Eight former school friends head into the English countryside for a class reunion at their recently-retired favourite teacher Gaynor Tomlinson's country manor. Maxwell Berry, a journalist and crime writer, is the last to arrive after the other seven, Judith Hamilton (a chef), Christopher Metz (an engineer), Richard Hart (a politician), Marcia Wilcox (a socialite), Penny Benjamin (a housewife and former olympian), James Matthews (a Hollywood actor) and Victoria Matthews (James' wife and a screenwriter). The eight of them wait alone in the drawing room of the house, expecting Mrs Tomlinson's company at any moment. But when night falls, they decide to take it upon themselves to go and find her.