I hadn't read any John Grisham books in a good, long while. Then Camino Island turned up as a reading recommendation. I liked it so much that I went back to the library and scrutinized the G shelf in the fiction section. I wanted more of the same, and I was surprised and delighted to find Camino Winds. A sequel! How wonderful!

It's been three years since we last visited this Florida resort town. Bruce Cable still owns and runs Bay Books. Novelist Mercer Mann has moved off island to teach at Ole Miss. But plenty of writers still live in the area, including Nelson Kerr, who is known for penning thrillers. All of these folks swirl around Bruce and his bookstore.

Hurricane season is upon them, however, and Hurricane Leo is heading toward Camino Island. Many residents, including most of the writers, leave to find safety inland. Bruce decides to stay, for the sake of his home and his business. His partner Noelle is on a shopping spree in Europe, so she is already out of harm's way. Only a few of Bruce's friends are also sticking out the storm: including Bob Cobb, a former felon turned crime writer; and Nick Sutton, a Wake Forest student and voracious reader who works at Bay Books during the summer season.

Leo is a category 4 hurricane when it hits this part of Florida. The experience is a frightening one to live through, and the storm causes tremendous damage. When Bruce, Bob and Nick emerge after the onslaught, they discover among the devastation that their friend Nelson Kerr died during the hurricane. At first glance, he seems to have been walking outside his condo and was hit by several falling branches. But the more the trio considers the evidence and the circumstances, the more likely it seems that Nelson was actually conveniently murdered under cover of the storm. How? Why? And by whom?

The men alert the local authorities, who eventually come around and perform a quick analysis. But all emergency personnel are obviously needed elsewhere to manage the mess Leo made. When it doesn't appear as though Nelson's case will be deemed important enough to be thoroughly investigated, the trio takes the matter into their own hands. They may even have to call in the same group that was involved in the stolen manuscript case we read about in Camino Island. What goes around, comes around. Will Bruce, Bob and Nick eventually find answers and justice for Nelson, his friends and his family?

Camino Winds offers just as engaging and delightful a reading outing as Camino Island does. While both of these books provide complete stories on their own, they work well together as a first and second episode of a series. Will more Camino titles be forthcoming? I sure hope so.