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24 Snowed-In Novels & Blizzard Books to Read This Winter
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.In these books, the snow won’t stop, the roads are closed, and characters are suddenly stuck together until Mother Nature agrees to set them free. From travelers trapped at European resorts with a murderer to true stories of real people surviving terrifying conditions, these books run the full range from chilling to heartwarming.
You’ll find frontier survival tales, small-town mysteries, and sweet snowed-in romances, plus a few thrillers that will have you double-checking the locks. So grab a blanket and settle in with a reading list that’s best enjoyed while the snow falls outside your own window.
Snowed-In Fiction Books to Read
Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel
Book Summary
It’s 1950, and the luxurious Grand Alpine Hotel sits high in the Swiss Alps, reachable only by a single winding railway. Miss Marple arrives for a winter holiday with her old friend Dolly Bantry and their young companion, Diana Glass, joining a glamorous crowd drawn by powdery slopes, sweeping mountain views, and champagne by the fire. Among the guests are a society wife working hard to be perfect for her ambitious politician husband, a Hollywood star hoping to slip away from the spotlight, and a reckless wartime friend whose arrival catches everyone off guard.
When a body is discovered, and a blizzard cuts off every way down the mountain, the guests find themselves trapped with a killer who may not be finished. Told through four alternating voices, the story keeps suspicion bouncing from one guest to the next while Miss Marple quietly knits, watches, and pieces together the clues everyone else overlooks.
The Agatha Christie Connection
Agatha Christie died in 1976, but her literary rights are still managed by Agatha Christie Limited, a company run by her great-grandson, James Prichard. The company worked with HarperCollins to make this a fully authorized Miss Marple novel, published 50 years after Christie’s final Marple mystery, Sleeping Murder.
Prichard calls himself “a great fan of Lucy’s writing,” and Foley has called Miss Marple her favorite Christie sleuth. Foley blends Christie’s classic closed-circle setup with the multi-perspective style readers loved in The Hunting Party and The Guest List. Most readers agree Foley captures the spirit of a true Christie whodunit while making it feel fresh for a new generation of mystery lovers.
More Snowed-In Agatha Christie Titles
If this one leaves you craving more snowbound sleuthing, Agatha Christie has you covered. In Murder on the Orient Express, a snowdrift stops Hercule Poirot’s train in the mountains of Yugoslavia just as a passenger turns up dead. The Sittaford Mystery follows a snowbound Dartmoor village where a séance predicts a murder that turns out to be real. And The Mousetrap, Christie’s famously long-running play, traps a group of strangers at a snowed-in guesthouse with a killer among them.
Blackberry Winter
Book Summary
In May 1933, Seattle was blanketed by a surprise late snow. When single mother Vera returns from her night shift at the local hotel, she discovers that her three-year-old son Daniel has disappeared into the icy weather. While his teddy bear is found on the streets, new snow has covered any other tracks or clues.
Nearly 80 years later, in 2010, another shocking May snowstorm hits Seattle. Reporter Claire is assigned to write about the parallels to the 1933 “Blackberry Winter” storm. When she uncovers the story of Daniel’s disappearance, she refocuses her story on his case. The book alternates perspectives between Vera in 1933 and Claire in 2010.
Why This Book Made the List
Although this dual-timeline novel is set in May 1933 and May 2010, we are including it on this winter reading list because late-season snowstorms drive the plot.
“Blackberry winter” is a folk term for an odd cold snap that happens late in the spring, usually right around the time blackberry bushes are blooming. So even though it’s supposed to be warming up, you suddenly get a few chilly days (sometimes frost), and people call it a “blackberry winter” because it lines up with the blackberry blossoms.
No Exit
Book Summary
College student Darby is driving to Utah to see her dying mother when she’s caught in a dangerous blizzard in the Colorado mountains. She pulls off the road to a remote rest stop and finds four other travelers have done the same.
There’s no phone signal inside, so Darby heads back into the cold, hoping she’ll be able to make a call. Instead, she’s horrified to see a little girl trapped in an animal crate in the van next to her car. With no telephone and no passable roads to drive on, she’s trapped at the rest stop.
Darby knows one of the strangers inside must be the kidnapper. How can she save the girl and herself?
Additional Snowy Thrillers
If you’re specifically interested in winter thrillers, we have you covered with a full list of more than twenty options!
How the Penguins Saved Veronica
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Eighty-five-year-old Veronica is estranged from her family and searching for a cause worthy of inheriting her estate. After seeing a documentary about penguins being studied in Antarctica, she contacts the scientists and tells them she’s coming to visit—and she won’t take no for an answer.
After traveling from Scotland to Antarctica, she convinces the reluctant team to rescue an orphaned baby penguin in the middle of a dangerous snowstorm. Veronica’s curmudgeonly heart can’t help but be warmed as the penguin becomes a part of everyday life at the base.
Veronica’s grandson, Patrick, travels to Antarctica to make one last attempt to get to know his grandmother. Together, Veronica, Patrick, and even the scientists learn what family, love, and connection are all about.
Why This Is a Great Pick
This book is charming and funny, but it’s also more profound than it first appears, thanks to a series of diary entries from WWII. We highly recommend the audiobook because the narration and accents add to the story!
We loved this book so much that we interviewed author Hazel Prior; she was delightful! You can watch the replay here.
Dead of Winter
Book Summary
Brock, one of four Osprey brothers, has returned from service as a Navy SEAL, and now he is the unwilling protector of Knife’s Edge, a remote and secret-filled town in Alaska. An unsolved murder and other unexplained deaths have brought FBI agent Ophelia to town, and her arrival throws Brock’s world into chaos.
Knife’s Edge is Ophelia’s last chance to save her career. She’s confident that Brock knows more than he’s telling her. But the more time she spends with him, the harder it is to ignore the chemistry growing between them. When they’re trapped together in a winter storm, they must decide if they can trust each other and unite against both the wilderness and the powerful enemies lurking.
About the Series
This book was originally published on Kindle Vella as Knife’s Edge, Alaska, which is now the series name. Several additional titles are now available in the series.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In The Snow Child, you’ll be transported to remote 1920s Alaska. Jack and Mabel are nearing 50 when they decide to move to Alaska. As newcomers to the harsh environment, they struggle. Between the intense physical labor required and the even more extreme loneliness, they’re not sure they’ve made the right decision in moving.
Then, during the first snowfall of the year, they decide to have some fun and build a child out of snow. In the morning, the snow child is gone, but they see a young girl running through the trees with the items they had used to dress the snow child. Is she real, or are they hallucinating and dreaming of the child they’ve always wanted?
Our Thoughts on This Book
Melissa thought the fairytale-like qualities of this book were phenomenal in both the writing and the storytelling.
The book also fully transports you to the isolation of an Alaskan homestead, making the harshness of the environment and the preparation required to survive very clear.
The Overnight Guest
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Wylie is a true crime writer who has retreated to an isolated farmhouse to write her new book. She doesn’t mind being snowed in because the cozy fire and silence feel perfect. However, she doesn’t realize a storm is brewing inside the farmhouse as well.
Decades earlier, two people were murdered, and a girl disappeared from the same house. As the storm rages on, Wylie is haunted by the house’s secrets and her past. When she discovers a small child outside in the snow, it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought.
More About This Book
While the cover of this book has strong winter vibes, the storyline alternates between a hot summer and a freezing winter. So, if you’ve had enough of winter and are looking forward to books with warmer settings this month, this book could still fit the bill.
The Magnolia Palace
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Lillian was one of New York City’s most sought-after artist models, with statues based on her figure gracing famous landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge. After losing her mother to the Spanish Flu outbreak, however, Lillian feels lost in the world.
Her work has mostly dried up, so when she’s offered a job as a personal secretary at the Frick mansion, she eagerly accepts. Working closely with Helen Frick, daughter of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, draws Lillian into a privileged world and a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that might prove life-or-death.
Five decades later, in the 1960s, Veronica, an English model, works in the former Frick residence, now one of New York City’s most impressive museums. After being dismissed from a Vogue shoot, she finds herself snowed in at the mansion. When she and a young art curator stumble upon a series of hidden messages in the museum, they might discover the truth behind a decades-old murder.
The Night of Many Endings
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Colorado librarian Nora had a rough start to life, first orphaned and then witnessing her brother’s fall into addiction. However, she’s still open-hearted and hopes to be reunited with her brother. Nora feeds her desire to give her brother another chance by helping others in need of someone on their side.
Marlene is elderly and has lost hope in the world, Jasmine is a troubled teen, Lewis is a homeless man with his own last wish, and Vlado is the library’s book-loving security guard.
When the group has to shelter in the library with Nora during a storm, they learn more about each other (and themselves) than they could have expected.
The Children’s Blizzard
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Based on an actual event and oral history from the survivors, The Children’s Blizzard takes us to the 1888 Great Plains. Just before school was let out for the day, an unexpected and extreme blizzard overtook the Dakota Territory. That morning, it had been warm enough that most went to school without their coats.
Schoolteachers, often as young as 16, had the children’s lives in their hands and were forced to make life-altering decisions. Two of the teachers, sisters Raina and Gerda, came out of the storm with very different outcomes. One was a hero, and one was ostracized. The book tells their stories, along with the story of a young servant girl and her miraculous survival.
Why This Is a Great Winter Book Club Pick
Nearly 100 of our readers have selected this book for the Decades Reading Challenge. Common themes among the reviews were how well-researched and descriptive this novel is, and how heartbreaking yet hopeful it is, all of which would make for an excellent book club read and discussion!
Snowed In
Book Summary
Seventeen-year-old Ashleigh has never seen real snow, so moving from sunny Texas to a tiny island in the middle of Lake Michigan is a big change. She and her mom are starting over by opening a bed-and-breakfast on the island. In winter, it’s surrounded by frozen water, and sleighs replace cars. Only about 30 students attend the whole high school, and life revolves around fudge shops, sleigh rides, and charming Victorian homes.
While Ashleigh is still getting used to the bitter cold, she also has to get used to Josh Wynter. He’s the most irresistible, confusing boy she’s ever met. Ashleigh has always kept dating light and fun, but her instant connection with Josh is making her rethink everything. There’s just one problem: Josh already has a girlfriend, and she isn’t about to share. Before the snow melts, Ashleigh may find herself falling for the one boy she can’t have.
What to Expect in This Book
If you’re looking for a light, simple romance rather than an intense snowed-in book, this is a good choice.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
When a Vietnam POW returns home, he carries new anger and impulsiveness. Determined to stand by her husband, his wife agrees to his plan to move their family to Alaska and live off the grid. Soon after arriving, the harsh reality of rural Alaska hits 13-year-old Leni and her mom.
For a while, things were better with her dad as they spent the fall season preparing for their first Alaskan winter, but she feared his more balanced self was only temporary.
Why It’s a Reader Favorite
Our readers have selected this as one of their favorite books, and here is what some of them loved about it:
I loved the setting of this book. I remember feeling actual fear for the main character as I read. This is not a book I will forget. -Kelly J.
I can relate to so much of the mixed emotions, chaos, embarrassment, struggle and turmoil expressed in this book because I grew up with an abusive, alcoholic stepfather who was also a veteran – WWII. I took dreamed of escape. I loved her strong will and spirit. -Penny P.
I feel like the setting in this book was as important as the characters. It may have almost been a character in itself. Alaska can be brutal, and Hannah did an amazing job with the description to make this clear. The characters tore at the heart. This was the first book I read by her and I absolutely loved it! -Patty C.
WARNING: This book includes descriptions of domestic abuse.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Ultimate Guide to Kristin Hannah Books
Books Set in the 1970s
Bellweather Rhapsody
Book Summary
Room 712 at the historic Bellweather Hotel has quite a history. Fifteen years earlier, in 1982, a murder-suicide in the room shocked the community and the young bridesmaid who witnessed it, Minnie. Now, in 1997, an elite high school music festival is taking place on the aging property, and Minnie must return to the hotel and face her past.
As a blizzard traps the attendees inside, room 712 is yet again the focus after a young prodigy disappears from the room. The page-turning search for the missing teen involves an eccentric cast of characters, each revealing a bit more of the truth. This novel will be especially enjoyed by those with a love of music and high school band!
The Two-Family House
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
91% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Two babies are born during a blizzard in a two-family brownstone in Brooklyn. They arrive only two minutes apart, and the mothers, Rose and Helen, are sisters by marriage. Their spouses, Mort and Abe, are Jewish brothers who not only share the house but also own a business together. This moving family drama opens on that fateful night of the births in the late 1940s and spans the two following decades.
Over the years, cracks begin to form in the sisters-in-law’s relationship, and their friendship begins to unravel. The book is described as an “emotional but dreamy novel” that will have you sobbing and smiling.
Hidden in Snow
Book Summary
As a treacherous blizzard sweeps toward the Swedish mountain town of Åre, a local teen girl vanishes. Stockholm police officer Hanna Ahlander is taking refuge from the storm at her sister’s ski lodge, and she can’t help but get involved in the investigation. She teams up with the local detective, but their only lead is a scarf in the snow. As temperatures drop, time runs out to find the teen. They first suspect she might be lost, but each new clue points to something far more sinister.
The Mountain Between Us
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
When a blizzard strands them in Salt Lake City, two strangers agree to charter a plane to Denver. Ben is a surgeon returning home from a conference, and Ashley is a magazine writer heading to her own wedding. But when tragedy strikes, the two find themselves stranded in the unforgiving wilderness in Utah’s rugged mountains. With no food or shelter, the two will have to rely on each other if they have any hope of survival.
As days become weeks, the hope of rescue begins to dwindle. At the same time, the initial spark between Ben and Ashley evolves into more.
About the Genre & Adaptation
This novel is a cross between a survival story and a contemporary romance (although fans of true-life survival stories may find it hard to overlook some of the “conveniences” in this fiction read).
This book was adapted into a 2017 movie of the same name. While reviewers describe the book as a “clean read,” some feel that the movie should have been rated R (rather than PG-13) due to a sex scene and strong language that are absent in the book. Overall, our readers said they didn’t like the movie nearly as much as the book, with some saying that watching the movie ruined it for them.
Misery
Book Summary
Bestselling novelist Paul Sheldon finds himself in a nightmarish situation when he is rescued from a car crash by Annie Wilkes, a reclusive former nurse and his self-proclaimed “number one fan.”
Paul had just completed a new, non-romance manuscript and killed off Misery Chastain, the heroine of his famous series. But Annie, obsessed with Misery, is furious. Holding Paul captive in her remote Colorado home, she demands he write a new novel resurrecting Misery, under constant threat of violence if she disapproves of his work.
Trapped and severely injured, Paul is forced to use his wits and storytelling skills not only to appease Annie, but to survive.
Peace Like a River
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
The narrator of this novel is 11-year-old Reuben Land. His older brother, Davy, is accused of murdering two people who had been terrorizing the family. Suspecting that justice will not weigh in his favor, Davy flees. But Reuben, together with his father and his little sister, chases Davy across the snow-covered North Dakota Badlands, determined to catch up with him. Meanwhile, a federal agent is tailing the Land’s Airstream trailer.
What to Expect in This Book
This novel, which is widely considered a modern classic, is heavy on religious themes with nods to various biblical stories. One particular emphasis is their father’s faith and the miracles that they witness along the way as they search for Davy. While the writing is said to be outstanding, the story can also feel bleak at times.
Catch Your Death
Book Summary
Lizzie, Devi, and Jayne are stranded at a grand mansion in the middle of a snowstorm. Someone has poisoned wealthy Emily Vanforte in the middle of a family dinner, but who? Knives lie under floorboards, guns vanish, and secret passages hide in the walls. No one is safe in this house of liars.
You Might Like This If…
This book is perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus.
Snow Falling on Cedars
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
91% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
When a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, a Japanese American is charged with his murder. As the trial unfolds in a community still haunted by memories of the Japanese internment camps a decade earlier, it becomes clear that much more is at stake in this community than one man’s guilt or innocence. As the trial unfolds, a heavy snowstorm blankets San Piedro Island, cutting the small community off from the outside world.
Thoughts On This Book
This book is on the longer side at 460 pages, but some readers say it feels longer because it’s a slower-paced, descriptive read. This novel was also adapted into a 1999 film of the same title starring Ethan Hawke.
If you are interested in reading about the post-Japanese internment camp era from a YA perspective, pick up Nora & Kettle. The novel is described as simultaneously sad and uplifting.
The Land in Winter
Book Summary
It’s December 1962 in a small village near Bristol, and two young couples live side by side. Eric, the newly appointed local doctor, and his wife Irene have settled into a beautiful cottage. Next door, Bill and Rita are struggling to run a rundown, underheated dairy farm. Both wives are pregnant, and despite their very different lives, they form an easy friendship. It becomes a welcome escape from marriages full of unmet expectations, growing resentments, and ghosts from the recent war.
Then one of the coldest winters on record grips England, burying the countryside under a thick layer of unmoving snow. As the Big Freeze cuts the couples off from the rest of the world, the small distractions of everyday life fall away. Buried secrets, old tensions, and shocking new discoveries begin to surface, and each of the four must face choices that could change the course of their lives forever.
Consider This Before Reading
The Land in Winter was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and won the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, so it’s firmly literary fiction. Goodreads reviewers praise its immersive, bleakly beautiful descriptions of the icy landscape and its sharply drawn portrait of early 1960s England, still caught between postwar tradition and the changes just ahead.
Many reviewers describe the pace as slow, even plodding, and note that the biggest events happen near the end, while a few found the tone a bit cold and clinical. But readers who stick with it say the payoff is worth it. They call the final chapters devastating and compare the story to The Ice Storm. It’s best for readers who love quiet, character-driven stories and plenty to discuss with their book club.
Non-Fiction Blizzard Books
The Indifferent Stars Above
Book Summary
In April 1846, 21-year-old Sarah Graves set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings, all hoping for a better future in California. Months later, the family joins a wagon train led by George Donner and takes an untested shortcut that costs them precious time. By the time they reach the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the first heavy snows of the season are already closing the pass ahead.
Trapped in snowdrifts, with supplies running out and their animals dying, the family faces hunger, cold, and choices no family should ever have to make. In early December, a starving Sarah and 14 others strap on snowshoes and attempt to cross the mountains on foot, beginning a 32-day ordeal of almost unimaginable hardship. Brown follows every step of their journey, weaving in rich detail about frontier life to tell the harrowing true story behind one of the most infamous events in American history.
About the Author
Daniel James Brown writes narrative nonfiction about extraordinary moments in American history, and he’s best known for The Boys in the Boat. That #1 New York Times bestseller tells the story of nine working-class young men from the University of Washington who stunned the world by rowing to gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It remains one of our readers’ most beloved nonfiction picks.
Heads Up: The author doesn’t shy away from realistic descriptions of what the members of the Donner Party faced. If you’re not familiar with the choices made to survive, it will be shocking.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
When journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer stood at the summit of Mt. Everest in 1996, he had no idea that a “murderous storm” was headed for the mountain. In this bestselling non-fiction title, he provides an epic and guilt-ridden account of the disaster that would ultimately claim five lives.
The book follows Krakauer’s entire journey, including how he paid for the expensive climb, the preparations required, and his step-by-step quest to the summit. Additionally, you’ll learn about the local Sherpas and how they are impacted both positively and negatively by the influx of climbers each year.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Angela read this book twice in college, once for a management class and then again for a leadership class. It reads more like a novel than a documentary, but beyond the story of storm and disaster, it’s also filled with powerful insights about decision-making and team dynamics.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Cruelest Miles
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In 1925, the remote town of Nome, Alaska, suffered a severe diphtheria outbreak. While scientists had created a lifesaving serum, it was located 1,000 miles away, and there was no clear transport route. Roads didn’t exist, and planes couldn’t fly in the harsh blizzard conditions. But without the serum, death was inevitable for those affected.
Sled dog teams were called upon to make the long, treacherous journey. While you may know about one of the dogs, Balto, this is a deeper look at the whole event and journey.
What to Expect in This Book
This non-fiction account of the 1925 Serum Run to Nome reads like an adventure tale in some portions but can feel more like a textbook in others. Still, readers rate it highly, and you’ll gain new insight into Alaska’s Native cultures, sled dogs, and the history of the diphtheria epidemic.
Are Any of These Books Included With Kindle Unlimited (KU)?
While we can never promise a given book is included with KU as availability can change daily, the following titles have been included in the past and are a good place to start if you’re looking for a KU option.
Hidden in Snow, The Night of Many Endings, The Overnight Guest, The Snow Child, Snowed In
Love Reading Seasonally? Join the Winter Challenge!
Our free three-prompt mini-reading challenge is perfect for anyone who enjoys reading seasonally. Each prompt comes with a list of recommended books for you to choose from, making it a fun and easy way to enhance your winter reading.
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