John Grisham Books in Order: Complete Guide

If you’re trying to figure out the John Grisham books in order, the only tricky part is that his catalog isn’t one continuous series—it’s a mix of legal thrillers and standalones that branch into different tones.

You can start at the beginning with A Time to Kill, jump in with one of the biggest hits like The Firm or The Pelican Brief, or pick any title you recognize from a film adaptation and work outward from there.

Jump to:

• John Grisham Legal Books in Order
• John Grisham Non-Legal Books in Order
• Book-to-Screen Adaptations
• John Grisham Books FAQ

How to Read John Grisham’s Books in Order

John Grisham’s books can be categorized into two groups: Legal stories and non-legal stories. 

We’ve listed John Grisham’s books in order starting with the legal thrillers first, since that’s where most readers start. If you’re new to his work, this order is a simple way to read through them without bouncing around.

John Grisham Legal Books in Order

Jake Brigance Books

This series begins with Grisham’s debut, A Time to Kill, which introduces Jake Brigance—an attorney in Clanton, Mississippi—as he defends a father on trial after taking revenge for a horrific crime against his daughter, with the town boiling over around the case.

From there, read the Jake Brigance books in publication order as each one follows Jake later in his career. One key note: Sparring Partners is a three-novella collection, and only the final novella (“Sparring Partners”) connects to Jake Brigance—the other two stories are unrelated standalones.

1. A Time to Kill (1989)
2. Sycamore Row (2013)
3. A Time For Mercy (2020)
4. Sparring Partners (2022) (Novella Collection)

The Firm Books

The Firm was only Grisham’s second published novel, but it’s the one that turned him into a household name in legal thrillers. For years, Mitch McDeere’s story stood on its own—until Grisham finally revisited him in a direct sequel.

The Exchange: After The Firm picks up with Mitch and Abby years later, living a very different life than the one they fought to escape. What starts as a professional problem quickly widens into international stakes, corporate pressure, and the kind of deadly secrets that made The Firm work in the first place.

1. The Firm (1991)
2. The Exchange: After The Firm (2023)

Standalone Books

However, many more of John Grisham’s books began, and have remained, as standalones. All of these books feature Grisham’s compelling characters and high-stakes suspense, which makes any of them great books to read first and they can be read in any order.

1. The Pelican Brief (1992)
2. The Client (1993)
3. The Chamber (1994)
4. The Rainmaker (1995)
5. The Runaway Jury (1996)
6. The Partner (1997)
7. The Street Lawyer (1998)
8. The Testament (1999)
9. The Brethren (2000)
10. The Summons (2002)
11. The King of Torts (2003)
12. The Last Juror (2004)
13. The Broker (2005)
14. The Appeal (2008)
15. The Associate (2009)
16. Ford County: Stories (2009) (Short Story Collection)
17. The Confession (2010)
18. The Litigators (2011)
19. The Racketeer (2012)
20. Gray Mountain (2014)
21. The Rooster Bar (2017)
22. The Reckoning (2018)
23. The Guardians (2019)
24. The Boys From Biloxi (2022)
25. The Widow (2025)

Theodore Boone Books

This John Grisham book series is about Theodore Boone, a 13-year-old who lives in Strattenburg, Pennsylvania. These are middle grade books, which tailor Grisham’s legal themes and twists for a younger audience. Theo has spent much of his childhood growing up around the courtroom and knows that he has what it takes to become the best lawyer in the state.

Theo knows every judge, court clerk, police officer and a lot about the law, and he happily dispenses legal advice to his friends leading to new adventures in pursuit of justice. These John Grisham books should also be read in order of publication.

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)

Rogue Lawyer Books

Next in our list of the John Grisham books in order is another short series with one full-length novel and one prequel short story. Rogue Lawyer introduces Sebastian Rudd who defends those that others won’t go near, and he’s willing to bend the law to give his clients a fair trial.

Sebastian’s office is a bulletproof van and his only employee is his heavily-armed driver. Then the prequel short story dives into how Sebastian found his trusted driver. While this story is first chronologically, it does spoil some of the mystery and intrigue from Rogue Lawyer, so these titles are best read in order of publication.

1. Rogue Lawyer (2015)
2. Partners (2016) (Short Story Prequel)

Whistler Books

Unlike the previous series in which the prequel short story was written as a follow-up, for the Whistler books the short story prequel was published in anticipation of the first book as promotion. Witness to a Trial introduces the moving parts and pieces of the series with a very brief story.

Then The Whistler dives right in to the story of a corrupt judge and the lawyer, Lacy Stoltz, who receives the complaint regarding the judicial misconduct. The sequel, The Judge’s List, takes place three years later and follows Lacy once again as she finds herself neck deep in danger in her attempt to bring a judge to justice.

1. Witness to a Trial (2016) (Short Story Prequel)
2. The Whistler (2016)
3. The Judge’s List (2021)

Non-Fiction Books

• The Innocent Man (2006)
• Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions (2024)
• Shaken: The Rush to Execute an Innocent Man (2027)

John Grisham Non-Legal Books in Order

While his legal thrillers are what John Grisham is most well-known for, as we’ve already mentioned, he has also written non-legal stories.

Standalone Books

Similar to his legal thrillers, most of John Grisham’s non-legal novels are standalones. That means you can jump in wherever you want without worrying about reading order or spoilers. These books tend to be more character-driven, and a handful lean into sports-themed stories.

1. A Painted House (2001)
2. Skipping Christmas (2001)
3. Bleachers (2003)
4. Playing for Pizza (2007)
5. Calico Joe (2012)
6. The Tumor: A Non-Legal Thriller (2016) (Novella)
7. Sooley (2021)

Camino Island Books

The Camino Island books are not legal thrillers, but Grisham has injected mystery into each book with a whodunnit. The first book introduces Bruce Cable, the proprietor of a bookshop on Camino Island, Florida. Bruce’s real money, however, comes from selling rare books and occasionally dabbling in the black market with its lucrative stolen books and manuscripts.

Mercer Mann, a young novelist, has been recruited to infiltrate Bruce’s circle of friends in order to learn his secrets. But then she learns too much, and trouble is biting at her heels.

These John Grisham books should definitely be read in order of publication.

1. Camino Island (2017)
2. Camino Winds (2020)
3. Camino Ghosts (2024)

John Grisham Book-to-Screen Adaptations

John Grisham’s work has been adapted for the screen many times, with Hollywood moving quickly during his 1990s boom. The run started with The Firm (1993), starring Tom Cruise and Jeanne Tripplehorn, followed that same year by The Pelican Brief (1993) with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, and then The Client (1994) starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones.

The adaptations kept coming through the decade with A Time to Kill (1996), The Chamber (1996), and The Rainmaker (1997), before Runaway Jury (2003) brought another all-star legal thriller to the screen.

Most Grisham adaptations pull from his courtroom-driven novels, but not all of them do. His “lawyer-free” novel A Painted House was adapted as a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie (2003), and Skipping Christmas became the holiday comedy Christmas with the Kranks (2004).

And it hasn’t been limited to theatrical movies. The Client was also adapted into a CBS television series (1995–1996), The Firm returned as a sequel TV series (2012), The Innocent Man became a Netflix documentary series (2018), and The Rainmaker has since been reimagined again as a modern TV series (2025).

John Grisham Books FAQ

Do you have to read John Grisham books in order?

No. Most of Grisham’s novels are standalones, so you can start almost anywhere. The main time you should read in order is when you’re in one of his connected storylines (like Jake Brigance or Theodore Boone), since later books assume you already know the characters and what came before.

Where should I start reading John Grisham?

If you want to start at the beginning, go with A Time to Kill. If you want his most iconic “legal thriller” vibe right away, The Firm or The Pelican Brief are easy entry points. And if you’d rather start with something you already recognize from a movie, that’s a perfectly fine way to pick your first book and work outward.

How many John Grisham books are there?

Grisham has written dozens of books across legal thrillers, non-legal standalones, nonfiction, and shorter works like novellas—so the “total” depends on what you count. The safest approach is to use a guide like this one that lists everything in one place, rather than relying on a single number that can go stale.

Which John Grisham books are part of a series?

Most are standalones, but there are a few true repeat-character tracks. The biggest is the Jake Brigance books (set around Clanton, Mississippi), and there’s also the Theodore Boone middle-grade series. Beyond that, Grisham occasionally revisits a character or setting, but it’s the exception, not the rule.

What order should I read the Jake Brigance books?

Read them in publication order, since each book follows Jake at a later stage of his career and builds on what came before. One key detail: Sparring Partners is a three-novella collection, and only the final novella (“Sparring Partners”) is connected to Jake Brigance—the other two stories are unrelated standalones.

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