Sometimes amusing, almost always intense, and just plain fun to read, The Spy Coast is an excellent and explosive start to a new series by Tess Gerritsen.

Maggie Bird is a former CIA spy who has retired to the tiny village of Purity, Maine and is living a simple life on her farm. Until her past catches up with her and she’s pulled back into a world she had hoped to leave behind. Especially given how her last mission ended in disaster. But now she has no choice but to engage the threat against her in hopes of reclaiming the peace and safety she desperately desires. Aided by a group of retired spies all living in the same town, the “Martini Club” as they call themselves will use their still sharp minds and skills to find who’s behind the plot to harm Maggie and help her thwart those who would do her harm. And in doing so – beyond feeling useful again – they may just save the quiet life they’ve built in this little corner of the country.

What’s not to love about retired senior citizens fighting off assassins, traveling the globe and outmaneuvering local law enforcement? Seriously, The Spy Coast is a refreshing and entertaining departure from spy thrillers featuring young, toned and gorgeous operators out for blood. And while there is plenty of suspenseful action to keep readers engaged and on the edge of their seats, this book focuses more on the themes of experience, loyalty, cunning, intellect, and a feeling everyone wants as they age – the desire to be useful. It also explores how past trauma shapes individuals and never truly leaves them, sometimes coming back in harmful ways. And while for most of us those harmful ways don’t involve assassination attempts on our lives, it’s still relatable and makes Maggie a sympathetic character worth rooting for. Because anyone who’s been through what she has deserves a calm and enjoyable retirement.

The Spy Coast contains great storytelling combined with fast pacing, memorable characters and an air of anticipation for the big reveal. A satisfying thriller that whets the appetite for further installments to this budding series.

Maggie is 60, a retired spy, and raising chickens on Blackberry Farm in Purity, Maine. Sixteen years ago, a mission went horribly wrong, forcing Maggie to walk away from a career she loved and disappear into the Maine countryside. She adores her new, ordinary life—“quiet and unobtrusive and safe.” Until she discovers a dead woman sprawled on her driveway.

She knows the body is a message from someone connected to her past. Maggie—along with a handful of former colleagues who are now neighbors—band together to hunt down the past’s demons and salvage the new life Maggie created for herself.

I raced through this fun page-turner and my first book by the author, who boasts quite a loyal following. I was a fan of the Rizzoli and Isles TV series, which is based on books by Gerritsen.

One con of the novel? The story presents the likable and talented CIA operatives, all in their sixties and seventies, as invisible, (author’s word, not mine) washed-up senior citizens who crave naps and relief from aching joints. Since I am older than Maggie (!), I grew tired of those reminders scattered throughout the book.

Purity, Maine has a population of three thousand people, five of them senior citizens with deep secrets. Maggie Bird, Declan Rose, Ben Diamond, and married couple Ingrid and Lloyd Slocum are retired CIA agents, laying low to evade detection by old enemies.

The former agents have periodic 'book club' evenings, which are more about the food, drinks, and gossip than the reading. Martinis might be followed by moussaka and goulash, after which the friends settle down to gab.

The retirees have been living quietly for years until Maggie - who lives in a farmhouse and raises chickens - comes home to find a trespasser in her kitchen. The intruder, a young, lithe, Slavic-looking woman, introduces herself as Bianca, and says, "I'm here because we have a problem. Diana Ward has dropped off the radar."

Bianca explains that a hacker accessed CIA files for a mission called Operation Cyrano, and admits, "I'm afraid your names may have been leaked, and that's why we're tracking you all down, to check on your welfare. Diana might be in trouble." Bianca then urges, "Help us find her, Maggie. You must know where she's gone. You worked together."

The words Operation Cyrano send shock waves through Maggie, and thinking of Diana, Maggie responds, "I don't give a f**k what happens to her." Maggie then sends Bianca on her way and thinks that's that. But she's very wrong.

That night, while Maggie is at a book club meeting, Bianca's body is dumped in Maggie's driveway. Bianca's hands are bruised and black, and her fingers are bent and twisted at grotesque angles.

Purity Police Chief Jo Thibodeau, who's called to the crime scene, checks Maggie's alibi for the time of the homicide. Declan, Ben, Ingrid, and Lloyd confirm that Maggie was at a meeting of their reading group, which they call the Martini Club. Afterwards, when someone takes a shot at Maggie, the club members insist they'll help look for the shooter. Jo realizes there's something very odd about these oldsters, all of whom are expert investigators.

Meanwhile, Maggie knows she has to leave town and find the enemies who are out for blood.

The current police investigation and Martini Club inquiries alternate with flashbacks to the past. Twenty-four years ago, when Maggie was posing as an import analyst in Bangkok, she met a young British doctor named Danny Gallagher. Danny was doing charity work in Thailand, and he and Maggie bonded over bowls of spicy beef noodle soup. The twosome then embarked on a long-term, long-distance relationship, though Maggie kept mum about her real work.

After Maggie had been involved with Danny for six years, she got embroiled in Operation Cyrano, a very dangerous mission that had unexpected consequences. Now it seems someone wants revenge.

In the present, Maggie travels to Bangkok, where she gets information about who's targeting her. A kidnapping and additional killings lead to an exciting and unexpected showdown.

This is a clever, well-crafted thriller that combines a police procedural with an espionage novel. I got a kick out of the CIA retirees, who know their way around Walthers and rifles as well as curry and Persian rice and lamb. I look forward to additional books in the Martini Club series.

Thanks to Netgalley, Tess Gerritsen, and Thomas & Mercer for a copy of the book.

I've never read a Tess Gerritsen novel before, so her style was new to me. I loved the old spies forced out of retirement plot and the location of a fictionalized Camden, Maine. The plot was like Red (old spies forced back into the game) but with the serious tone of a Jason Bourne book.

I enjoyed this book so much that I've already recommended it to friends and got my dad started on other Tess Gerritsen titles.