Camino Island starts out with a caper, and I love a good caper. A group of men are planning a heist. They are scoping out their target, getting familiar with the security, and devising a plan to break into the rare books library at Princeton University and steal the original manuscripts written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s a cunning plan and they get away with the manuscripts, but one tiny mistake brings it all crashing down.

Mercer Mann is a promising young writer who found great success with her first novel; now, she is struggling to find the right story for her next book. She is approached by Elaine Shelby, an investigator Brinkley & Olson. They have been hired by Princeton’s insurance company to recover the manuscripts and they make Mercer an amazing offer: $100,000 to return to her home on Camino Island, work on her next book, and gather some information on the local bookseller, Bruce Cable, who may or may not have the stolen manuscripts.

What follows is a fascinating game of cat and mouse – does Bruce have the manuscripts? Will Mercer be wooed by Bruce and double cross the authorities? Who will crack first?

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read that sucked you in and kept you turning pages, with a very satisfying ending. I can absolutely see it as a movie and I would definitely buy a ticket. It’s not perfect, but it is entertaining enough to convince me to reserve the rest of the series from my local library.

This book came to me by way of the Akron-Summit County Library.