Tess Gerritsen Archives

ARC review: The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen

January 19, 20262 min read

I must confess I let The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen leapfrog over all of the books in my reading list on its arrival, despite it not being published until August 2026 because I love this Martini Club series so much. I think in my first review I talked about it being akin to the ‘Thursday Murder Club on speed’. Thanks to the fact that all five members of this ‘club’ are ex-CIA, all with their own set of skills, which have only dulled a little in the decades since their retirement. I loved the first two books in this series. I probably didn’t enjoy this quite as much, although the bar is possibly set unfairly high. This is similar to the first book in the series, when the past of one of the members comes back to haunt them and pull the group back into the life they left.

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ARC review: The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen

November 21, 20242 min read

The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen is the second book in the Martini Club series. I very much enjoyed the first, The Spy Coast and this was – as much, if not even more – enjoyable. From memory the investigation in the first book centred around the former CIA (et al) club members’ old lives whereas this is more of a straight-forward whodunnit (and as importantly whydunnit). And I was rivetted. I adored catching up with the Martini Club members again though Maggie (again) was the standout and our lead character, along with Purity Police Chief Jo Thibodeau, who we met in the first outing.

We also spend a lot of time here with the likeable Susan, who’s holidaying with her in-laws for the first time at their palatial holiday home in Purity when her very trustworthy and sensible 15 year old daughter, Zoe disappears.

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Book review: The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen

August 17, 20233 min read

Part-way through The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen I thought, ‘She’s done such a great job with these characters this will have to become a series.’ And sure enough, after I’d finished reading I went to add it to Goodreads and noticed it’s called The Martini Club #1.

It’s very reminiscent of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series – though given our lead cast are all ex-CIA agents – they’re like the residents of the Coopers Chase Luxury Retirement Village, but on speed.

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Book review: The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen

October 1, 20193 min read

So… it has to be said, The Shape of Night is quite a departure from the Tess Gerritsen novel I was expecting.

It dips into gothic otherworldly ghostly stuff which is a genre I don’t read and struggle to engage (with), so I confess my review is tainted by that. I did, however, finish the book which I guess says something about the fact that I realised there was some good ol’ crime fiction buried in there and wanted some sort of closure for our flawed but likeable protagonist.

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