The Shadow Friends
Martini Club #3
By: Tess Gerritsen
Narrator: Hillary Huber
ISBN: 978-1662533419
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date: 08/25/2026
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
From New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen comes a harrowing and emotional thriller where ghosts of the Cold War return with a vengeance—and cannot be outrun.
When a renowned disease expert and Russian defector dies mysteriously during a global affairs conference in Purity, Maine, the tight-knit band of former spies in the Martini Club once again sees their quiet coastal retirement interrupted by international intrigue. And when a waitress at the conference hotel is found murdered, Ingrid Slocum sees chilling links to a disastrous mission that nearly killed her three decades ago.
Desperate to uncover the truth, Ingrid’s drawn back into the game by a magnetic ex-CIA colleague—and former lover—who was with her on the long-ago doomed mission. He convinces her to join him, and together they head to Amsterdam to track down her would-be killer.
Ingrid’s frantic husband Lloyd and Maggie Bird are close behind, but a clandestine network of assassins is intent on stopping them. Forced to question every allegiance, the Martini Club must rely on the skills they tried to leave behind. Because in this game of revenge and deception, the past never dies—it just hides in the shadows.
THE MARTINI CLUB SERIES:
THE SUMMER GUESTS
THE SPY COAST
THE SHADOW FRIENDS
My Review
AGE VS. EXPERIENCE
Why these senior citizens are always three steps ahead of the law.
❤️I am completely obsessed with this senior-sleuth squad! It’s witty, clever, and features the perfect blend of small-town charm and global espionage.
Intro
Tess Gerritsen serves up a masterful third installment in the Martini Club series with The Shadow Friends. This delightfully clever, sharp senior-sleuth mystery proves that living independently in a quiet community hasn't dulled the instincts of our favorite former CIA operatives
The Hook
A high-profile Russian defector drops dead at a global affairs conference in a sleepy coastal Maine town, instantly putting a group of retired septuagenarian spies back on the clock.
🛗Elevator Pitch
When a mysterious death in their quiet seaside village connects to a botched Cold War mission from thirty years ago, the senior members of the Martini Club must dust off their old field skills. When one of their own suddenly goes rogue and vanishes across the Atlantic, the remaining retirees launch a brilliant, calculated global investigation to out-maneuver an international threat.
Setting
The charming, deceptively quiet coastal town of Purity, Maine, shifting into a high-stakes, senior-led chase through Amsterdam.
🍸Vibe
Sharp, cozy-adjacent, witty, and deeply nostalgic, balancing retirement life with decades of dangerous experience.
Genre
Senior Sleuth / Espionage Mystery.
Themes
~The value of aging expertise
`Lifelong loyalty among old friends
~How old operational secrets never truly stay buried.
Standout Characters
~The Martini Club Retirees: Maggie, Ben, and Declan—the ultimate squad of brilliant, martini-sipping seniors who treat international espionage like a retirement hobby
~Lloyd Slocum: A retired CIA desk analyst who completely lacks field experience but uses his hyper-organized, analytical senior mind to jump straight into danger to save his wife.
~Chief Jo Thibodeau: The local, much younger police chief constantly exasperated by a group of senior citizens who keep running circles around her investigation.
Author Writing Standout
Gerritsen perfectly balances cozy, small-town charm with legitimate, clever puzzle-solving. Her writing shines when showing how these characters use their life experience, patience, and the invisibility of being "elderly" to completely outsmart younger, unsuspecting targets.
Title Significance & Metaphor
The Shadow Friends highlights the profound, invisible bonds formed by these operatives in their youth, proving that true friendship and old training are the ultimate weapons against aging. The story moves like a perfectly mixed cocktail—smooth, classic, and packing a sharp, unexpected punch at the bottom of the glass.
Audio Standout
🎧 Hillary Huber is magnificent. She captures the dry, witty humor of the senior dialogue flawlessly, giving the Martini Club members a distinct warmth and sharp-witted authority that makes you want to pull up a chair and pour a drink with them.
RETIREMENT IS DEADLY. 🍸 Just because you’re a senior citizen on a quiet farm in Maine doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten how to spot an international assassin
My Thoughts
The absolute joy of this book is watching these seniors show the world exactly how it's done. As a massive fan of the series, book three completely hit the sweet spot for me. Gerritsen gives the spotlight to Ingrid and Lloyd this time around, which brings a fantastic new marriage dynamic to the group’s antics.
The pacing is wonderfully balanced—it gives you the cozy comfort of small-town Maine birdwatching before seamlessly transitioning into a clever international investigation. Watching Lloyd, a retired desk analyst, try to navigate real fieldwork while Maggie desperately tries to keep him alive is both incredibly fun and genuinely tense. It’s witty, deeply atmospheric, and a brilliant reminder that experience always trumps youth.
Why You Should Read
If you love "The Thursday Murder Club" but want a sharper, more sophisticated espionage twist, this series is the absolute gold standard for senior-sleuth mysteries.
Verdict ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 / 5 Stars. "A triumphant, witty, and exceptionally clever senior-sleuth masterpiece. The Martini Club remains the elite retirement we all wish we could join."
Recs & Read Alikes
Note: I highly recommend reading the Martini Club series in exact chronological order so you can experience the dynamic growth, town changes, and evolving operational history of this incredible retired crew!)
~Book 1: The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen
(The mandatory introduction to Maggie and the birth of the local alliance)
~Book 2: The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen
(A thrilling secondary mystery focused on a missing teen and deep town roots)
~Book 3: The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen
(This absolute masterpiece!)
Special thanks to Thomas & Mercer for sharing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Aug 25, 2026
My Rating: 5 Stars
Aug 2026 Must-Read Books
Praise
“I love these spies who come out of retirement when an assassin strikes in their small town of Purity, Maine. Could spies be any more fun? Travel, tension, and twists—great entertainment!” —Shari Lapena, New York Times bestselling author
About the Author
International bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, she went on to earn her MD from the University of California San Francisco. While on maternity leave as a physician, she began to write fiction, publishing her first novel in 1987. She has since sold over forty million books in forty countries, winning the Nero and RITA awards. In 2024, she was named a ThrillerMaster by International Thriller Writers.
Gerritsen’s novels are major bestsellers around the world. Critics praise her books as “pulse-pounding fun” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “scary and brilliant” (Toronto’s Globe and Mail), and “polished, riveting prose” (Chicago Tribune). Publishers Weekly dubbed her the “medical suspense queen.”
Gerritsen’s series featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TNT television series Rizzoli & Isles.
Now retired from medicine, Gerritsen lives in Maine, where she writes full-time. WEBSITE
