Tess Gerritsen, the New York Times bestselling author behind the Rizzoli & Isles series, will discuss her new spy thriller at Carlsbad City Library's Dove Library on Monday, Aug. 31.

The free event runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Schulman Auditorium at 1775 Dove Lane. Free tickets will be distributed starting at 11 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis, and the city expects a large crowd, according to a City of Carlsbad announcement. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

Gerritsen, 72, will talk about her writing career, why suspense still connects with readers and how her crime fiction has evolved. A book signing in the library courtyard follows the discussion.

The visit marks a homecoming of sorts. Gerritsen is a San Diego native, the daughter of Chinese immigrants whose grandparents owned Tom Lai's restaurant on G Street Pier in downtown San Diego from 1951 until it was replaced by The Fish Market in 1988, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. She graduated from Kearny High School before studying at Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, where she earned her medical degree.

"The first 18 years of my life were in San Diego. So it's always fun to go back and see some of the old haunts," Gerritsen told the San Diego Union-Tribune in an Aug. 13 interview previewing her local appearances.

Her new novel, "The Shadow Friends," published Tuesday, Aug. 25, is the third installment in her Martini Club series. The books follow five retired CIA agents living in the fictional coastal town of Purity, Maine, who keep getting pulled back into international intrigue. Gerritsen has said the series was inspired by her real-life neighbors in Camden, Maine, many of whom turned out to be retired CIA officers who wouldn't talk about their government careers.

Gerritsen left medicine after writing her first thriller, "Harvest," in 1996 while on maternity leave. She has since sold more than 40 million books in 40 countries and was named a ThrillerMaster by International Thriller Writers in 2024.

Gerritsen also appears at Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave., Coronado, at 6:30 p.m. that same evening.

If you go

• What: Tess Gerritsen discusses "The Shadow Friends"
• When: Monday, Aug. 31, noon to 1:30 p.m. (free tickets distributed at 11 a.m.)
• Where: Schulman Auditorium, Carlsbad City Library (Dove Library), 1775 Dove Lane
• Cost: Free
• Details: Book signing in the courtyard after the talk