Murder and a tangled past

Maggie Bird is a chicken farmer in Maine. But this wasn’t always her profession. In The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen the author explores what happened when a spy retires but her past intrudes on her new life.

Maggie has a number of neighbours who were also involved in the same trade and she needs their help when she finds a body in her drive and she is shot at by an unknown assassin. None of these retirees want to go back to their previous lives and they are in seclusion under new identities but it appears that someone has caught up with them and doesn’t intend to leave them in peace. Not only do Maggie and her friends have to work out what is happening but they also have to avoid the curiosity of the local Sherriff who can’t understand why these elderly citizens aren’t reacting the way that she expects. Maggie’s enquiries take her across the world and involve her reconnecting with people from her past that she can’t entirely trust.

Retired people being drawn into crimes and their investigations are a bit of a thing at the moment – I have books with this theme from both Elly Griffiths and Richard Osman. This author does it very well and with a lovely dry humour. The dialogue is witty and the plot is full of suspense and twists, and some real danger for the characters. I liked Maggie and the Sherriff, Jo, and the other friends. I thought that the book touched lightly on some really important issues about retirement and life fulfilment.

This was a quick and very enjoyable read.