The Spy Coast

The Spy Coast, by Tess Gerritsen, was published in 2023 by Thomas & Mercer. The novel begins Gerritsen’s Martini Club series, which features retired CIA operative Maggie Bird. Maggie and her friends have retired to the small town of Purity, Maine, but in The Spy Coast, they find themselves pulled back into espionage when the case that ended Maggie’s career returns to haunt her. Through Maggie’s exploration of her past and her attempts to move forward with her new life, Gerritsen explores themes of The Dangers of Underestimating Powerful Women; Age, Wisdom, and Experience; and Appearances Versus Reality.

This study guide refers to the 2023 Kindle edition of the novel, published by Thomas & Mercer.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of murder and terminal illness.

Plot Summary

The novel is written in named chapters that alternate between the main point-of-view characters. The present-day narrative alternates with flashback chapters that detail the backstory that led to the main plot’s events.

The novel opens with a flashback chapter in which Diana Ward, a CIA officer, kills two men in an undisclosed location in Paris and flees the scene. This takes place 10 days before the novel’s primary action.

The action then shifts to the protagonist, 60-year-old Maggie Bird, a retired CIA operative living a quiet life on Blackberry Farm in Purity, Maine. After delivering a fox pelt to her neighbor, Luther, she returns home to find a woman has broken into her house, looking for information on Diana War. Maggie can’t help the woman, whose name is Bianca: Diana was responsible for Operation Cyrano, the operation that ended Maggie’s career, and Maggie doesn’t want to get involved. Bianca warns her that everyone involved with Operation Cyrano could be in danger if Diana isn’t found, but Maggie brushes her off.

That evening, Bianca is found dead in Maggie’s driveway. Security footage shows that a masked man drove up to Maggie’s house and dumped Bianca’s body. Maggie gives Police Chief Jo Thibodeau a cover story and an innocent explanation for Bianca’s appearance at her house earlier that day. Jo is impressed by Maggie’s security system and her calm reaction to finding a dead body, but Maggie deflects Jo’s comments, citing her age as the reason she’s not surprised by Bianca’s death.

Maggie isn’t the only ex-CIA operative in Purity. Her friends Ben Diamond, Declan Rose, and Ingrid and Lloyd Slocum also worked for the Agency before retiring although no one in the small town knows this. Maggie tells them about Bianca’s appearance and her death, and they immediately start investigating. While Ingrid and Lloyd work on figuring out who is behind Bianca’s murder, Ben and Declan help Maggie delve into her past to get to the heart of the problem.

Twenty-four years ago, Maggie met Danny Gallagher, a doctor, in Bangkok. She was taking time off after one of her informants was assassinated and thought Danny would be just a fling. However, they began a long-distance relationship, with Danny working as a concierge doctor to the wealthy in London and Maggie continuing to work as a CIA operative in Istanbul. Danny didn’t know what Maggie did for a living, believing her cover as a textiles expert for an import-export company.

Six years later, another operative, Diana Ward, approached Maggie and wanted her to participate in Operation Cyrano, which was focused on finding Cyrano, a famously elusive Russian spy under deep cover. Diana wanted to use Maggie’s relationship with Danny, whose connections to the wealthy through his profession allowed him deep access. In particular, she wanted to find out everything about Phillip Hardwicke, one of Danny’s clients, who laundered money for Russian oligarchs and might lead them to Cyrano. Maggie was conflicted about the assignment, but she eventually agreed.

Two years later, she and Danny married, and their wedding reception was hosted by Hardwicke. There, Maggie met Hardwicke’s 15-year-old daughter, Bella, and realized that their instant connection could be used to gain access to Hardwicke’s inner circle. Maggie began to travel with Danny and Hardwicke and became a companion to Bella. Through these connections, she discovered the identity of Cyrano, and he was taken in by authorities in Malta. In the process, Danny discovered that Maggie was working for the CIA and was devastated. He decided to fly back to London with Hardwicke and Bella, leaving Maggie in Malta. The next morning, their plane exploded over the ocean, Russian retaliation for Cyrano’s capture. Hardwicke, Bella, and Danny were all presumed dead.

In the present, 16 years later, Jo becomes convinced that Maggie is involved with Bianca’s death. Maggie and her friends are suspiciously good investigators, and Jo watches carefully as they, particularly Ingrid and Lloyd, make the rounds of Purity, asking questions. When Maggie is shot at one day on her farm, Jo knows for sure that there is more to the story and eventually realizes that they are all ex-CIA operatives.

After the attempted shooting, Maggie stays with Declan, and the friends discuss the case. She has already told Ben and Declan some of the story, but now she shares the rest of it with the group. When she mentions Operation Cyrano, they are all shocked—they didn’t know Maggie was involved, but everyone in the Agency has heard about the operation that brought down Cyrano. They decide on their next course of action, and Maggie, Ben, and Declan travel to Bangkok so that Maggie can meet with Gavin, another retired operative involved in Operation Cyrano.

Late at night, Maggie sneaks away from the hotel to meet Gavin without Ben and Declan. She is shocked to see that Gavin is terminally ill and using black-market drugs to manage his disease. He tells her that Diana contacted him and asked to hide at his house, but he refused. Gavin retired after Operation Cyrano, and he reveals that Diana knew the Russians would retaliate for Cyrano’s capture, but she decided to do nothing.

When a deliveryman appears at Gavin’s house, Gavin asks Maggie to hide in a nearby room. She hears signs of struggle and shooting, and when the house is silent again, comes out. Gavin and his housekeeper are both dead, and Maggie, still stunned, returns to the hotel. Upon hearing what happened, Declan and Ben convince Maggie to go to a safe house in Singapore. However, she gets a call from Ingrid, telling her that Maggie’s neighbor’s daughter, Callie, has disappeared. Maggie knows that it is because of her and becomes convinced that Hardwicke is still alive and is avenging himself on all the operatives involved in Operation Cyrano. Instead of going home to find Callie, she goes to Lake Como to track down Hardwicke.

Maggie contacts Hardwicke’s former lover, Silvia, in Italy, but Silvia believes Hardwicke is dead. As Maggie is leaving Silvia’s house, Diana approaches her with a gun. She has been hiding out nearby, also looking for Hardwicke, and takes Maggie to the abandoned church, where she’s been staying. When a car approaches, they know Hardwicke has found them. Diana gives Maggie a gun, and they retreat into the church and up into the bell tower. When the men confront them, Diana uses Maggie as a shield and offers Maggie’s life in exchange for her own. Instead, a gunshot rings out, and Diana falls out of the bell tower, dead.

A figure appears, but it is not Hardwicke—it is Bella. She reveals that her mother had taken her off the plane, and after it exploded, had held a funeral for Bella to let everyone believe she was dead. In the years since her mother’s death, Bella has taken over Hardwicke’s business and has sought retribution for her father’s death. She feels especially betrayed by Maggie, whom she believes only befriended her for information.

Maggie convinces her that it isn’t true, and in the end, Bella decides to spare Maggie. She reveals that she is the one who abducted Callie and gives Maggie a burner phone; when Maggie returns to Purity, Bella will text her Callie’s location. Maggie leaves and returns to Purity, where she finds Callie in an abandoned house, unharmed. When Jo asks her what it was all about, Maggie refuses to say but promises to tell what she knows later. The next day, Declan, Ben, Ingrid, and Lloyd arrive at her house with food and drinks. Jo arrives to question Maggie, and although Maggie doesn’t give the officer much information, she is impressed with Jo’s skills and intelligence. They invite her to have a drink with them. When Jo’s radio gets a call, she leaves, and the group wonders if there is anything they can do to help her with the new crime.