Monthly Archives: March 2025

E160: Interview with Tess Gerritsen, author of The Summer Guests

March 25, 2025Author InterviewAuthor Interview, Maine, rizzoli and isles, tess gerritsen, the spy coast, the summer guests, thomas and mercertopshelfatmerricklibrary

I had the absolute honor of hosting international best-selling author, producer, screenwriter, and filmmaker, Tess Gerritsen on the podcast! Tess joined me to talk about her brand-new series, The Martini Club, set in the Midcoast region of Maine.

The first book, The Spy Coast, introduces Maggie Bird, a retired spy who stumbles upon a secret group of former FBI and CIA agents living in the quiet town of Purity, Maine. But when a dead body turns up in her driveway, Maggie quickly realizes retirement isn’t as peaceful as she’d hoped! In the second book, The Summer Guests, the stakes get even higher when a young girl is kidnapped, drawing Maggie and her crew back into the action. During our chat, Tess shared the fascinating origin story behind The Spy Coast, how the book is unexpectedly autobiographical, and how the second book evolved. Plus, she gives us a sneak peek at what’s in store for book three! This was an absolutely fantastic conversation—I had a blast. Huge thanks to Tess Gerritsen for joining me! I know we’ll all be eagerly waiting for the next installment.

Tess Gerritsen recommends: You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego.

Place you hold for all the Tess Gerritsen books out there, including her famous Rizzoli & Isles series!

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E159: Interview with Holly Gramazio, author of The Husbands

March 14, 2025Author Interviewdebut author, holly gramazio, penguin random house, Read With Jenna, the husbandstopshelfatmerricklibrary

An exuberant debut, The Husbands delights in how do we navigate life, love, and choice in a world of never-ending options.

Holly Gramazio’s first novel, The Husbands, was an instant NYT bestseller, a Read With Jenna Pick for April of 2024, made so many best-of lists for 2024, and rightly so! As Holly heads out onto her paperback book tour, she sat down with me to talk about this knock-out of a book, her year of touring, what’s next for her and so much more. Thank you for joining me, Holly!

Holly Gramazio recommends: Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K. Riley; Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon; Poor Artists by Gabrielle De La Puente and Zarina Muhammad. Follow Holly on Instagram: @holly_gramazio

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E158: Interview with Deanna Raybourn, author of Kills Well With Others

March 5, 2025Uncategorizedberkley publishing, deanna raybourn, killers of a certain age, kills well with others, Thriller, women spiestopshelfatmerricklibrary

A series about older women doing kick-ass things, in this case? Assassins! Four women assassins, senior in status, and in age, sharpen their knives for another bloody good adventure in Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn, a riotous follow-up to the NYT bestselling sensation Killers of a Certain Age. We had such a great conversation about women of a certain age, the inspiration for this series, book res, and more. We had a “bloody” good time, thank you so much for joining me Deanna!

Deanna recommends: The work of Jesse Q. Sutanto; the work of Elle Cosimano; the work of Lauren Willig.

Place your holds here for the incredible body of work from Deanna Raybourn, including the Veronica Speedwell Mystery Series!