I love reading novels in which the protagonist is not a young ingenue beginning her adult life but rather a weathered and experienced woman of a certain age, and “The Spy Coast” by Tess Gerritsen perfectly fits the bill. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to read this thriller is because the idea of retired women whose jobs were not typical female occupations fascinates me. And just like “Killers of a Certain Age” by Deanna Raybourn, this one did not disappoint. I’m thrilled that it’s just the beginning of a series because I grew to admire the main character, Maggie Bird, and her group of retired spy friends.

The chapters are each from different points of view of the three important females in the story. Maggie is the most important, and because her narrative is in first person, we feel like we really get to know her. Or at least as much as her reserved, secrets-obsessed CIA persona will reveal. Gerritsen deftly takes her narrative back in time as we learn about Maggie’s previous life in the CIA, and how and why she ended up in a small town in Maine raising chickens. Another character, Diana, has a story that is limited in scope, and in the first chapter we see her fighting for her life as she flees her apartment in Paris.

We also get to know Jo Thibodeau, who is the acting police chief in the small Maine town of Purity after the previous one died. Her family is entrenched in Purity, going back generations there. When a mysterious woman who says her name is Bianca confronts Maggie, asking her help in locating Diana, who has disappeared, Maggie refuses. That night, a delivery driver finds the body of Bianca — not her real name, of course — lying in Maggie’s driveway, two bullet holes through her head. She had been tortured before she was killed. Maggie’s stoic, unruffled demeanor at finding a dead body on her property has Jo flummoxed. She knows there is more to this than Maggie is sharing, but she doesn’t know what.

Maggie is at dinner with her small group of friends, also retirees, when she gets a call from her neighbor. He tells her that there are several police cars in her driveway, so she heads home. While one of the friends, Declan, wants to go with her, Maggie refuses. As we come to find out, Maggie is independent. And being a retired spy, she has a hard time trusting anyone, even her fellow retired spies. Maggie doesn’t know why Bianca was killed or why her body was left in Maggie’s driveway, but she’s determined to find out. And when, the next day, Maggie is shot at and only escapes through the intervention of her neighbor, she must decide what to do.

Maggie realizes her past has caught up with her, and she wonders if it has something to do with the last case she worked on, one that took place in Malta. The road we take with Maggie as she investigates who is trying to kill her is twisty and takes us around the world to Bangkok, Rome, London, Istanbul, and many other locations as Maggie searches for the source of her current predicament. Well over a decade previously there was a covert op that Maggie participated in which ended so horrifically that Maggie retired right afterward. To say that she regrets the Malta incident is gross understatement—it ruined her life.

But she’s found solace in small town Maine, working with her chickens and socializing occasionally with the other retired spies. When her past rudely and lethally intrudes on her present, Maggie’s friends won’t leave her alone to deal with those who are trying to kill her. But trust is difficult after a lifetime of lies and prevaricating in order to stay alive. Why has her past come to thwart her effort to live a quiet, peaceful life?

Maggie is determined to find out, and while her friends do help, she’s determined that she will be the only one in danger. Gerritsen’s writing is superb, and we really grow to like Maggie and her group of friends. We also like Maggie’s neighbors, the retired professor and his granddaughter, Callie, who also raises chickens and sells Maggie’s eggs for her.

We become immersed in Maggie’s life—the now and the then—as we learn more about Maggie and her impressive abilities and her more impressive capacity to care about others. It’s not necessarily a trait that is useful to spies, caring, but nonetheless, it’s one of Maggie’s traits that we admire. Her self deprecating narrative will also make those of us reading it, who are ourselves “of a certain age,” smile. At one point, Maggie reflects, “We’re three old soldiers, refusing to admit our gears are starting to rust.”

The plot is well planned and executed, with a great twist at the end. But what really endears us to this novel, and especially to the fact that it’s just the first in a series, is that we really admire Maggie and want her to get her life back. We also really come to like her cohorts, and the biggest mystery at the end is whether the next book in the series will feature Maggie as the main character, or whether Gerritsen will rotate between the others in the Martini Club, as they call their small group, and have one of the others become the protagonist. Whichever way she does it, I’m in. The writing, the characters, the nonstop action, I can’t wait.

Please note: This review is based on the final, hardcover book provided by Thomas & Mercer, the publisher, for review purposes.