Tess Gerritsen Publishes New Book: The Shadow Friends

Murder at the Camden Conference? Only in fiction! The latest novel by acclaimed Camden author—and longtime Conference devotee—Tess Gerritsen centers on a fictionalized version of the Camden Conference. The Shadow Friends, released August 25, follows the “Martini Club,” a group of retired CIA agents living in seacoast “Purity,” Maine, as they investigate a mysterious death.

Gerritsen, a physician, wrote her first novel while on maternity leave, and the book’s success prompted her to write full-time. A San Diego native, she became a devotee of the Camden Conference after moving to town, and it was there—surrounded by neighbors who’d spent their careers in government and intelligence work—that the idea for the “Martini Club” took shape. Spies, hiding in plain sight in a small Maine town: their stories became her inspiration.

The first book in the series, The Spy Coast, was followed by The Summer Guests and now The Shadow Friends—with a fourth installment already in progress.