Thank you NetGalley for this book!

I'll be honest, I clicked request without reading the description, completely expecting a spooky ghost story. I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading and realized it was actually a whodunit on an isolated snowy mountain. I loved the gore and shock of the book. I must also admit that I solved the mystery of who the killer was fairly early on in the book, however I still enjoyed it. There were enough red herrings that I found myself questioning my theory a couple of times even though I felt fairly confident in my guess. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

"Dead of Winter" by Darcy Coates is exactly what I love about reading spooky stories during winter!! Creepy goodness.

Christa and her boyfriend Kiernan go on a vacation headed to Blackstone Alpine Lodge. On the way there they get stranded on the tour bus due to a snowstorm. Christa and Kiernan go out to see if they can sight the lodge. They get lost in the storm. Christa finds her way to an old cabin in the woods. The tour bus people have found the shelter. Kieran is still lost in the storm. The group of people begin getting bumped off one by one with their heads chopped off and put on a tree outside the cabin. Panic sets in and people do stupid things.
This was a really good creepy book that I hated putting down. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
Thanks NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC that will be released July 11, 2023!

I’m disappointed to say this wasn’t my favorite. It had everything I normally love: a wintery, isolated setting, a whodunit mystery. But I kept finding myself struggling to get through it. It felt long and drawn out and I kept waiting for it to be over. Maybe it would work better for me as an audiobook.

Christa joins a tour group heading into the Rocky Mountains hoping to put her past behind her. But when a freak snowstorm forces the group to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin, things go from bad to worse. As the temperature drops, tensions run high, but Christa is optimistic they can wait out the storm. However, sometime during the night their tour guide disappears only to be found the following morning with his head impaled on a tree near the cabin. Christa is trapped with eight strangers and one of them is a killer.

Dead of Winter is available July 11, 2023.

Thank you netgalley and poisoned pen press for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

What a fantastic book! This was my first read by Darcy Coates, but it certainly won't be my last. "Dead of Winter" is an exciting thriller that keeps you guessing until the very last page.

Christa, her boyfriend Kiernan, and their fellow travelers set out on a quaint getaway to the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains. When a snowstorm hits, they are forced to take cover in an isolated cabin. But the situation takes a deadly turn when people start dying one by one. An isolated cabin, a snowstorm, eight strangers, and one killer with an agenda makes for a gripping and thrilling read.

I absolutely loved this book and couldn't put it down. Just when I thought I knew who the killer was, a twist turned the whole story upside down. The writing is masterful, and the plot is well thought out. Additionally, the book pays homage to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None," which was a delightful nod to a classic work of mystery fiction.

I highly recommend "Dead of Winter" to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat read with a distinctive setting. It is an engaging and compelling read that you won't want to miss!

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

Darcy Coats did it again! Dead of Winter is another jaw dropping, twist and turns, terrifying book. I could not put it down. Loved it!!
Crista joins a tour group with her boyfriend to a remote Rocky Mountain resort. There bus breaks down and they are lost. They find a cabin in the middle of nowhere and take shelter from the horrible snow storm. People in the group start coming up dead. Who is the killer, and will anyone survive.
Thank you Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley and Darcy Coates for the ARC for my review.

This book had me from the get.

Christa and her boyfriend (Kiernan) are on a tour to a lonely and remote lodge in the Rocky Mountains. While travelling, the run into a small snafu. A downed tree is blocking the rode. While exploring the woods (and waiting to be able to leave) Christa hurts herself. Kiernan goes missing. And the group starts getting picked off. And if that wasn't enough already, you guessed it, there is a giant snow storm coming in. Is the killer among them? Was the killer there the whole time just waiting?

I really enjoyed this read. I thought the suspense didn't let up! Gory, thrillling, and fast paced. This book was a wild ride!

Dead of Winter
Darcy Coates

“A remote cabin in the snowy wilderness. Eight strangers. One killer. Nowhere left to run.”

This is what is meant by an “unputdownable thriller”. Well developed characters stuck in a gripping and eerie snowstorm in the Rocky Mountains and a vicious killer on the loose.

I was hooked from the first chapter and the tension just keeps building throughout. Whilst I expected the link that’s revealed, the twists did keep me guessing (and at some points almost hyperventilating).

Who doesn't love a remote location with a body count?

This was my first novel by author Darcy Coates and won’t be my last! This was a super atmospheric, creepy, fast paced thriller! This was actually more of a horror read for me compared to a thriller & I really enjoyed it!

The twists were unpredictable and there were ALOT of them! 100% reccomend!

This was a real pageturner, I just had to know who the 'butcher' was! The setting was perfect with a vibe of locked-room mystery, albeit very claustrophic and disturbing. The author dished out one plot twist after another, each more believable than the previous. Unfortunately, I figured out on who the real 'butcher' was early in the book, but more than once I was (almost) led astray from that path. Superbly written and full of non-stop nail-biting suspense, this story easily put Darcy Coates on my list of favorite authors and I will definitely check out her other work.

STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND READ THIS NOW!

Five amazing, suspenseful, and murderous stars! The suspense does not let up for a single second, and the ending was shockingly brilliant. I seriously cannot say enough wonderful things about this book, and I am sitting here with my mouth still hanging open from how incredibly surprising the ending turned out to be. Darcy Coates is my favorite horror author. Period. But this is the first thriller I have read of hers, and it blew me away! This book is worth every minute spent reading and has definitely made it on my list of absolute favorite books.

The biggest, most sincere thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Darcy Coates for providing me with this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

A winter holiday goes badly wrong for a group of strangers when they are caught in a snow storm and murdered one by one…

Despite the snow, there is nothing festive about this gory tale. Narrated in the first person by Christa, one of the holidaymakers, we follow the group as they risk their lives trapped out in the middle of nowhere. The story has plenty of twists and turns as Christa tries to figure out who is responsible and what connects the murders. I found the story gripping but perhaps overlong in the middle when clues were scarce and the murders became a little repetitive. It definitely kept me guessing though!

Thanks for the opportunity to read.

This was a violent, gory read but also a fun ride. It held my attention, I was just very disappointed that the killer was so predictable, I would have loved to have been wrong! Good title.
3.5 stars rounded up.

This was my first book by Darcy Coates and while I thought it was very entertaining and full of suspense, I found myself a bit disappointed in the ending as I did predict the big “whodunnit” pretty early on in the book.

I did, however, enjoy everything else about this book - the writing is fantastic, it really connects you to the characters and makes you feel like you are apart of everything that’s happening. This is definitely a book that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish!

I recommend this and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC copy of Dead Of Winter.
This book had me hooked from the beginning. Who wouldn’t be excited to head off on a two week vacation in the Rocky Mountains with the man who has made you feel whole again? Christa was so excited for just that, but what happens when you soon begin to wonder if you are going to be the next to die? Everyone around you is dying one by one, but who’s the killer? Twists and turns with constant wonder of who’s next and who’s behind it all?
I really enjoyed this book, kept me guessing the whole time! I’m excited to read more by this author!

Christa joins a tour group going to a lodge for 14 days during the Winter. When the group is stranded before they can reach the lodge, people begin being murdered. Christa does not know who to trust or where to turn. This book kept me guessing until the very end!!

I COULD NOT GET ENOUGH OF THIS!!!
I’ve been struggling with finding a book that grabs my attention & this book out of literally so many books FINALLY got my attention & ran with it

*adds “trapped in a cold environment” to list of favorite tropes*

This is my very first thriller mystery book I’ve ever read & I have no idea what’s taken me so long to read one but I’m so glad I started with this one. I love Darcy’s writing style & her ability to come up with twist after twist!! 🪓

I kept go back and forth with my predictions of the ending & it’s was a tad predictable but definitely didn’t disappoint me either way!

Darcy, you’ve gained another fan !

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*thank you netgalley, poisoned pen press + darcy coates for earc*

5 stars!!! I was on the edge of my seat the whole. My heart is still racing while I type this! It kept me guessing the entire book. This is my favorite book by this author! Excellent!!

I originally requested an arc of Dead of Winter because although I had never read anything from Darcy Coates, I had heard nothing but FANTASTIC things about her books from watching horror book reviews on Youtube, and this cover for this book was really eye-catching. I am a shallow type of reader in that a book cover's design is a make it or break it for me. I would be proud to display this book in my library. Whoever did this cover art, keep them!

Now, onto the book itself. Even though I had heard only flowing things about Coates' writing, I still wasn't sure how much I was going to like this book. Luckily, I ended up absolutely LOVING IT!!! I was utterly gripped from the first chapter of this book I couldn't put it down. The only other time this happened with me was when I read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. I am SO HAPPY that I found another book that was able to pull me in so quickly!!

I really enjoyed the icy, snowy, Rocky Mountains atmosphere that the retreat was set in. Horror + winter setting is my favorite sub-genre of horror. This story was very reminiscent to Agatha Christie book that I have read in the past:: I couldn’t decide who was guilty. No one person in particular stood out. Once I thought I had figured out, NOPE! Like Miss Christie, this book swerved in an entirely different direction.

I did NOT see the end coming (which I LOVE!!) and I was actually sad when it was over. This was my first Darcy Coates read but it will not be my last. Absolute 5 star read and I will be purchasing a hard copy of this for my personal library when it is released in July. Just fantastic and such a fun read and a nice escape from reality!

Looking for a murder mystery set in the winter at a remote cabin? Dead of Winter is for you!

After moving on from a traumatic event, Christa is finally feeling good about things. Heading to a winter retreat at an exclusive lodge with her boyfriend seems like a dream. But that quickly becomes a nightmare. As things go off course and the first body turns up, Christa needs to find the killer fast before she becomes the next victim.

Thought this book follows a fairly common thriller/murder mystery style, I still really enjoyed this book! Darcy Coates is one of my auto-purchase authors. I pre-order most (if not all) of her books. She will always be at the top of my recos list!