Dead of Winter constantly had me on the edge of my seat with my heart pounding throughout the book. I was immediately hooked from Chapter 1 and it didn’t let up the whole way through. My head was spinning and every time I though I figured out the killer, I was so wrong. I would have never guess who the killer was or why.

This is my first book by Coates and it will not be my last. Every psychological thriller lover needs to READ THIS BOOK! While it is being released in the summer in the USA, it will make an amazing winter read with its snowy winter setting.

******Many thanks to Poison Pen Press, Darcy Coates, and NetGalley for my gifted ebook, in turn for an honest review.

Will be posting my review on Instagram (thriller_book_sisters) on 7/10/23.

Dead of Winter starts with a bang. The reader is immediately thrown into the thick of things, and the story stays tense. The location is perfect for terrible winter storms and trapping a group of people. A group of very unlikable people at that.

Our narrator, Christa, drove me up the wall. She was too meek, and she clenched her teeth a heck of a lot. She wouldn’t speak up for herself. Even when she woke up to someone trying to kill her by smothering her, she never once calls out that person. Why wouldn’t you mention it to everyone? I don’t understand that mentality at all. Things got a little repetitive at times, slowing down the pacing in the middle. Last, and this is a huge pet peeve of mine, 911 does not need you to be on the line for a “set amount of time” to find you. That hasn’t been a thing for decades, and I’m unsure why authors still try to write it into a storyline as a plot point.

However, I will say this: I didn’t know who we could trust because I mistrusted everyone. I didn’t like anyone, so it made me weary of everyone. And while I suspected why we were in this situation, that didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the novel because I didn’t have all the missing pieces. Even though there were a few hiccups, this is an enjoyable read—my thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for sending this over.

What an excellent introduction to the work of Darcy Coates. Dead of Winter will not be the last book of hers I read, that’s for sure. This is sure to be one of my top horror-thrillers of 2023. I did guess the who and the why pretty early but definitely was not sure up until the final pages.

If you’re looking for a nail biting, fast moving page turner to fill your hot summer night or day then you definitely should not miss this. The icy, snowbound setting also adds to the anxiety and thrills of the story.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.**

Well written - definitely a page turner. Just when you think you've solved the mystery - you're wrong! Great characters - vivid descriptions and story line,

Thank you to Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC of this book.
Christa is part of a tour group that becomes stranded in the Rocky Mountains during a snow storm. After finding a cabin, members of the group begin disappearing.
Although some of the murders are quite gruesome , I enjoyed this very fast paced, well plotted locked room thriller.
Darcy Coates’ well written prose creates a creepy atmosphere. All of the characters are quite suspicious, holding onto their own secrets.

Wow! Wow! A heart stopping, unstoppable read! I couldn’t put it done….. just had to keep going. Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates held me totally spellbound. An amazing story told with simple but gripping narrative.

A thriller mystery that is set in winter in the Rock Mountains and while the weather is rough the murder and mayhem that ensures is even rougher. The characters are incredibly developed and while you don’t want to be with them - you are - and that is terrifying.

Highly recommended read. Definitely a five star rating.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#DeadofWinter #NetGalley #HarperCollinsAu

I really enjoyed this winter, atmospheric, locked- room-ish thriller! I’ve read Coates’ work before and usually it has some supernatural element to it, so I kept expecting that to pop up. I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t! Loved the reveal of the connection between all the guests. Definitely had a suspicion as to who the killer was, but learning the why and the how still had me captivated. Will def be recommending this to people come winter time!

This is one creepy book! It starts out a little slow, with our narrator describing pushing through endless piles of deep snow (snow gets pushed through and described a lot in this book), but when it picks up it really picks up.

A bus full of people heading for a vacation at a lodge is halted by a tree felled in the middle of the road and some terrible winter weather. The group makes their way to a small uninhabited cabin, but wake up to their tour guide’s severed head on a tree right outside. Someone’s plan is to pick them off one by one.

I couldn’t read this book at night, it was too scary. I guessed part of the amazing ending, but that didn’t take away at all from what a great twist it was (in fact, it made it even better because I felt so successful!). I definitely recommend this book.

The Ten Little Indians trope is old, but Darcy Coates’s Dead of Winter can still make you keep all the lights on while you read on into the wee hours.
Opening with the heroine, Christy, and her boyfriend lost in a raging snowstorm somewhere in the Rockies. The storm worsens causing her to fall from a snow-covered ledge. She comes to eight hours later in a tiny cabin with nine of the ten other passengers of the private tour bus they were on. Missing is her boyfriend, Kiernan.
A fallen tree blocks the access road to the remote luxury lodge they would all be staying at. Before the tree can be cleared, the group searches for Christy and Kiernan. They find her battered and unconscious. No sign of Kiernan or his body. They do, however, find a tiny hunting cabin that offers the group better shelter than the stranded bus.
Sticking with the script, the travelers are grotesquely murdered one by one while the impassable storm howls outside. The area is too remote for cell service of course. Day after day the trapped group’s number is cut down each victim is beheaded and put on display. Recriminations and paranoia grow, while the dark secrets of each traveler come to light.
While I sat sweltering in ninety-degree heat reading Dead of Winter, I could feel my fingertips slowly freezing and driven snow slashing my face.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I found the plot to be very slow, and I found it hard to care about the characters, because I felt like we never got a chance to know them as people. I know lots of other people love this author, so I’m sure other people will enjoy this book, it was just not for me.

This book was given to be by Net Galley as an ARC. I am so grateful to have been chosen.

Are you looking for a thriller that will truly take you on a journey and have you questioning who you can trust? Well this is for you.

Christa and her boyfriend just want to get away and take a little vacation in the middle of winter. Christa finds herself hurt while her boyfriend is no where to be found. She wakes up surrounded by a ton of people with no idea who they are or who she can trust. More people start to come up missing and everything takes a turn that you didn't see coming. This is a very much "no way out, no one is safe" vibe thriller. The end of this book threw me for such a loop. I was wrong the whole entire time and to me that is what makes a thriller a top book or not. I don't want predictable...

This was my first Darcy Coates read, but it did not disappoint. I will be looking for more by this author at every book store I go to. Thank you again to Darcy and Net Galley for allowing me the chance to read and review this book! Run, don't walk to buy this book!

*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. *

First of all I want to say thank you to Netgalley and the publisher,  Poisoned Press Pen to give me the opportunity to read this book. I have read a few books by Coates and I loved all her books. I am giving this book 3 hearts because it was not fast  enough for my tastes.

This was also not one of the books I am used to read from Coates. I mean I think all the books that I have read from her was all to do about ghosts and hauntings and this one was not. I am not saying that I only love ghost/ hauntings from Coates because I do read other horror and Thrillers.

Christa (the main character) went with her boyfriend to a lodge in the Rocky Mountains for a getaway but it was not the fun and relaxing getaway she expected. It was dangerous and the snowstorm did not help matters either. The small tour group that she travelled with where slowly being murdered one by one and no one knew who the killer was. I liked that I could not guess who the killer was up until the end of the book. Coates kept me wondering who the murderer was. The only one who I did not suspect was Christa but all the others was fair game until they became a victim themselves. Christa kept thinking that none will get out alive and in away she is right. 

The ending felt to abrupt for me. I mean you don't actually know what happened after Christa found out who the killer and after she stopped them. I mean did the police find her?? Did she move on with what happened or did she even get down from the snowy mountain alive. It feels like the story isn't done for me. I enjoyed the twists and turn of this story and Coates did a wonderful job describing the dangers of a snowstorm. 

This was a nice read and I will always look for more books to read from Coates!! She is my go to author when I am in the mood for some horror.

Thank you Net Galley & Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC and Darcy Coates for the fantastic read!

Christa and Kiernan are excited about their trip to the Blackstone Lodge. Nestled away in the snowy, remote Rocky Mountains, it’s exactly what Christa needs. Or is it?

The passenger bus is suddenly stranded due to a downed tree and a blizzard rolling through. Everyone has no choice but to escape to a tiny cabin in the woods for better shelter. Along the way several passengers go missing and one-by one start turning up dead…

Fingers start pointing and everyone goes on guard! Is it someone among them? Possibly a crazed person stalking them like prey? Who can you trust?

Darcy Coates does such a great job of making you think you know exactly what is going on and who it is! Then, there’s a twist and completely leaves you clueless. She did it again! Great read!

*spoiler alert*



I ga e this book 3 stars instead of 4 stars because there was really a chapter missing. I don’t mind having some unanswered questions in a book, but when you are dealing with a murder mystery that involved delving so deeply into the specific limited number of characters, the reader DESERVES a decent wrap-up. It made me mad at the author and I’ve liked what I’ve read so far from Darcy Coates. With that said, Dead of Winter centers around Chrisa, a young woman who finds herself stuck in the Rocky Mountains during the heavy winter storms and snows with 10 other people, who one by one, are gruesomely murdered. I figured out the murderer fairly early on, but not necessarily the reason for the killings. Honestly, I would tell my earlier self to pass on this one.rather than feel the major disappointment in the too drawn out chases and the letdown at the end. Thanks, though, to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced copy I. Return for my honest opinion.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat till the end. I was surprised who the murderer was also. The reason why he was the murderer was understandable though. I really liked this book! Can't wait to read another one!

I tend to like reading winter books in the cold but I read it early to have my review for the release date. There’s definite Christie vibes, sort of an, And Then There We’re None set in the mountains during a blizzard. We’re following Christa, whose bf is the first to disappear. She is an emotionally wounded character & eventually we learn why. The others are then right amount of mix of useful characters & ones you know will cause trouble. The deaths are gruesome & paranoia quickly begins to heighten. I really enjoyed the atmosphere & the overall mystery, I had inklings to the killer but the puzzle pieces aligning was fun to read. My only complaints is that it does take a little while to pick up, I wish the last third of the book, the part that’s really exciting, had been longer or sooner.

Still I say take a break from the summer heat & read this chilling book!

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. Terrified, and completely isolated by the storm, Christa finds herself trapped with eight total strangers. One of them kills for sport...and they're far from finished. As the storm grows more dangerous and the number of survivors dwindles one by one, Christa must decide who she can trust before this frozen mountain becomes her tomb.
This is a standalone book by Darcy Coates. It is a suspenseful thriller packed with surprises that made me want to read it in one sitting. The ending was a complete surprise and filled me with fear as I read it. The characters seemed very real to me and I had a hard time picking out the killer. I'm now looking forward to another read by this author. If you like suspense with your thrillers then you will love this book.