Review of The Summer Guests (Martini Club #2) by Tess Gerritsen

In the second installment of the series, retired CIA agents build stronger bonds with each other in rural Maine while assisting (and sometimes running over) the local police chief to try to find a missing teen and untangle past unsolved mysteries.

In book one of Tess Gerritsen's Martini Club series, we met Maggie Bird, a retired CIA operative who has made a simple life for herself in rural Maine. At first she tried not to make emotional connections and kept to herself--old habits from her former life.

But unbeknownst to the other citizens in Purity, Maine, the town has drawn multiple former intelligence agents who aren't willing to go gently into old age. Now they hold a monthly boozy book club dinner party and keep their eyes open for trouble. In The Summer Guests, they operate as a team to try to find a missing teen--both helping and annoying the new police chief, Jo Thibodeau, along the way.

“You will stay right here, in your vehicle. Don't leave the road, don't try to interfere, or I swear I'll have you all in handcuffs." She turned and walked away.

"I don't think she's serious," said Lloyd. "Who carries five pairs of handcuffs?”

In book two of the Martini Club, the mystery at hand--a missing teen--draws in local citizens as well as the wealthy summer residents, their murky pasts (which are uncomfortably, distantly related to the aging former agents' own histories), and unsolved disappearances from decades earlier. Multiple suspects capture the attention of the police as well as the Martini Club, and the former agents' unorthodox investigations are both intriguing to witness and lead to some valuable discoveries.

The progression of the meal-focused relationship between Jo and the Club is fun, as are Jo's growing respect for the Club's hunches (which keep things interesting, as they aren't always correct), her growing confidence in her own instincts, and her ability to attempt to corral the Club into an appropriate lane for assisting behind the scenes without crossing quite so may procedural lines.

A growing affection between two members of the ex-CIA crowd is a secondary element but is sweet to see.

I liked this installment even more than the first book in the series. It was a fast read that kept me guessing.

More Books You Might Like

This is the second book in Tess Gerritsen's Martini Club series. The first is The Spy Coast.

If you're interested in stories set in Maine, you might like the titles on my Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Books Set in Maine.