THE SUMMER GUESTS, the second installment in the Martini Club series, is not as good as its predecessor, THE SPY COAST. It’s better!

Tess Gerritsen brings back retired spy Maggie Bird and ex-CIA friends from her book club in Purity, Maine. They are always eager to use the skills learned from their previous lives to assist law enforcement whenever necessary. I appreciated that Maggie and the Martini Club are not front and center like they were in THE SPY COAST. Instead, they play a more strategic role in the hunt for a missing teenage girl.

The action kicks off in 1972 with a chilling scene set in Purity. Police officer Randy Pelletier rushes out of the Marigold Café after witnessing a white van run down some innocent citizens before coming to a stop. He knows the driver, Sam Tarkin, who becomes crazed after being pulled from his vehicle. Sam proceeds to wrest Randy's gun away and shoot him to death. There was never any explanation given for his behavior or the tragedy that shook the usually tranquil Maine village.

"As always, Gerritsen does a masterful job with plotting and provides enough clues and suspects to keep readers off balance the entire time."

In the present day, the summer people are back, and the entire Conover clan --- three generations of them --- have gathered at their lake house, Moonview, after attending the family patriarch’s funeral service. On their first day, 15-year-old Zoe --- the daughter of Ethan and Susan Conover --- is seen swimming in Maiden Pond with a girl around her age. She later goes missing, and the girl, identified as Callie Yount, claims not to have seen Zoe after they took a walk to her farm, and her grandfather, Luther, drove her back to the pond. Zoe was not seen by anyone since her visit to the Younts’ place.

Luther is Maggie’s neighbor, which instantly sparks her involvement as the entire village seems to be aware of the disappearance. This makes acting sheriff Jo Thibodeau’s job much more difficult. Although she typically would welcome the assistance, Jo looks at Maggie and her friends as a distraction that might only make matters worse. Things do not look good for Luther, whose story about heading into Augusta after dropping off Zoe is found to be an outright lie. Nevertheless, it does not make him a kidnapper or worse.

The search for Zoe expands to include a full dive into Maiden Pond, where a body is found. The good news is that it’s not Zoe, but rather a set of human bones that appear to have been there for quite some time. Suddenly, the disappearance of another woman from Purity decades earlier is called into question. There are also rumors about potential links between what's going on now and the 1972 incident with Sam Tarkin, especially in light of the fact that Sam's son, Reuben, has had a longtime beef with the Conovers.

Red herrings run rampant throughout this tale, and various names are bandied about as possible suspects. Jo and Maggie, who are reluctantly working together, realize that they must get to the bottom of whatever the rift is between the Tarkins and the Conovers. The answer to that problem also might open up some cases from long ago involving both families that still are playing a role in the current investigation.

As always, Gerritsen does a masterful job with plotting and provides enough clues and suspects to keep readers off balance the entire time. There are some twists and revelations in the book’s last act that are brilliant to behold and make for a highly satisfying thriller.