John Grisham Books in Order

John Grisham is a New York Times bestselling American legal thriller author and former attorney whose books have sold over 300 million copies worldwide. He has written more than fifty consecutive number one New York Times bestsellers, and he is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. His debut novel, A Time to Kill, introduced Mississippi defense attorney Jake Brigance, and the next published book, The Firm, turned him into one of the fastest-selling fiction writers in the world.

This page lists all John Grisham books in order, including the Jake Brigance, The Firm, Lacy Stoltz, Camino Island, Theodore Boone, and Rogue Lawyer series, his standalone novels, short fiction, non-fiction, and a complete list of film and TV adaptations.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Jake Brigance Series (Books in Order)

The Jake Brigance series follows young defense attorney Jake Brigance in Clanton, Mississippi, who takes on difficult cases surrounding racial and moral issues, especially related to the legal and social tensions of small-town Mississippi. Jake Brigance is known for his willingness to defend disadvantaged individuals, aka the so-called underdogs.

Reading Order

  1. A Time To Kill, 1989
  2. Sycamore Row, 2013
  3. A Time for Mercy, 2020

The Firm Series (Books in Order)

The Firm series follows Mitch McDeere, a Harvard Law graduate who discovers that his prestigious Memphis firm is, in fact, a front for organized crime. The original novel, The Firm, was 47 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and is the book that made John Grisham a household name. It was adapted into a movie and a television series as well. The Exchange: After the Firm brings back McDeere over 20 years later. The two books can be read separately, although readers new to the series should start with The Firm.

Reading Order

  1. The Firm, 1991
  2. The Exchange, 2023

Theodore Boone Series (Books in Order)

The Theodore Boone series follows thirteen-year-old aspiring lawyer Theodore Boone in Strattenburg, whose parents are both lawyers. He likes to spends most of his time giving legal advice to classmates and getting involved in real criminal cases, hence his nickname “kid lawyer”. It is a middle grade / young adult series, and it introduces basic legal concepts, legal ethics and procedures to young readers.

Reading Order

  1. Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer,  2010
  2. Theodore Boone: The Abduction, 2011
  3. Theodore Boone: The Accused,  2012
  4. Theodore Boone: The Activist, 2013
  5. Theodore Boone: The Fugitive, 2015
  6. Theodore Boone: The Scandal, 2016
  7. Theodore Boone: The Accomplice, 2019

The Whistler / Lacy Stoltz Series (Books in Order)

The Lacy Stoltz series follows investigator Lacy Stoltz, who works with the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct, as she takes on dangerous cases that deal with legal misconduct. The series has a slower, more structured pace than John Grisham’s courtroom thrillers, focusing more on corruption than the dramatic trials in the Jake Brigance series and The Firm.

Reading Order

  1. Witness to a Trial, 2016
  2. The Whistler, 2016
  3. The Judge’s List, 2021

Camino Island Series (Books in Order)

The Camino Island series follows bookstore owner Bruce Cable and writer Mercer Mann in Santa Rosa, a beachside town in Florida, who are dealing with rare book theft, literary crimes, and the close-knit friendship of a bookshop community. It is lighter in tone than Grisham’s legal thrillers and reads more like a bookish crime series. Each book works as a standalone.

Reading Order

  1. Camino Island, 2017
  2. Camino Winds, 2020
  3. Camino Ghost, 2024

Rogue Lawyer Series (Books in Order)

The Rogue Lawyer series follows criminal defense attorney Sebastian Rudd, an unconventional lawyer who works from his customized van rather than an actual office and takes on clients that nobody else wants to defend. The series includes one novel and a prequel short story.

Reading Order

  1. Partners, 2016
  2. Rogue Lawyer, 2015

Standalone Novels

Novellas and Short Stories

Collections

Anthologies

Non-Fiction Books

John Grisham Biography

John Grisham author

John Grisham is an American author whose legal thrillers have made him into one of the bestselling writers of the genre in the last three decades. He has published more than fifty consecutive number one New York Times bestsellers, his books have been translated into almost fifty languages, and their total sales exceeded 300 million copies.
Official website: jgrisham.com

John Grisham was born in 1955, in Jonesboro, Arkansas as the second of five children. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1977, and earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981, after which he worked as a criminal lawyer in Southaven and served as a Democrat in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1984 to 1990. Initially, he wanted to become a tax lawyer, but seeing all the “complexity and lunacy” tax lawyers had to face every single day, he decided to become a trial lawyer instead.

After working as a criminal lawyer for a decade, he began writing his first novel in 1984 after listening to a rape trial case, which sparked the idea for writing a book. The resulting novel, A Time to Kill, was published in 1989. The next book, The Firm, published in 1991, became the bestselling novel of the year and launched his very successful writing career as a top legal and mystery author.

Until 1996, John Grisham wrote regularly, averaging a novel or two each year. In 1996 he took a small break to win a wrongful death case for a railroad worker’s family, after which he returned to writing full time.

Over the years, he has written novels in various genres that went beyond legal thrillers, which also includes young adult fiction, regular crime fiction, sports fiction, and non-fiction books related to wrongful conviction. He serves on the boards of the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries and lives on a farm in central Virginia.

John Grisham Book Adaptations

Below is a list of John Grisham’s legal stories that have been turned into film, movie adaptations, or documentary. After A Time to Kill, several other novels have been also adapted, including:

  • A Time to Kill – adapted into the feature film A Time to Kill (1996)
  • The Firm – adapted into the feature film The Firm (1993) and the television series The Firm (2011–2012)
  • The Pelican Brief – adapted into the feature film The Pelican Brief (1993)
  • The Client – adapted into the feature film The Client (1994) and the television series The Client (1995–1996)
  • The Chamber – adapted into the feature film The Chamber (1996)
  • A Time to Kill / The Rainmaker screenplay – The Gingerbread Man (1998) used an original Grisham screenplay
  • The Rainmaker – adapted into the feature film The Rainmaker (1997) and the television series The Rainmaker (2025, USA Network)
  • Runaway Jury – adapted into the feature film Runaway Jury (2003)
  • The Street Lawyer – adapted as the TV movie The Street Lawyer (2003)
  • A Painted House – adapted into the television film A Painted House (2003)
  • Skipping Christmas – adapted into the feature film Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
  • The Innocent Man – adapted into the Netflix documentary series The Innocent Man (2018)
  • A Time for Mercy – in development as an HBO limited series (Jake Brigance series)

John Grisham Awards and Honors

Awards

  • inducted into the American Academy of Achievement (1993)
  • The Confession – Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, inaugural winner (2011)
  • Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction (2009)
  • Virginia Literary Awards for Lifetime Achievement (2009)
  • Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award (2005)
  • British Book Awards, Outstanding Achievement (2007)
  • The Confession – Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction (2011)
  • Sycamore Row – Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction (2014)
  • Theakston’s Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction (2018)
  • The Whistler – Nielsen Silver Bestseller Award (2018)
  • Framed – CWA Non-Fiction Dagger (2025)
  • Thrillermaster (2025)

Nominations and Shortlists

  • The Runaway Jury – Audie Award, Best Fiction (1997)
  • The Testament – Audie Award, Best Fiction (2000)
  • Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer – Agatha Award, Best Children’s/Young Adult (2010)
  • Ford County – Audie Award, Best Short Stories or Collections (2011)
  • The Racketeer – CrimeFest Sounds of Crime Award (2013)
  • Sycamore Row – Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Best Mystery/Thriller (2013)
  • The Scandal – CrimeFest Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (2017)
  • The Accomplice – CrimeFest Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (2020)

Edited by

Marika

Founder of Mystery Sequels, a reference site focused on listing mystery and thriller books in the correct reading order. I maintain and update the site’s bibliographies as new titles are released, ensuring accuracy and consistency across author and series pages.

Readers Also Like

Last verified:

29 Comments

  1. First of all, thank you for creating this website! It’s super useful and helpful for a John Grisham fan like me!
    However I just noticed that “The Firm” is not on the list of “All John Grisham Books in Order by Year / Publication Order”. Could you please check if this list is complete? Because I just started to read/re-read all John Grisham books in chronological order by their publication dates, according to this list. Many thanks!

    1. Thank you so much for noticing the error. I have fixed it now. The Firm was included as the first in its own series, alas, I missed adding it in the chronological book list.

  2. I am a big fan of JG, my first was the client and ever since i have been glued to many others. Such an awesome author.

  4. My summer author during the pandemic Hope there are enough books to list me they the crisis.I really am enjoying JG books and now hav husband reading them too.Thanks to great authors for your
    Wonderful treats.Oh yes books are my addiction!!!
    ES

  5. I just received the ebook through Libby of Camino Winds, and I am
    enjoying how you have refreshed my mind of Camino Island in a few short chapters. Before I ordered the ebook I made sure that I
    still had my copy of the Camino Island on the shelf in case I had to
    make a reference to it.

    I would like to thank you for making your books available through
    Libby. I have read The Brethren and The Guardians through Libby
    because I had to have the middle lobe of my right lung removed with
    Robot Surgery. With the ebook I can read without worrying about staying awake to turn the lamp off and getting up to do it.

  6. The Rooster Bar should be classified as a standalone book as it has nothing to do with The Whistler series whatsoever.

  7. I have just finished reading my first book by Mr. Grisham. The Partner. This book keeps you anxious to the very end. The ending was not a fairy tale. However, it does reveal true grieving, love, and that life goes on. It is very clear to me Mr. Grisham is gifted in writing. I look toward to reading other books he has written.

  8. My first Grisham was The Street Lawyer also with his Michael Brock character!! I have been hooked ever since! The Chamber is one of my all time faves! John is such an amazing author; I hope he continues writing for many years to come!

  9. The very first book I read of yours, was The Street Lawyer. It was such a good book, I couldn’t put it down. I guess I could say I was addicted! I’ve read most of your books. I’m a fan for sure.

  10. I haven’t read but your first half dozen novels, but I just finished reading The Confession and I must say that it’s one of the better written novels I’ve read over the years! Such a heartfelt story that I literally couldn’t put down! I guess I’ll have to start buying all the rest of your books now!

    1. I’ve read the “Pelican Brief” and l find it so insightful on issues of racism and justice.

Comments are closed.