Tess Gerritsen
Author of The Surgeon
About the Author
Tess Gerritsen was born on June 12, 1953 in San Diego, California. She received a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction. Her first novel, Call After show more Midnight was published in 1987. It was followed by eight more romantic suspense novels. She also wrote the screenplay, Adrift, which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson. Her first medical thriller, Harvest, was published in 1996. She is the author of the Rizzoli and Isles series, which was adapted into a television show. She has won several awards including the Nero Wolfe Award for Vanish and the Rita Award for The Surgeon. She retired from the medical field and writes full-time. Her other novels include Presumed Guilty, Harvest, Gravity, The Bone Garden, and Playing with Fire. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Tess Gerritsen
Keeping the Dead 16 copies
The Surgeon / The Sinner 4 copies
SOS Title Unknown 3 copies
Gece Gelen 2 copies
Tragische Ruhe 1 copy
Grabesstimme 1 copy
Gölgesizlerin Tutkulu Dansi 1 copy
Vanish 1 copy
Proje: Ölümcül Virüs 1 copy
Gece Yarisindan Sonra 1 copy
Kayip Kizlar 1 copy
Gefährliche Begegnung 1 copy
Frica 1 copy
The Surgeon / Vanish 1 copy
Great Plains 1 copy
Rizzoli & Isles: Books 1-7 1 copy
Shadow Friends 1 copy
Stella Cameron 1 copy
Milczaca dziewczyna 1 copy
Mumia 1 copy
Sobowtor 1 copy
Associated Works
In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe (2009) — Cover artist — 205 copies, 3 reviews
Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer (2010) — Contributor — 149 copies, 26 reviews
Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1996 v06: Moonlight Becomes You / The Outsider / Harvest /The Falconer (1996) — Author — 28 copies
Reader's Digest Select Editions: The Bombmaker • Julie and Romeo • Gravity • The Colour of Hope (2001) — Author — 8 copies
Livros Condensados: Colheita Macabra | A Dama Misteriosa de Florença | Meia-Noite e Cinco | Alice (1998) — Author — 5 copies
Select Editions: The Silent Girl / The Little Village School / Buried Secrets / Dark Matter (2011) — Author — 4 copies
Reader's Digest Select Editions: The Bone Garden • Final Theory • I Heard That Song Before • Frangipani (2007) 3 copies
Det Bästas bokval. Volym 197. Donator okänd/ Oanade möjligheter/ Minnets labyrinter/ De urgamla bergen log — Author — 3 copies
Reader's Digest Select Editions: Icon • Notorious • Harvest • In the Shadow of a Rainbow — Author — 1 copy
Válogatott könyvek 2013/6 Tess Gerritsen - A néma lány; Erica James - Az újrakezdés királynője; Henning Mankell - Piramis; Sarah Jio - A bungaló (2013) — Author — 1 copy
Morrer Duas Vezes; Billy e Eu; Em Terra Alheia; E Todas as Fases da Lua (2019) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Gerritsen, Tess
- Legal name
- Gerritsen, Teresa
- Other names
- Gerritsen, Terry
- Birthdate
- 1953-06-12
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Stanford University (BA|Anthropology|1975)
University of California, Berkeley (MD|1979) - Occupations
- author
physician
mystery novelist
historical novelist
screenwriter - Awards and honors
- Romantic Times Career Achievement Award (Female Sleuth, 2006)
- Short biography
- Tess Gerritsen left a successful practice as an internist to raise her children and concentrate on her writing. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of suspense, the 1996 New York Times bestseller Harvest. Subsequently, she wrote three bestselling medical thrillers, Life Support (1997), Bloodstream (1998), and Gravity (1999). Her first crime thriller, The Surgeon (2001) introduced the character of homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, who then became the focus of a series of novels that paired her with medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. The books were adapted into the television series Rizzoli & Isles.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- San Diego, California, USA
- Places of residence
- San Diego, California, USA
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Camden, Maine, USA - Map Location
- California, USA
Members
Discussions
An Author Interview with Tess Gerritsen in Talk about LibraryThing (March 2025)
Reviews
I acquired The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen through Amazon First Reads. Since the book is set during a Maine winter, I planned to read it during that season. I regret putting it off for the past couple of winters because this book is absolutely amazing!
In this suspenseful espionage thriller, former CIA operative Maggie Bird has retired to a peaceful life on her chicken farm in the picturesque seaside village of Purity, Maine. She hopes to leave behind the shadows of a disastrous mission that show more ended her career. Maggie spends her days tending to her chickens and meeting with her Martini Club—a group of silver-haired friends who are actually fellow retired spies posing as a book club.
However, when a dead body is found in Maggie’s driveway, it’s a clear sign from her past. The murder pulls her back into the dangerous world she fled, forcing Maggie and her clever, resourceful Martini Club allies to dust off their old skills. As they investigate, they uncover long-buried secrets tied to a failed operation, racing across locations from Maine to international hotspots to stay ahead of those who want Maggie eliminated.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book more than I anticipated. As a retiree, I was drawn to the sophisticated group of retirees who possess a remarkable talent for solving mysteries. The club of spies were incredibly likable, intelligent, and exceptional friends to each other. The storyline seamlessly shifts between Maggie’s retirement life and her former career. I read this book on my Kindle, which I primarily use for reading in bed. Consequently, The Spy Coast kept me up late a few times, and I found myself reading until my eyes couldn’t stay open. Tess Gerritsen is a master of suspenseful storytelling, and I dare to say she’s one of the best writers in this genre. She not only weaves a masterful tale of mystery but also creates authentic and relatable characters.
The Spy Coast is the first book in the Martini Club series. I’m eagerly looking forward to spending more time with the Martini Club in the next installment, The Summer Guest. It’s already waiting for me in my Audible library, and I’m curious to experience the audiobook version.
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Tess Gerritsen during The Back Room author event when she was promoting the release of The Summer Guest. To learn more about the author event, see my blog, linked below.
I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog show less
In this suspenseful espionage thriller, former CIA operative Maggie Bird has retired to a peaceful life on her chicken farm in the picturesque seaside village of Purity, Maine. She hopes to leave behind the shadows of a disastrous mission that show more ended her career. Maggie spends her days tending to her chickens and meeting with her Martini Club—a group of silver-haired friends who are actually fellow retired spies posing as a book club.
However, when a dead body is found in Maggie’s driveway, it’s a clear sign from her past. The murder pulls her back into the dangerous world she fled, forcing Maggie and her clever, resourceful Martini Club allies to dust off their old skills. As they investigate, they uncover long-buried secrets tied to a failed operation, racing across locations from Maine to international hotspots to stay ahead of those who want Maggie eliminated.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book more than I anticipated. As a retiree, I was drawn to the sophisticated group of retirees who possess a remarkable talent for solving mysteries. The club of spies were incredibly likable, intelligent, and exceptional friends to each other. The storyline seamlessly shifts between Maggie’s retirement life and her former career. I read this book on my Kindle, which I primarily use for reading in bed. Consequently, The Spy Coast kept me up late a few times, and I found myself reading until my eyes couldn’t stay open. Tess Gerritsen is a master of suspenseful storytelling, and I dare to say she’s one of the best writers in this genre. She not only weaves a masterful tale of mystery but also creates authentic and relatable characters.
The Spy Coast is the first book in the Martini Club series. I’m eagerly looking forward to spending more time with the Martini Club in the next installment, The Summer Guest. It’s already waiting for me in my Audible library, and I’m curious to experience the audiobook version.
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Tess Gerritsen during The Back Room author event when she was promoting the release of The Summer Guest. To learn more about the author event, see my blog, linked below.
I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog show less
Maggie Bird is retired and now raises chickens on Blackberry Farm in the small town of Purity, Maine. She has a small circle of friends, Declan, Ben, Ingrid, and Lloyd, also retired, who call themselves The Martini Club. When a dead body turns up in Maggie's driveway, and the local police chief, Jo Thibodeau, tries to question Maggie and her friends, she's met with silence and half answers and suspects there's more than meets the eye about these mysterious retirees.
And yes, Jo is right. Old show more enemies she left behind twenty years ago in an operation she was involved in for the CIA, in which her husband, Danny, was killed, are now hunting Maggie. The story hops back and forth between the past and present as we learn about Maggie's old life, and, with the help of her friends, she tries to hold on to her new life in Maine. The suspense builds as past enemies force Maggie into an explosive reckoning.
I loved these characters, the tight plot, and the premise that retirees can still be lethal. I'm looking forward to reading more about The Martini Club. show less
And yes, Jo is right. Old show more enemies she left behind twenty years ago in an operation she was involved in for the CIA, in which her husband, Danny, was killed, are now hunting Maggie. The story hops back and forth between the past and present as we learn about Maggie's old life, and, with the help of her friends, she tries to hold on to her new life in Maine. The suspense builds as past enemies force Maggie into an explosive reckoning.
I loved these characters, the tight plot, and the premise that retirees can still be lethal. I'm looking forward to reading more about The Martini Club. show less
‘The Summer Guests' is the second book in Tess Gerittsen’s new series about retired CIA agents trying to live a quiet life in the small town of Purity in rural Maine.
The plot of the first book, ‘The Spy Coast‘ was driven by the things that Maggie Bird, a spy turned chicken farmer, had done before she retired. Her past catches up with her with deadly results and she and her friends have to come out of retirement to keep Maggie alive long enough for her to find out who is trying to show more kill her and why. It was a good spy thriller, told in two timelines, that shared the traumatic events that led to Maggie leaving the service and retiring to Purity while establishing that she and the rest of the Martini Club are still people to be reckoned with, even in their retirement. The first book also introduced Jo Thibodeau, Purity's acting Police Chief. She realises that Maggie and her 'book club' are more than they seem to be as they are constantly at least one step ahead of her in working out what's going on.
‘The Summer Guests‘ took a different tack. It was a thriller about an investigation looking for a missing girl that Maggie et al got involved with because Maggie’s neighbour is suspected of abducting and harming the girl. What followed was a clever mystery with themes about family secrets, rich versus poor, summer people versus locals and the corrosive effects of sibling rivalry. It was a good mystery that was made richer by the discovery of possible historical links to the CIA's covert mind control experiments in Project MKUltra.
I had a good time with the book. I enjoyed the mystery and the growing relationship between the oldsters in the Martini Club and Jo Thibodeau. Within the context of an entertaining mystery, I thought the book had some interesting things to say about the abuse of power, the mindset of powerful people who have never been held to account and how family loyalties can become toxic
I’ll be looking out for the third book, ‘The Shadow Friends‘ when it comes out in January 2027. show less
The plot of the first book, ‘The Spy Coast‘ was driven by the things that Maggie Bird, a spy turned chicken farmer, had done before she retired. Her past catches up with her with deadly results and she and her friends have to come out of retirement to keep Maggie alive long enough for her to find out who is trying to show more kill her and why. It was a good spy thriller, told in two timelines, that shared the traumatic events that led to Maggie leaving the service and retiring to Purity while establishing that she and the rest of the Martini Club are still people to be reckoned with, even in their retirement. The first book also introduced Jo Thibodeau, Purity's acting Police Chief. She realises that Maggie and her 'book club' are more than they seem to be as they are constantly at least one step ahead of her in working out what's going on.
‘The Summer Guests‘ took a different tack. It was a thriller about an investigation looking for a missing girl that Maggie et al got involved with because Maggie’s neighbour is suspected of abducting and harming the girl. What followed was a clever mystery with themes about family secrets, rich versus poor, summer people versus locals and the corrosive effects of sibling rivalry. It was a good mystery that was made richer by the discovery of possible historical links to the CIA's covert mind control experiments in Project MKUltra.
I had a good time with the book. I enjoyed the mystery and the growing relationship between the oldsters in the Martini Club and Jo Thibodeau. Within the context of an entertaining mystery, I thought the book had some interesting things to say about the abuse of power, the mindset of powerful people who have never been held to account and how family loyalties can become toxic
I’ll be looking out for the third book, ‘The Shadow Friends‘ when it comes out in January 2027. show less
‘The Spy Coast‘ surprised me. I knew it was about retired spies. I expected a borderline cosy story, with older folks showing they still have enough tricks up their sleeves to deal with problems. What I got was a proper spy thriller spanning decades and continents with nothing particularly cosy about it. There were execution-style killings, betrayals, kidnapping, a significant body count and a rising sense of threat.
The story starts with Maggie Bird in her guise as a retiree who has show more moved to rural Maine and taken up chicken farming. It then cuts back decades to when Maggie was a CIA operative.
As the plot moves between the two timelines, it reveals how Maggie came to be in Maine, the price she paid for her former career and why someone now seems determined to kill her.
It was a solid, character-driven spy thriller with some touches of humour, mostly generated by how Maggie and her 'book club' friends (who are also ex-CIA) run rings around the earnest and resourceful local sheriff.
Age is a factor for Maggie and the other ex-spies. They are all in their sixties and seventies. It's not just that they are less agile and have less stamina than when they were in the field. It's also that their perspective has changed. When Maggie resigned from the CIA, she was tired and disillusioned. She no longer believed that she was changing the world for the better. She had suffered losses and wanted to leave that world behind her. Some of her Book Club friends miss the opportunity to practice the skills that made them valuable to the CIA but all of them are looking for a quiet life in Maine. I think the story was stronger because Maggie was looking back on what she'd done and seeing it through older eyes that were more conscious of consequences and less certain about the value of victories.
I liked that, while the story stands up as a spy thriller in both timelines, its main focus was on exploring Maggie's journey to becoming the current version of herself. Along the way, as well as travelling the world to discover who is behind the threat to her life, confronting assassins and trying to decide who, if anyone, she can trust, Maggie tries to reconcile her past with her present. She recognises that she can't leave her past behind but that she doesn't want it to be the only thing that defines her future.
I found Maggie and her friends engaging. I want to see more of them. I'd also like to see how the bright but out-gunned local Sheriff will adapt to having a group of ex-spies in her small town. I already have the sequel, ‘The Summer Guests‘(2025) on my shelves and I hope to get to it soon.
I recommend the audiobook version of 'The Spy Coast', narrated by Hillary Huber and Brittany Pressley, one narrating the chapters written from Maggie's point of view and one narrating the chapters written from the Sherrif's point of view. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ona2Oz6pDqI show less
The story starts with Maggie Bird in her guise as a retiree who has show more moved to rural Maine and taken up chicken farming. It then cuts back decades to when Maggie was a CIA operative.
As the plot moves between the two timelines, it reveals how Maggie came to be in Maine, the price she paid for her former career and why someone now seems determined to kill her.
It was a solid, character-driven spy thriller with some touches of humour, mostly generated by how Maggie and her 'book club' friends (who are also ex-CIA) run rings around the earnest and resourceful local sheriff.
Age is a factor for Maggie and the other ex-spies. They are all in their sixties and seventies. It's not just that they are less agile and have less stamina than when they were in the field. It's also that their perspective has changed. When Maggie resigned from the CIA, she was tired and disillusioned. She no longer believed that she was changing the world for the better. She had suffered losses and wanted to leave that world behind her. Some of her Book Club friends miss the opportunity to practice the skills that made them valuable to the CIA but all of them are looking for a quiet life in Maine. I think the story was stronger because Maggie was looking back on what she'd done and seeing it through older eyes that were more conscious of consequences and less certain about the value of victories.
I liked that, while the story stands up as a spy thriller in both timelines, its main focus was on exploring Maggie's journey to becoming the current version of herself. Along the way, as well as travelling the world to discover who is behind the threat to her life, confronting assassins and trying to decide who, if anyone, she can trust, Maggie tries to reconcile her past with her present. She recognises that she can't leave her past behind but that she doesn't want it to be the only thing that defines her future.
I found Maggie and her friends engaging. I want to see more of them. I'd also like to see how the bright but out-gunned local Sheriff will adapt to having a group of ex-spies in her small town. I already have the sequel, ‘The Summer Guests‘(2025) on my shelves and I hope to get to it soon.
I recommend the audiobook version of 'The Spy Coast', narrated by Hillary Huber and Brittany Pressley, one narrating the chapters written from Maggie's point of view and one narrating the chapters written from the Sherrif's point of view. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ona2Oz6pDqI show less
Lists
Cults (1)
Unread books (1)
READ in 2023 (1)
Books Read 2026 (1)
Read in 2007 (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 142
- Also by
- 27
- Members
- 54,504
- Popularity
- #277
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 1,806
- ISBNs
- 1,960
- Languages
- 29
- Favorited
- 149
