Dead of Winter — Darcy Coates || Book Review

Have you ever wondered if that hot guy

you butt heads with at work is

actually in love with you??

Book Content Warning — Murder, gore

Post Spoiler Level — Low

Darcy Coates has quickly become one of my favorite thriller/horror novelists. I absolutely LOVE her supernatural horror novels; each one centered around a different decrepit, haunted mansion with a morbid past. So when my book club picked this one for January’s BOTM, I was all in.

Shadow: IV | Chill: Shiver

Dead of Winter

Darcy Coates

Horror — Slasher

Digital — 342 pages

January 21, 2026 — January 21, 2026

Buy on Amazon

Musings

Exordium

In Dead of Winter, Coates brought to life two fears that I think most people have — being stranded in the cold with no food or power, and being hunted and killed by an unknown assailant. The growing tensions between the characters as the bodies kept dropping were beautifully developed, as was the scene when they all realized how they were connected.

Enthrallment

Christa was your basic guilt-ridden protagonist who also showed levels of naivety that made me think she was an unreliable narrator. I was honestly expecting the big twist to be her as the killer. Don’t worry, she wasn’t. It wasn’t any of my guesses. [It makes me think I’m losing my touch. Did I ever have one?…. Meh.]

Anyway, the big reveal was shocking to me [that might be because I was listening to it while cleaning and missed some things], and what was even more shocking was the killer’s proposition to Christa. Unhinged. I knew it was a revenge plot as soon as Christa mentioned her past, but to learn how meticulous the killer was and how many people they tracked down, besides the ones at the cabin, and killed was impressive and unforgiving. Artfully brutal.

Finale

Coda

Darcy Coates’s Dead of Winter was the perfect winter slasher! The story followed a group of hikers after a storm left them stranded in a nearby cabin. Things take a deadly turn after they find their tour guide brutally slain and decapitated the next morning.

The vibes were a combination of Slasher: Guilty Party (TV Series), The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and I Know What You Did Last Summer in this gory, ruthless, and morbidly beautiful revenge slasher that highlights what happens when you fuck around and find out.

I ate this book up in one sitting, and I know you will, too!

Have you read Dead of Winter? What did you think about the twist? Did you see it coming? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

♡

The Keeper