One of the risks in reading a series is that the second or third books may not be as wonderful as the first book you read. That is not, however, a problem with this second installment in Gerritsen’s new Martini Club series, whose main characters are retired CIA spies.

After Maggie Bird, a CIA operative, retired to Maine, she began raising chickens, befriended her neighbor and his teenage daughter, and formed the “Martini Club” with her fellow CIA retirees where they ate good food drank martinis and reminisced about their lives in the CIA.. Then a dead body turned up on her driveway and suddenly Maggie had to prove her innocence with the help of her friends from the Martini Club and the local police chief, Jo Thibodeau. As a result of that case, Thibodeau and the Martini Club members have formed a somewhat uneasy alliance.

Now a young teenager has gone missing and the last person to see her is Maggie’s neighbor who becomes a prime suspect. Maggie and the Martini Club must swing into action to try and prove his innocence. The case becomes even more complicated however, when the police drag the lake in front the missing girls home and discover another woman’s body.  Now the police, Maggie and the Martini Club must to solve a murder as well as find the missing girl and time is not on their side.

Gerritsen keeps the tension going in this novel, as the plot takes some significant twists and turns, but the plot is not the only thing that makes this book interesting, it really is the characters who are lively, insightful, and very well developed. I really enjoyed this book and hope we continue to hear more from Maggie and the Martini Club!

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian and Keith

Book Study Worthy? Yes, and enjoy a martini together too!

Read in ebook format.