Camino Winds

Grisham can still keep his readers (or in this case listeners) interest even if the mysteries don't involve lengthy court cases like some of his earlier works.

A severe hurricane hits Camino Island, an idyllic spot off the east coast of Florida and wreaks devastation. There was one death that appears, initially, to be due to the storm but when blood spatter is found inside the victim's home it is obvious he was killed. Local bookstore owner, Bruce Cable, decides to investigate since the storm has decimated business at his store. The victim was an author and had recently finished his most recent manuscript but there was no trace of it in his condo or on his computer. Fortunately he had sent a copy to his sister in California and Cable and show more others read that copy. The subject was a massive health-care fraud involving an unlicensed drug that when administered to late-stage dementia patients prolonged their life allowing the owners of the nursing homes where they lived to get continued Medicaid funding. It was obvious that someone had leaked information about a real case to the author and Cable set about finding that person. Once he did the FBI were alerted and they investigated the company. As to the actual murder, it was perpetrated by a hired assassin who is brought to justice by a quirk of fate.

Only John Grisham would come up with a way that involved extending life to be a fraudulent action. Usually we hear about people whose life is cut short by drugs. show less

I loved Camino Island, so this was like returning to a regular summer vacation spot. I love how clean and basic Grisham’s writing style is, and I always enjoy the twists and turns of his plots. This was more simple than the old more legal thrillers but a refreshingly light and enjoyable reading experience. I’ll be interested to see if we get one more set of stories out of these characters?

Grisham returns to Camino Island, Florida, and characters he introduced us to there three years ago. I read [Camino Island] when it came out, and apparently enjoyed it, although I didn't record anything more than that about it. I have to say I was well into this novel before anything or anyone sounded familiar to me. What finally nudged me into partial recall was the description of the theft, ransom and return of a Fitzgerald manuscript from Princeton's library---hey!--that sounds familiar, didn't I read about that somewhere? Oh, wait, yes...that was the basis of the story of the last book, which I had completely forgotten, and the details of which are not coming back even now. Sadly, [Camino Winds] isn't likely to stick in my head any show more longer. The actual story could have been told in less than 100 pages, and the filler material---banter, descriptive passages, local color, romance and/or sex, etc.---which is sometimes a lot of fun in mystery/suspense novels, totally failed to spark in this one. The premise is this: a popular writer, one of Bay Books' owner Bruce Cable's stable of favorites, is found dead in the aftermath of a monster hurricane, but Bruce and his buddies are certain Nelson was murdered, not a victim of falling debris. They come up with a theory that the subject of his latest book, not yet published, has made someone nervous enough to try to stop the presses. They're right, and they manage to prove it despite very little help from State Police investigators, but the plot is full of holes and improbabilities; there is no one to love or to despise; there is little action, no tension, and no fun to be had outside of vicarious enjoyment of buckets of boiled shrimp and cold beer. Everyone involved does seem to agree that Nelson's new book will sell, although it isn't very good. Hmmm....could Grisham be having us on? show less

Grisham, John. Camino Winds. Camino Island No. 2. Doubleday, 2020.
In the Camino Island series, John Grisham moves away from the legal thriller into more straightforward caper and mystery stories. Camino Wind is an old-school murder mystery with a few topical twists. Bruce Cable and his bookstore crowd are back, this time riding out a hurricane that does massive damage to island buildings. When a local writer is found bludgeoned to death with the proverbial blunt instrument, Bruce and his friends are drawn into the case. The most interesting part of the tale is not the who-done-it but the how-come-they done-it. That is where the twists come in, which I will not reveal. As usual, Grisham tells a page-turning story, but this one is not as show more fresh and lively as the first volume in the series. Nevertheless, a Camino Winds is a good book to take to the storm shelter with you. show less

Really closer to 3.5 stars. First, John Grisham doesn't write any bad books, and I love that he hasn't fallen into a rut where all the books sound the same. I've read both of this new series and feel the first book was better. This book was a little weak. That said, a so - so book by John Grisham is better than many others.

Set in Florida, Bruce Cable is a book shop owner whose store is in the middle of everything. He's one of the go to people/places. Hurricane Leo veers towards Camino Island, and doubting its severity, Bruce and some of his friends opt to stay. Once the hurricane passes, one of their friends, Nelson is dead, and while the storm was devastating, it is clear that the same piece of debris probably didn't hit him numerous show more times, causing his death. Since local law enforcement is swapped, Bruce and some of his friends pursue justice. There are a lot of twists and turn. Enjoyable. show less

This is the follow-up book to Camino Island. Bruce Cable is still operating his Bay Books bookstore and is still sharing his life with Noelle. She is traveling in Europe, when the book begins, to spend time with her paramour, Jean-Luc. She and Bruce have had a long standing open relationship that does not demand monogamy. She has a store near his where she sells antiques, but they cohabit.
Bruce is having a dinner for one of his authors, Tessa Mercer. She arrives on the island with her boyfriend, putting a cramp in Bruce’s Don Juan reputation, but he is agreeable with the arrangement and prepares a welcome dinner for her before her planned book presentation. An uninvited guest arrives later that night, which changes all their plans. A show more category 4 hurricane, Leo, comes barreling toward Camino Island and makes a direct hit.
When the hurricane passes, Bruce goes around to check up on the bookstore and the antique store and then on his neighbors well-being. When he is stopped and informed that one of the guests at his dinner, a friend and best selling author, Nelson Kerr, has been found dead on his property, apparently from a storm injury, Bruce and his comrades visit the crime scene. Afterwards, all three, Bruce, Bob who is an ex-con, now an author, and Nick who is a Wake Forest college student and summer employee, come to the conclusion that Nelson’s death might not have been an accident. A tree limb doesn’t generally land on a person’s head four times!
Nick has his own theory about Nelson’s death. Nick fancies himself a writer too, and Bruce thinks that although he is young and his work ethic leaves something to be desired, he has talent. Together they join forces to instigate a more complete investigation of Nelson’s death. It takes them into the murky world of illegal drugs and murder for hire. As the investigation plays out, illegal practices in nursing homes are exposed, as well. Greed and drug trafficking, along with off-shore hidden money, also play prominent roles in the story.
The story is strangely prescient since it was written before the Covid 19 virus and the suspicions of its origin in China, yet oddly enough, the illegal drug in this book was secretly manufactured in a large factory there, in China, and shipped to the United States where it was being used, illegally, in order to prolong the life of those very near death, for no conceivable reason, other than the greedy profit motive.
How the scheme is uncovered is really the basis of the story and it is filled with interesting tangents making the book more of a good story than a murder mystery. As it was in Camino Island, in the end, even the good characters want their share of the spoils. Sometimes, it became fortuitous to turn a blind eye to the situation.
There are some loose ends which are never tied up, but for the most part, the book is an interesting read, perfect for the beach or this time of quarantine. It won’t tax the brain, and it will surely entertain the reader. show less

Just as Bruce Cable's Bay Books is preparing for the return of bestselling author Mercer Mann, Hurricane Leo veers from its predicted course and heads straight for the island. Bruce decides to stay and ride out the storm. The hurricane is devastating. One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce's and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson's injuries suggests that the storm wasn't the cause of his death: He has suffered several suspicious blows to the head. Who would want Nelson dead? Bruce begins to wonder if the shady characters in Nelson's novels might be more real than fictional.

I enjoyed the first half of the book with the hurricane and it’s aftermath. The second half went in a very different direction show more and I thought it became somewhat predictable. Just a so-so read for me. show less