Series · espionage thriller

The Martini Club

by Tess Gerritsen

The Martini Club series by Tess Gerritsen has 2 books and is best read in publication order, starting with The Spy Coast (2023).

Books
2 books
First published
2023
Status
ongoing
Last checked

Start here: The Spy Coast (2023) — then read straight through in publication order.

Cover of The Spy Coast, the first book in The Martini Club

Reading order

The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.

  1. Book 1:

    The Spy Coast

    Novel

    Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Spy Coast
  2. Book 2:

    The Summer Guests

    Novel

    Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Summer Guests

About The Martini Club

Maggie Bird runs a quiet bed-and-breakfast in coastal Maine, hosts a weekly cocktail hour with a tight circle of women friends, and used to be a CIA operative — a past that catches up with her when a body turns up near her inn and drags her back into the world of tradecraft alongside her equally retired, equally lethal drinking companions. Tess Gerritsen launched the series in 2023 after finishing her long-running Rizzoli & Isles run, trading Boston's homicide unit for a cast of women in their sixties and seventies whose decades of intelligence-agency experience make them formidable amateur investigators — a premise that lets Gerritsen write espionage tradecraft and small-town Maine community life in the same book.

The series pairs Maggie with local police detective Jo Thibodeau, giving the books a police-procedural backbone alongside the retired-spies conceit, and it's positioned as an ongoing series with more entries expected. This is the series for readers who want Gerritsen's medical-thriller precision and pacing redirected toward espionage, with a cast of older women protagonists who are rarely centered this way in the genre.

How to read this series

Publication order, starting with The Spy Coast (2023). Maggie's past, her standing with the local community, and her relationship with Detective Jo Thibodeau develop across the books, so reading in sequence is recommended, though each entry's central case is largely self-contained. The series is new and ongoing, with two entries published so far.

Frequently asked questions

How many Martini Club books are there?

Two so far: The Spy Coast (2023) and The Summer Guests (2025), with the series expected to continue.

What order should I read the Martini Club books in?

Publication order, starting with The Spy Coast. Maggie Bird's past and her relationship with the local police detective develop across the series.

Is the Martini Club connected to Rizzoli & Isles?

No direct crossover — it's a new series Tess Gerritsen began in 2023 after her long Rizzoli & Isles run, with an entirely different cast and setting.

Who is Maggie Bird?

A retired CIA operative running a bed-and-breakfast in coastal Maine, whose weekly cocktail gathering with fellow retired intelligence veterans gives the series its name.

Is there a new Martini Club book coming?

No confirmed title or date had been announced beyond The Summer Guests (2025) as of this curation pass.


Reading order last verified .