Ten strangers are drawn away from their normal lives to an isolated rock off the Devon coast. As the mismatched group wait for the arrival of the hosts, the weather sours and they find themselves cut off from civilisation, a murderer in their midst.

The guests on Soldier Island are dying, one by one, according to the rules of the nursery rhyme `Ten Little Soldier Boys'. As they make plans to combat the killer, the body count continues to rise - and dreadful secrets are teased into the light.