Camino Ghosts

Content warning: This section of the guide discusses racism and violence. 

Camino Ghosts is the third installment in Grisham’s Camino novels, a series that includes Camino Island (2017), Camino Winds (2020), and Camino Ghosts (2024). Grisham is known for his intriguing legal thrillers, but the Camino series represents a departure for the author, expanding his niche of legal thrillers beyond courtroom drama. The books are set in the fictional Camino Island in Florida and center on the adventures of novelist Mercer Mann and independent bookstore owner Bruce Cable. While the novels can be read as standalone works, the series offers deeper insight into the characters and their relationships.

Camino Island primarily centers on a heist: A team of thieves steal F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel manuscripts from Princeton University’s Firestone Library. In this story, Grisham explores the writing world, focusing on writers’ lives and their struggles. The story establishes Mercer and Bruce as key characters, their relationship, and their connection to the island. The second installment in the series, Camino Winds, returns to the same setting several years later, when Mercer has become a published author with an acclaimed debut novel.