The Summer Guests

Former spies, several local residents, an acting police chief, and summer visitors come together in the second book in The Martini Club crime series. Maggie, Declan, Ben, Irene, and Irene’s husband Lloyd have retired to Purity, Maine. It’s a seaside village with several homes on Maiden Pond.

Ready for a quiet life after extensive travel for their jobs, they’ve formed a book club and regularly meet to discuss books and enjoy drinks and potluck dinners.

However, Purity isn’t as quiet as one might think and is full of secrets. Acting Chief of Police Jo Thibodeau ends up with two mysteries that start with a missing teenager there on vacation. When Maggie’s neighbor becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance, the Martini Club joins forces to investigate despite Jo’s objections.

The five friends in the Martini Club have depth of character. I loved the analogy that was given between sparrows and spies. Both are unobtrusive, unnoticeable, and slip in everywhere without rousing any attention. However, I didn’t feel like this held true throughout the story. Are the retired spies losing their edge? I also enjoyed getting to know Jo. As acting chief of police, she’s hoping to fill the position permanently while dealing with the ramp up of tourist season, the missing teenager, and a state police detective who doesn’t do a great job of investigating and treats her like she’s his subordinate.

The story immediately pulls one in with a prologue set in 1972 before shifting to current times. It’s told from several perspectives including Maggie, Jo, Reuben Tarkin, a permanent resident of the town, and Susan, the mother of the missing teenager. While this adds to the depth of the story, it also tended to slow the pacing.

The author writes well and makes the scenes come alive. I could easily envision the people and places in Purity and it’s surrounding area. There’s also a historical aspect that comes into play during the latter part of the book that added another level of complexity and interest. There are several twists, including one that caught me completely off-guard. Additional threads that run through the novel include family, secrets, death, disappearances, influence, wealth, infidelity, loyalty, and much more.

Overall, this entertaining and suspenseful novel has great world-building and characterization. It also has some lighter moments as the Martini Club meet to discuss books, life, friendship, and more that add another layer to the novel. I think reading the books in order would provide more background on the town and the main characters, but it worked well as a standalone novel. I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Thomas and Mercer and Tess Gerritsen provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for March 18, 2025.