Review: The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen

 

The Spy Coast (The Martini Club #1) by Tess Gerritsen

Publication Date: March 18th 2025 by Thomas & Mercer and Brilliance Audio

Pages: 363

Audio Book Length: 8hrs 59min

Narrators: Hillary Huber 

Source: Publisher & Purchased Audio (Kindle Unlimited)

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Maggie and her former CIA friends, Declan, Ben, Ingrid and Lloyd assist police chief, Jo Thibadeau in her search for a missing girl.

 

Susan, her teenage daughter, Zoe, and her husband Ethan are gathering at his family’s summer cottage in Maine for the memorial of Ethan’s dad. Susan isn’t very comfortable with Ethan’s wealthy family, but she’ll put on a brave face for her husband. However, shortly after their arrival, Zoe doesn’t come home after spending the day with a local girl.

 

The police zero in on Luther, Maggie’s neighbor and friend, as the prime suspect.  

 

I loved The Spy Coast and so I was eager to dive into The Summer Guests. Maggie and the gang dive right in to help find Zoe and clear Luther’s name. In the last book Jo wasn’t too thrilled when The Martini Club (Maggie & friends) horned in on her investigation, but she’s more accepting of their help in this case. I was happy to see them on the same side and Jo slowly becoming one of the gang.

 

There were several red herrings that kept me on my toes! I was so worried about Zoe and whether she’d be found and felt Susan’s rising panic as the days went by! Ethan’s family was something else!

 

I alternately read and listened to the story, and I recommend either version. The audio version was a treat as Hillary Huber, one of my favorite narrators performs, enhancing the story, and bringing the characters to life!

4 Stars

Book Description:

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.