The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen Series: The Martini Club #1
Published by Thomas & Mercer on November 1, 2023
Genres: Thriller
Pages: 341
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.
But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends—all retirees from the CIA—to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club” of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.
Complicating their efforts is Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information—and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn.
I was able to get The Spy Coast as a First Read from Amazon because I have Prime. It is the first book in The Martini Club series. I decided it was finally time to read and start this series, not really knowing much about it. I mean I read the blurb at some point but didn’t get the specifics.
It begins with a separate retired spy, rather than our circle of retired spies. Diana is one not trusted and for good reason. Maggie’s story, past and present is told with flashbacks to the case 16 years ago when she and Gavin worked in Diana’s operation. They took down a long successful Russian spy. Maggie took a lot of risks and lost a lot.
I don’t want to tell the whole story and spoil anything but it’s obvious since their was a leak of the Cyrano file that someone is killing everyone associated and out for revenge.
Maggie was invited by old friends she knew from very early in her career to retire in small town Maine. It’s been a wonderful place; she finally feels at home. These friends won’t let her face this on her own. Also, the acting chief of police is a bright young woman Jo who has a lot of questions. The retired folks seem to always be a step ahead of her which is exasperating. But they know what they are doing and I love it.
I could barely stand to stop reading and wanted to read the next one, The Summer Guests, immediately. It is available through Prime reading! I can’t wait to see what this group takes on next.
About Tess Gerritsen
Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.
While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction and in 1987, her first novel, Call After Midnight, was published. It was just the first of 31 suspense novels that she’s written over a 36-year writing career. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift,” which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.
Tess’s first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her novels have hit bestseller lists ever since. Among her titles are Gravity, The Surgeon, Vanish, The Bone Garden, and The Spy Coast. Her books have been translated into 40 languages, and more than 40 million copies have been sold around the world.
She has won both the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon). Critics around the world have praised her novels as “Pulse-pounding fun” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “Scary and brilliant” (Toronto Globe and Mail), and “Polished, riveting prose” (Chicago Tribune). Publishers Weekly has dubbed her the “medical suspense queen” and Time Magazine named her novel The Surgeon one of the best mystery/thriller novels ever written.
Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles,” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.
She is also a filmmaker. She and her son Josh produced a feature-length documentary, “Magnificent Beast,” about the ancient origins of the pig taboo. It aired on PBS channels around the country. Their previous film, “Island Zero”, was a feature-length horror movie that was released in 2018.
She lives in Maine.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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