The Camino

From the Netherlands's most popular crime writer, a gripping literary thriller about a widow who retraces her husband's final journey along the Camino de Santiago to uncover the truth about his death.

Forty-four-year-old chocolatier Lotte Bonnet has been living happily in South Limburg for years with her husband Emil, a former refugee from Bosnia. But when Emil unexpectedly dies by suicide while walking the Camino de Santiago, or Way of Saint James, Lotte is devastated.

Shocked and confused, Lotte resolves to follow Emil's exact path on the Camino one year later, hoping for answers, or at least insights into what could have compelled him to take his own life. While walking the arduous trail through central France, passing idyllic villages and meeting fellow pilgrims, Lotte is inspired by the natural beauty that surrounds her, forming new friendships, and possibly a romantic connection on the Camino.

However, Lotte's thoughts are also elsewhere, in Sarajevo, as she learns the terrors of the Bosnian War and shocking secrets about her husband--who it turns out was not the man she thought he was. As the trail grows more treacherous, it becomes clear to Lotte that someone is following her--someone who does not want her to find the answers she's seeking.

Fans of Louise Penny's Inspector Armand Gamache will be enthralled by Lotte's resilience and the revelations she has on her journey. Anya Niewierra's blockbuster mystery The Camino has taken Europe by storm and is finally available in English for the first time.

Author: Anya Niewierra
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 08/25/2026
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9781668085363


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 05/01/2026 pg. 102
Publishers Weekly 04/27/2026
Booklist 07/01/2026

About the Author
Anya Niewierra is the number one bestselling author of the Netherlands, dubbed by the press as the new queen of Dutch literature. She has written six books, all of them immense bestsellers. Her breakthrough book The Camino has sold well over 800,000 copies in the Netherlands, won both the NS Reader's Award and the Hebban Crime Award, and was the bestselling and most borrowed book of the year in the Netherlands in 2024, spending over 170 weeks on the bestseller list. It's currently being made into an international television series and has been published in multiple languages. Niewierra was a director in the tourism industry for over thirty years, and lives and writes in South Limburg, close to the Belgian and German borders. Her childhood years within the serene abbey walls of Rolduc, as well as her life in Northern Catalonia, inspired Niewierra to write The Flower Girl, for which she won her first Hebban Crime Award. She's renowned for her research, love of nature, and her layered characters. Her latest book, The Nomad, was a number one bestseller on the day of release.