A group of friends from Oxford has been getting together to celebrate New Year's Eve for each of the ten years since graduation. The women are Miranda, who is glamorous and perfect; Katie, Miranda's best friend from childhood, who is an attorney and not at all glamorous; Samira, who used to be a hell-raiser, but is now a somewhat anxious mother of a baby. The men include Julien, Miranda's husband, who is into finance; Giles, husband of Samira; Mark, who may have an anger management issue; and Nick, a gay man who has brought along his partner Bo, an American. Emma, somewhat of an outsider, has been dating Mark for the past four years.
Emma wants to become closer to the group, and she has gone all out in choosing the location for this year's reunion: a fabulous hunting lodge that is open for outside guests only a couple times a year. It's in a remote area of Scotland's highlands, cut off from most of civilization. Employees of the lodge are Heather; Doug, the gamekeeper; and Iain, who is the handyman.
As it turns out, a snowstorm hits on New Year's Eve. A guest goes missing, and is finally found dead outside in the blizzard. It's likely this person has been murdered. The police cannot get there until the weather clears, so the guests and employees must wait. Much of the story is told in Foley's usual - and effective - flashback style: we don't know for the longest time who it was that died. Everyone looks guilty, everyone has their personal demons, and many have made bad choices or said things that can't be forgotten. Another great book by Foley, with a large share of suspense.
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