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The readers were the best part of the book, but the characters and plot were not bad either. Nine friends (seven of whom studied together in oxford and two others who hooked up and joined/coupled into the group after graduation) form the group for their (circa) 10th annual New Years vacation - this time in a secluded winter wilderness resort of type. The book opens with the discovery of a body (of one of the guests) by the gamekeeper and resort manager, two days after New Years. The novel then reverts back to the character's stories/histories and the events taking place from their arrival two days before New Years. I listened to the book probably about three and a half times, if I include all the times I fell asleep. It took a while to get into the plot since there were a lot of characters, but about half way through I finally became completely vested. All of the characters were interesting, and the plot focused on seven of them. We don't learn which of the nine was murdered until virtually the end of the novel, and only then learn whether it was a man or woman, but in the meantime we learn a lot about some of the characters, enough to keep us guessing. I can't relate much to Agatha Christie since I haven't read a body of her work in at least four decades. I am reminded of the more recent claustrophobic, weather-trapped in a sealed off resort/hotel with a murderer novel by Shari Lapena,"An Unwanted Guest"