# The Spy Coast

By Tess Gerritsen · The Martini Club, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/the-spy-coast-7c797454/

Maggie Bird has retired from the CIA to raise chickens in Purity, Maine. A body on her driveway makes that retirement dangerous. Her Martini Club friends, fellow former spies, bring their old skills to a threat reaching into her present life.

## What makes it funny?

These retired spies know how to watch a room and keep secrets, but two of them admit they haven’t read the book for that evening’s group. They ask Maggie for a summary, giving trained professionals a familiar social failing.

### The comedy at work

Habits learned in espionage persist through ordinary retirement. Maggie also sees a practical irony in aging: being an older woman gives her the anonymity she once had to manufacture with disguises.

### Try this if…

Capable older protagonists and old colleagues’ prickly affection may appeal to readers who want dry jokes within a serious espionage thriller. A book-group reader recommends the wider Martini Club series for its unusual take on thriller conventions and its page-turning appeal.

### Good to know

The story involves murder and armed danger. The opening chapters include animal deaths and a brief reference to a heroin overdose.

## What to expect

- Genre: Crime & thriller · Mystery
- On the shelf: Spy & espionage
- Kind of humor: Banter · Dark comedy · Dry wit
- Format: Novel

## A few distinguishing details

- Maggie’s retirement friends can help with a body on the driveway.

## Sources & further reading

- Reading sample: [Publisher sample](https://cdn.penguin.co.uk/dam-assets/books/9781804992890/9781804992890-sample.pdf)
- Reader discussion: [Reader discussion](https://facebook.com/groups/TwoGirlsMustReads/permalink/2145058426293304)
- Review: [Publishers Weekly review](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781662515125)
- Interview: [Author interview](https://www.boston.com/culture/books/2024/01/12/qa-tess-gerritsen-on-her-new-book-the-spy-coast)
- Publisher: [Publisher](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/457831/the-spy-coast-by-gerritsen-tess/9781529914658)