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.

Goodreads / Amazon

CW: enslavement, assault, rape

Review:

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.