Summary

Chapter 1 is titled “Heather,” and is dated “Now, January 2, 2019.” Heather is the manager of the lodge at Loch Corrin and she sees Doug, the gamekeeper, arrive. He announces that he has found a body.

Chapter 2 is titled “Emma,” and is dated “Three days earlier, December 30, 2019.” Emma Taylor and a group of friends are on the way to Loch Corrin for the New Year holiday. There are 10 in the group: Emma and her boyfriend Mark; Miranda and her husband Julien; Nick and his boyfriend Bo; Samira, her husband Giles, and their six-month-old daughter Priya; and Katie. She provides an overview of the group. Several of them attended Oxford together and they gather periodically. Nick is mainly present because he is Katie's friend and Katie has a theory that the other men of the group feel some “tacit homophobia.” Nick and Miranda are usually cool...