There’s something you should probably know before you read this review. Camino Ghosts is comprised of many small elements that individually mean a lot to me. There are characters I feel I know. There are mentions of Ole Miss, a place I have far too many memories of. Most significantly, I’ve been to Bay Books, the bookstore at the heart of Grisham’s fictional Camino Island.

It’s not named Bay Books in real life like it is on Camino Island, though. In Oxford, Mississippi sits a bookstore called Square Books. I first encountered Square Books as a child, escaping into the stacks. I spent more than a few high school days cross-legged on their oriental rugs digging for my latest pretentious read. Post-grad, I visited the store on anxious breaks, lingering on the staircase lined with signed Grisham first editions. Finding Square Books in Camino Ghosts was such a treat. It made me fall in love with Camino Island and Bay Books at record speed.

Camino Ghosts is the third installment in the Camino Island series, but it easily reads as a standalone. Mercer Mann is a local author in Camino Island, and she’s desperate for a new book idea. Her good friend and local bookstore owner Bruce Cable has an idea for Mercer that might just blow the top off a decades-old mystery. A woman in town, Lovely Jackson, claims to be the sole heir to the mysterious Dark Isle. Lovely is the last of the line of a group of enslaved people who were brought from Africa to America by boat and shipwrecked on Dark Isle. When a property developer wants to develop the island with a casino and a stream of condos, Bruce and Mercer know someone needs to step in.

Mercer and Bruce are both such great characters. Mercer effortlessly pairs crime-solving and writing. She’s like a modern-day Jessica Fletcher, if Jessica was sun-tanned and a bit of a Southern socialite. Bruce feels like every wind-swept, highly educated Southern gentleman I’ve met, and I mean that in the best way. Bruce, Mercer, and the other recurring characters on Camino Island are all delightful. However, Camino Ghosts shines when Lovely Jackson and Dark Isle are on the page.

Grisham does a remarkable job building tension on Dark Isle, leaving readers unsure if outside forces or supernatural causes are causing the deaths on Dark Isle. It’s unsettling at times, but never to the point of horror. Camino Ghosts also has a novel within a novel, as Lovely writes the story of her Nalla, her great-grandmother who crashed on Dark Isle. Lovely’s book is intense, but its balance of terror, trauma, and survival is incredibly impactful. I also love that Lovely is the one to share the story of her people with the reader.

Final Thoughts:

Camino Ghosts is heart-wrenching and powerful. With a remarkable story and a mystery that borders on the speculative, Camino Ghosts is one of Grisham’s finest works yet. I know Dark Isles, Nalla, and Lovely will stay with me for quite some time.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Thanks to Doubleday for providing me with an advanced review copy! All the above thoughts are my own.

A return to Camino Island and bookseller Bruce and author/professor Mercer. In this case, they're not really the center of the story, but ones who facilitate someone else's story coming about. Bruce introduces Mercer to Lovely, an 80-year old black woman,s the last descendant of nearby Dark Isle, an island sanctuary for escaped African slaves going back two and a half centuries, and the author of a book detailing the history of the island as was handed down to her during her time living there. At this juncture a rich major Florida developer has its sights on the island, abandoned as they believe decades ago. Though Lovely swears she's its last descendant and rightful heir to the property, it will take a lot of finesse from an environmental lawyer and other residents of Camino Island to save Dark Isle.
Much like the last Camino Island book, this wasn't really a legal thriller. It was more of a historical fiction/adventure tale that featured Grisham's patented courtroom writing. Featuring the history of what the Africans went through in establishing their hidden colony in Lovely's memoir is the more historical and adventure aspects of the book, while the modern day attempts to stop the developers are lighter legal fare than Grisham's more robust legal thrillers. It was enjoyable, especially if you liked the previous Camino books.

A new entry in the Camino series, this is another page turner. Opening with the wedding of Mercer and Thomas, she is given a book to take on her honeymoon. After reading it, Mercer becomes fascinated with the story of Lovely Jackson, descendant of enslaved people, who had created an isolated settlement on DARK ISLAND.

The timing is perfect, just as a developer is trying to build a mega-resort on this now deserted island. It is an opportunity for Grisham to bring the ownership of the island to court. This is something he does in a compelling manner. Though there are many people involved, the story is easy to follow. Grisham pulls all of the pieces together with a very satisfactory ending.

My only problem with this novel is that it works beautifully for those of us familiar with the characters, but might be confusing as a stand-alone.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy a new Grisham novel.

John Grisham has given us Lovely Jackson - a heroine we can cheer for in Camino Ghosts . In a dynamic story of the beginnings of the African slave trade through the present day, the reader is immersed in the cruelty involved in the treatment of those sold into slavery and in corporate greed in the present day. The characters are well developed and the writing is superb. Whether or not you believe in witchcraft and curses, you will be totally absorbed by this effective (albeit fictional) account.

This book is highly recommended and I thank NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to read and review this novel prior to publication. Special thanks to Mr. Grisham for writing this astounding, interesting and educational book.

For me, signs of a good book are that I’m sad the story ended and that the tale will linger in my soul. Camino Ghosts meets that definition.

Camino Ghosts is a sensitively written perspective of a very different culture that was respected and honored throughout the novel. Beautifully set on remote Florida islands and populated with characters that would be delightful to meet, this is an engrossing read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to read this wonderful ARC.