The Spy Coast

Although Jo Thibodeau isn’t a protagonist in the novel, she is the only other character given several chapters to narrate (Diana and Bella each have only two and one, respectively). Jo is “a sturdy blonde with her hair tied back in a no-nonsense ponytail. Despite her youth, she has an air of authority” (39). Maggie notes that she is “[a]uthoritative, but still polite enough to call me ma’am in the respectful tone one uses for a grandmother” (39). Jo is also observant and considers everything about a person when drawing conclusions. She describes attending her first autopsy, in which she notices that “[h]e’s missing the tip of his index finger. And see all the scars on his hands? He worked with sharp tools. Maybe a sawmill, or a meatpacking plant” (82). This attention to detail, as well as her consideration of the humanity of the corpse, are characteristics that make her a good investigator.

Jo is the acting police chief in Purity, Maine. She was born and raised in Purity and feels strongly protective and possessive of it. As a result, she views newcomers like Maggie and her friends with suspicion. Maggie sees similarities between Jo and her younger self, drawing a connection to the theme of The Dangers of Underestimating Powerful Women when she comments, “At her age, I was equally sure of myself, but experience has taught me the dangers of overconfidence” (45). Maggie realizes, towards the end of the novel, that she and her friends have underestimated Jo, and they invite her into their group, indicating that Jo will play an important role in future novels in the Martini Club series.

Bella is Phillip Hardwicke’s daughter, and Maggie befriends her during her investigation into Hardwicke in the past. When Maggie first meets Bella, she is “just a teenager, but at fifteen years old, she already knows how to exude ennui” (144). Bella’s mother, Camilla, and Phillip’s lover, Sylvia, are both beautiful, but by contrast, Maggie says, Bella is awkward “in her ridiculous pink outfits, ungainly and starved for attention” (203). Bella is trapped in her life with her father—although her mother is loving, her father has full custody and seeks to control her. When Maggie first meets her, she describes Bella as “some aquatic creature peering at me through aquarium glass” (144), highlighting her imprisonment with her father.

Bella’s involvement in Hardwicke and Operation Cyrano presents Maggie with a moral quandary: “I think about needy teenage girls and how easy it is to manipulate them, use them. And how wrong it feels to be doing this” (203). Bella is one of what Maggie calls the “innocents,” people who are considered collateral damage during operations. In the end, Bella’s entanglement in Operation Cyrano is what leads to Bella becoming a criminal like her father. Bella returns for revenge against everyone involved in Operation Cyrano, especially Maggie, because her betrayal was personal. In the end, Bella shows that she isn’t exactly like her father—she lets Maggie live and returns Callie unharmed.

Diana is the CIA operative responsible for Operation Cyrano, Maggie’s recruitment for it, and eventually, Danny’s death. Diana has the opening chapter of the novel, highlighting that although she is barely represented in the narrative, her perspective is crucial to the plot.

When Maggie first meets Diana, she describes her as “young, only in her late twenties, with platinum hair that looks like silver against her black turtleneck” (126). She also recognizes the essential coldness of Diana who “looks at [Maggie] as if [she’s] a specimen to be sliced open and dissected” (126). Even when she is young, Maggie notes, “she moves with the quiet confidence of someone who’s in control” (127).

Although this confidence remains characteristic of Diana throughout the novel, her appearance changes drastically. In the opening chapter, she is cutting and dyeing her hair to disappear and when Gavin shows Maggie a present picture, she is shocked to see that Diana “looks hungry and haunted, her eyes as hollowed out as a death’s-head” (279). This signifies that Diana’s physical and psychological changes are a result of the negative consequences of Operation Cyrano.

Diana is single-minded in her pursuit of Cyrano, willing to sacrifice lives to get what she wants, and that doesn’t change throughout the novel. She also shows her ethical flexibility when she embezzles money from Hardwicke’s account after his death, using information Maggie gained during their investigation. Since Danny’s death, Maggie has blamed Diana, and when Diana dies at the end of the novel, it is symbolic of the end of Operation Cyrano and closure for Maggie about Danny’s death.

Declan is a member of the Martini Club and Maggie’s closest friend. He is cool and reserved, but throughout the novel, he shows his concern for Maggie’s safety and his willingness to help. While in the CIA, Declan’s cover was being a history professor, which was his actual profession before he was recruited. Maggie says he looks exactly like a history professor, “with his tweed jacket and his handsome lion’s mane of hair. At sixty-eight, his once-black hair is half-silver, but it’s still as thick as it was when I met him, nearly four decades ago” (12). Although he and Maggie went through training together, Declan is several years older and fiercely protective of her.

Over the course of the novel, Maggie realizes that Declan has romantic feelings for her and has since early in their careers. This realization comes in parallel with her gaining acceptance and closure regarding Danny’s death. Declan acts as a foil for Danny in Maggie’s mind, as she constantly holds his behavior up against Danny’s: “Declan is once again wearing his coolly unreadable mask. Unlike Danny, whose face I could read at a glance, Declan has mastered the art of hiding his feelings” (301). Declan, though caring, is reserved and stoic, rarely revealing his feelings even to his closest friends.

At 73, Ben is the oldest member of the Martini Club, and according to Maggie, “the unofficial mayor of our tight little circle” (36). He was the first of their circle to move to Purity, and “recruited” the others to do so when they retired. Maggie describes him as “vaguely menacing, with his shaved head and black leather jacket” (12). She reflects that “It takes innate command presence to pull off a look like that at age seventy-three, but Ben still has it” (17). Ben is the de facto leader of the Martini Club, and along with Declan, hears Maggie’s story about Operation Cyrano first-hand.

Ben’s specialty is information gathering, and he still has an active network in the Agency. In addition, he operates with the same principles in Purity, and Maggie knows that “[i]f anyone in this town has his fingers to the wind, it’s Ben” (17). While at the Agency, Ben’s cover was as a salesman of hotel supplies, a job that reflects this networking capability in its dependence on travel and networking. Although Ben is important to Maggie and her story, she isn’t as close with him as she is with Declan, seeing him more as an authority figure and leader of the group.

Ingrid and Lloyd are the final members of the Martini Club. Although they don’t know about Operation Cyrano, they are still intimately involved in the story. While Ben and Declan are pursuing the past mystery with Maggie, Ingrid and Lloyd are investigating Bianca’s death and the attempted assassination of Maggie that have happened in the present in Purity. They both illustrate the theme of Appearances Versus Reality, as they use their appearances to get information from the Purity locals. Ingrid looks like a “Park Avenue matron” and always has “a silk scarf perfectly knotted at her throat” (35). However, as Maggie points out, “her blandly pleasant expression disguises a cipher-cracking genius” (35).

Ingrid is the group’s computer expert, as well as being a wealth of information about everything from tire tracks to security footage. Lloyd is Ingrid’s husband and constant companion. He is a “consummate cook,” and his energy and love of life are highlighted by “his unapologetic appetite,” leading Maggie to reflect, “It’s one of Lloyd’s quirky charms, the way he so eagerly devours life” (220). As Ingrid and Lloyd investigate in Purity, together they illustrate the theme of Age, Wisdom, and Experience as they use both their experience and their innocuous looks to get information.