It makes sense that authors are creating novels in which the main character(s) are “of a certain age,” and in Tess Gerritsen’s series “The Martini Club,” she has not only embraced that concept, she has flown with it. In “The Shadow Friends,” the third novel in the series, the usual crew are assembled for a conference on global catastrophes in their small town in Maine, when a catastrophe actually occurs. It’s not of a global nature, and it appears, at first glance, to be a simple case of food poisoning. But with this group, we know there’s more.
Dr. Mikhail Maslov, a scientist who defected from Russia and arrived at the conference after spending time in Uganda fighting Ebola, doesn’t appear for his scheduled talk. So Maggie, one of the five members of The Martini Club, who has volunteered to run the conference, goes to get him in his hotel room. She finds him unconscious and performs CPR to keep him alive until first responders can take over. Unfortunately, that means that if he was felled by Ebola, she is now exposed.
So Maggie is quarantined in the hospital while Maslov fights for his life. She is worried, as are her good friends. They all met decades prior during their time training for the Agency at the “Farm.” Since then, they have stayed in touch and now that they are all retired, they live in the same small town in Maine, spending their time gardening, reading, volunteering at the library, and, of course, drinking martinis. While they enjoy reminiscing about their past, they are very aware that there are some things that cannot be shared.
Ingrid is married to Lloyd, who was not an agent but rather worked for the Agency as an analyst. In this novel, we meet Rodrigo, a handsome, charismatic man from Ingrid’s past who needs her help. He’s retired from the Agency but has started his own quite successful intelligence agency, and they are looking for someone who has been killing defected Russians. It’s all very hush-hush, and when she decides to help him, Ingrid disappears without much notice to any of her group, including Lloyd.
Lloyd might not have been an agent in the field, but he knows how to get information, and he’s determined to find Ingrid no matter what. No matter that she obviously didn’t want him involved in whatever it is she is doing with Rodrigo. And, of course, there’s the problem that none of the group really, really knows how much to trust the others. Is Ingrid who she has appeared to be all those decades before?
The other character who adds a different perspective to the story is that of Jo Thibodeau, the Purity police chief. She’s a younger voice, and she has learned over the course of the last few years (and last few novels) that the five senior citizens, whom most would dismiss as old, wrinkled, and useless, are really anything but that. She has started to trust their advice and their endless knowledge about crime and espionage that are outside her realm of knowledge.
One of the topics that Gerritsen probes is the life of retirement and the possible lack of excitement in such a life. Ingrid misses the excitement of chasing killers and solving problems, thinking on her feet, and flying from one end of the world to the other at a moment’s notice. Or at least she thinks she misses it. Are their lives, filled with martinis, good food, volunteer opportunities, and puttering around plants enough to keep them vital and alive? It’s something that Ingrid will consider a lot over the course of this novel.
And in this novel of Russian espionage, assassinations, plots against defectors, and a possible mole in our own intelligence agency, there’s a huge learning curve for Jo. But from the prologue to the final pages of nonstop action, there’s plenty of violence, plenty of betrayal, and plenty of brilliant thinking to make this a novel that is a thrilling and extremely enjoyable read. The more time we spend with The Martini Club, the more we want to stay in their circle — albeit when they aren’t chasing killers around the world and dealing with murder victims.
Read the first book in the series, “The Spy Coast,” and its sequel, “The Summer Guests.”
This review is based on the finished book, provided by the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, for review purposes.