Series: The Martini Club # 2
Format: Hardcover, 363 pages
Release Date: March 18, 2025
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Source: Library
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense
From New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen comes a chilling follow-up to The Spy Coast, plunging the Martini Club into the search for a missing teen—with a startling connection to their own pasts.
When former spy Maggie Bird retired to the seaside hamlet of Purity, Maine, she settled in for a quiet life with breathtaking views. But enemies from her past soon threatened to destroy everything.
Maggie survived, thanks to her wits and the collective intelligence of the Martini Club, the circle of ex-CIA friends in her cocktail-sipping book club. Their handiwork, however, caught the attention of young police chief Jo Thibodeau. Now Jo and her neighborhood ex-spies have an uneasy alliance.
After a teenager vanishes—and Maggie’s neighbor becomes the prime suspect—she joins the investigation, determined to prove her friend’s innocence. But the girl’s wealthy family pushes for an arrest. And when authorities discover a long-dead corpse in a nearby pond, the case becomes doubly complicated, with unthinkable ties to long-buried secrets.
As Jo grapples with two unexplained mysteries, the Martini Club races to uncover the truth behind shadowy secrets…before more lives are lost.
The Summer Guests, by Tess Gerritsen, is the second installment in the author's The Martini Club series. Set in the idyllic seaside hamlet of Purity, Maine, The Summer Guests centers on Maggie Bird, a retired CIA operative, and her circle of ex-CIA friends (Ingrid Slocum, Ben Diamond, Declan Roberts, and Lloyd Slocum) who form the Martini Club—a cocktail-sipping “book club” with a penchant for meddling in local mysteries.
The story kicks off when 15-year-old Zoe Conover, a summer visitor staying with her wealthy in-laws at their lakeside estate after her grandfather's death, vanishes after visiting a local farm to see animals and meet a new friend. The disappearance hits close to home for Maggie when her elderly neighbor, Luther, becomes the prime suspect, prompting the Martini Club to dive into the investigation to clear his name. Months before, Luther's granddaughter was taken, and it was Maggie, along with Chief of Police Jo Thibodeau, who found a way to bring her home.
The plot thickens when authorities discover decades-old skeletal remains in a pond near the Conover estate, unearthing a web of long-buried secrets tied to a 1972 mass killing and rumored government drug experiments in Purity during the 1960s. As acting police chief Jo Thibodeau grapples with the dual mysteries, she navigates an uneasy alliance with the Martini Club, whose espionage skills both aid and complicate the investigation. The Conover family’s push for a quick arrest adds pressure, while Maggie’s growing attraction to her rugged neighbor, Declan Rose, introduces a subtle romantic thread.
These sexagenarian ex-spies are sharp, witty, and delightfully irreverent, bringing a fresh perspective to the genre. Their banter with Jo Thibodeau, who struggles to rein in their meddling, adds humor and warmth, making them reminiscent of a more espionage-savvy Thursday Murder Club. Maggie, in particular, shines as a resourceful and empathetic protagonist, while Jo’s blend of competence and exasperation grounds the story.
Gerritsen throws in red herrings and plot twists that keep readers guessing. The Summer Guests is a riveting, character-driven thriller that blends cozy charm with chilling suspense. I think what makes this story more realistic is that the author moved to Maine and uses an actual city in Maine, changing the title, of course, to tell her stories. While the Martini Club gets all the attention, you have to feel for Susan Conover, who is pushed to her emotional limits thinking that she's lost her only daughter, and she failed to protect her from danger.
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