Grimstone
romantic thriller
Series · espionage thriller
The Martini Club
The Martini Club series by Tess Gerritsen has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with The Spy Coast (2023). The next book, The Shadow Friends, is due 25 August 2026.
- Books
- 3 books
- First published
- 2023
- Status
- ongoing
- Last checked
Start here: The Spy Coast (2023) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Spy Coast
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Spy Coast - Book 2:
The Summer Guests
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Summer Guests - Book 3:
The Shadow Friends
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Shadow Friends
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.
Frequently asked questions
How many Martini Club books are there?
Three so far: The Spy Coast (2023), The Summer Guests (2025) and The Shadow Friends (2026), 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?
The Shadow Friends, book three, published 25 August 2026. No further entry has been confirmed beyond it as of this curation pass.
If you like The Martini Club
Reading order last verified .