The Summer Guests

A Thriller (The Martini Club, Book 2)

By: Tess Gerritsen

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

From New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen comes a chilling follow-up to The Spy Coast, plunging the Martini Club into the search for a missing teen—with a startling connection to their own pasts.

When former spy Maggie Bird retired to the seaside hamlet of Purity, Maine, she settled in for a quiet life with breathtaking views. But enemies from her past soon threatened to destroy everything.

Maggie survived, thanks to her wits and the collective intelligence of the Martini Club, the circle of ex-CIA friends in her cocktail-sipping book club. Their handiwork, however, caught the attention of young police chief Jo Thibodeau. Now Jo and her neighborhood ex-spies have an uneasy alliance.

After a teenager vanishes—and Maggie’s neighbor becomes the prime suspect—she joins the investigation, determined to prove her friend’s innocence. But the girl’s wealthy family pushes for an arrest. And when authorities discover a long-dead corpse in a nearby pond, the case becomes doubly complicated, with unthinkable ties to long-buried secrets.

As Jo grapples with two unexplained mysteries, the Martini Club races to uncover the truth behind shadowy secrets…before more lives are lost.

©2025 by Tess Gerritsen. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Is this audiobook delivered by a full cast? No, just the immensely talented Hillary Huber. In this second installment of The Martini Club series, Huber crafts distinct voices for each male and female character, immersing listeners in the search for a missing teenage girl in the club's hometown of Purity, Maine.… Huber masterfully portrays the main characters, the teenagers, and a very proper family matriarch, bringing them to life with nuance and well-defined personalities. The result is an engrossing, expertly narrated audiobook that keeps listeners thoroughly entertained.”—AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner

“Secrets and plot twists abound…A complex mix of fright and fun.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“As in the first book, Gerritsen paints Maggie and her crew with a fine brush, and strikes a satisfying tone that’s neither too dour nor too twee. These sexagenarian spies are hitting their stride.”—Publishers Weekly

Maggie and the gang were ahead of the game as usual

the twists and turns in this book has surprises that really get you guessing and then gasping. I l·couldn't stop listening. purity Maine, sounds like a perfect place to live, much like my small Oregon rotten. but the story could so happen.

Who done it?

This one had me going from the beginning. Ms Gerritsen has a nice way of making the characters so familiar that it’s easy to keep forging ahead. But trying to discern who actually committed the crime kept me guessing until the end. Great book!

Excellent performance by Hillary Huber

The members of the Martini Club have forced themselves out of retirement once again to make sure local law enforcement doesn't miss anything. At least, that's the way they see it.
The relationship between a group of silver-haired busy bodies and the new interim sheriff is not exactly warm and fuzzy. However, if you read Book 1, what I'm about to write will not be a spoiler. The interim sheriff, even though she doesn't know it, has the unsolicited help of a group of highly trained and resourceful spooks. The cat and mouse games with Martini Club keep the sheriff scatching her head: Why are they 'butting in' don't they know this is evidence? Yeah, they know.
Book 2 is great. There are so many twists I couldn't stop reading. The circumstances of a decades old 'Hatfield/McCoy' type feud are not known to everyone, but when people go missing, and bodies found, something has got to change. The suspect list is narrow, and the facts are few. With the added manpower of unpaid covert specialists, the plot thickens.
I hope there will be more in this series. Author Tess Gerritsen is an excellent writer and definitely worth reading. There is an audible book that I really enjoyed, performed by Hillary Huber, which provides just the right tone for these characters, and they are characters. -Mr.Bill

Brilliant plotting

Wonderful story, terrific fair play plot! I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

A perfect addition to the first

This sequel did not disappoint and I hope it is not the last in the series!! I have come to know and love these characters and I am so looking forward to the next adventure!!