All 31 John Grisham Books in Order

John Ray Grisham Jr is an American novelist and lawyer, famous for his novels mostly dealing with law and various legal actions. He was born in 1955 in Arkansas and is one of the most popular world authors ever and likewise, his books have been successfully put on screen numerous times.

How many John Grisham books are there?

John Grisham has written 31 standalone novels but is also known for short stories, young adult novels, and various book series. In this list, we are going to focus on his standalone novels. 

John Grisham books in order (At a glance)

Standalone novels

1. The Firm (1991)
2. The Pelican Brief (1992)
3. The Client (1993)
4. The Chamber (1994)
5. The Rainmaker (1995)
6. The Runaway Jury (1996)
7. The Partner (1997)
8. The Street Lawyer (1998)
9. The Testament (1999)
10. The Brethren (2000)
11. A Painted House (2000)
12. Skipping Christmas (2001)
13. The Summons (2002)
14. The King of Torts (2002)
15. Bleachers (2003)
16. The Last Juror (2003)
17. The Broker (2004)
18. Playing for Pizza (2007)
19. The Appeal (2007)
20. The Associate (2009)
21. The Confession (2010)
22. The Litigators (2011)
23. Calico Joe (2012)
24. The Racketeer (2012)
25. Gray Mountain (2014)
26. Rogue Lawyer (2015)
27. The Rooster Bar (2017)
28. The Reckoning (2018)
29. The Guardians (2019)
30. Sooley (2021)
31. The Boys from Biloxi (2022)

Camino Island

1. Camino Island (2017)
2. Camino Winds (2020)

Collections

1. Ford County (2009)
2. Sparring Partners (2022)

Jake Brigance

1. A Time to Kill (1989)
2. Sycamore Row (2013)
3. A Time for Mercy (2020)

Lacy Stoltz

1. The Whistler (2016)
2. The Judge’s List (2021)

Non-fiction

1. The WaveDancer Benefit (2002)
2. The Innocent Man (2006)
3. Don’t Quit Your Day Job (2010)

Novellas

1. Fetching Raymond (2011)
2. The Tumor (2015)
3. Partners (2016)
4. Witness to a Trial (2016)

Omnibus Books

1. The Testament / A Time to Kill (1988)
2. Three Classic Thrillers (The Firm / The Appeal / The Chamber) (2012)

Theodore Boone

1. Kid Lawyer (2010)
2. The Abduction (2010)
3. The Accused (2012)
4. The Activist (2013)
5. The Fugitive (2015)
6. The Scandal (2015)
7. The Accomplice (2019)

John Grisham books in order (by release date)

The Firm (1991)

Mitch McDeere is a successful and very capable lawyer, a Harvard graduate who had the opportunity to work for the best law companies but made a deadly mistake when he accepted a new job for a law firm in Memphis that showered him with gifts and promises. 

He had to listen to his brother who warned him and his wife Abby that there is something more behind this firm.

The Pelican Brief (1992)

Darby Shaw is a young law student who finds herself in a situation where she has to show all her wits and knowledge as a witness to a murder intended for her.

She will start digging and the only person she will be able to trust will be an ambitious reporter who will help her solve the puzzle. But someone has read a legal brief she has written, a brief with all the evidence of an unthinkable crime.

The Client (1993)

One of Grisham’s most successful novels and later movie adaptations is this crime drama about two brothers who witness a suicide on the outskirts of Memphis. 

Mark Sway knows too much and he finds himself between the tough legal system and a mobster who wants to cover up his crime. Mark is under the protection of the experienced lawyer Reggie who will do anything to keep him safe.

The Chamber (1994)

Adam Hall is a brilliant 26-year-old with a possibility of a brilliant career but he chooses to take a different turn when he accepts to defend his grandfather, a former Klansman and racist Sam Cayhill facing the death penalty.

While everyone is preparing for the executions, the newspapers, executioners, and the protesters, Adam has only a few days to save his client, a man who hides so much from him, including one secret that could save his life, but maybe ruin Adam’s.

The Rainmaker (1995)

In this legal drama, Grisham tells the story of a young man barely out of law school who discovers one of the biggest insurance scams connected to one of the most ruthless and corrupt companies in America.

He is broke, has no job, and is about to face one of the best defense attorneys and industries in America.

The Runaway Jury (1996)

This is an interesting court drama about a jury dealing with a case concerning a big tobacco company. The jurors are behaving strangely and at least one is certain he/she is being watched. 

When an anonymous woman sends a letter suggesting she is able to predict their behaviour, many other questions begin to arise, the most important being why is someone trying to control and manipulate this jury.

The Partner (1997)

Danilo Silva is a man who has been on the run for four years before they found him in Brazil as a completely changed man. He used to be a successful lawyer whose sudden death surprised everyone.

But only six weeks after his death, 90 million dollars disappeared from the law firm and everyone figured out he was not dead.

The Street Lawyer (1998)

Michael was a rising law star in Drake & Sweeney, a huge D.C. firm with great pay and an approaching partnership whose life completely changed when he got attacked by a homeless who didn’t survive this encounter.

After doing some digging, Michael found out a dirty secret about this man which brought him to Drake & Sweeney and made him change his working position, becoming an advocate for the homeless.

The Testament (1999)

Troy Phelan is rewriting his will, only hours before his death. He wants to send a message to his children, ex-wives, and minions and at the same time surprise them with his decision.

There is a sole surprise heir named Rachel Lane, a missionary living in the Brazilian jungle, who is to inherit his eleven billion dollar fortune. Nate O’Riley has to find her since Phelan’s family will do everything to get ahold of their deserved fortune.

The Brethren (2000)

They call themselves the Brethren, three disgraced former judges who are now doing time in a Florida federal prison. They are meeting in the prison library and have enough time to think about their crimes. But they will very fast realize that they can use their time in prison to get very rich.

A Painted House (2000)

This novel is inspired by Grisham’s own childhood in Arkansas. The seven-year-old Luke chandler narrates this interesting tale and describes his life in the cotton fields where he lives with his parents and grandparents. 

Luke is helping them pick cotton for six weeks, together with some Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks, and during that time he will hear numerous secrets and things a regular seven-year-old should never hear.

Skipping Christmas (2001)

This is an unusual story connected to Grisham, something completely different from his legal tales and dramas. This novel tells the story of a family who wished for a Christmas without all the havoc and decided to skip the holidays altogether.

They plan to sail on the 25th of December but soon they will discover that skipping Christmas brings many consequences and isn’t easy at all.

The Summons (2002)

Ray Atlee is 43 and a law professor at the University of Virginia. His father is the famous judge Atlee who summons his two sons to his home in Clanton where he wants to discuss the details of his estate.

Ray reluctantly heads South but doesn’t manage to meet his father and brother, since judge Atlee dies too soon and leaves his son with a shocking secret. Ray thought he was the only one who knew it but there is someone else familiar with it, too.

The King of Torts (2002)

Clay Carter isn’t satisfied with his job as a public offender and dreams of a better one, just like many of his colleagues. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man he assumes it will be something as usual.

But soon he finds himself deep in the crime world and discovers a dreadful conspiracy. He is now in the middle of a complex case against one of the most powerful pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Bleachers (2003)

Neely Crenshaw was probably one of the best quarterbacks to play for the Messina Spartans and now, fifteen years after his glory days, he is back to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the most responsible person for Messina’s success.

And now, even after all these years, some of his players still have to decide whether they love him or hate him and Neely is thinking about the choices he made so many years ago when his decisions modeled his future.

The Last Juror (2003)

Willie Traynor is a 23-year-old college drop-out who assumes ownership of a bankrupt newspaper and made it famous again when he wrote about all the gruesome details in a murder case committed by a member of the notorious Padgitt family.

Danny Padgitt was sentenced to life in prison but got out after nine years, returned to Ford county, and began his revenge against the jurors who convicted him.

The Broker (2004)

Joel Backman is a notorious Washington broker who has been pardoned after spending the last six years in federal prison. It is a last-minute pardon by the President but no one knows he’s been pressured by the CIA.

It seems that Backman knows some important information about the most sophisticated satellite surveillance system and so he is secretly smuggled to Italy. Soon, the CIA will leak the information about his whereabouts to the Russians, the Chinese, and everyone interested and the main question will remain – who will kill him?

Playing for Pizza (2007)

Rick Dockery used to be an excellent quarterback but after a series of bad performances in the NFL, he becomes the national laughingstock. No one is interested in him anymore so he asks his agent to find him a team that needs him.

Suddenly he is invited by an Italian team, the Parma Panthers who are desperate for any NFL player. Despite not knowing anything about Italy or where PArma is, Rick accepts their offer and is about to be very surprised with the things Italy has to offer.

The Appeal (2007)

Carl Trudeau is the owner of the Krane chemical company and he is convinced that he is not getting enough support after its appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court when being sued as responsible for the death of a father and his son who were poisoned by the water full of cancerogenic pollutants from their company.

His operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate and mold him into something they expect from a Supreme Court judge, someone they can manipulate in this difficult case against two very skilled attorneys, Wes and Mary Grace Payton.

The Associate (2009)

This legal thriller tells the story of an idealistic Yale student, Kyle McAvoy who was promised a successful career but before getting a job at a prestigious firm he plans on devoting three years to public service.

But his plans are changed when he is blackmailed by a mysterious man named Bennie who is threatening to reveal his partaking in the rape of a young woman from his university unless he accepts his business proposal.

The Confession (2010)

This is a story about the abduction and rape of a young girl by Travis Boyette. But he is not the one convicted. Police arrest Donte Drumm, a young Afro-American high school football player who is in no way connected to that crime.

He is sentenced to death and the story begins nine years after his conviction when Boyette is living somewhere in Kansas, lawyer Robert Flakk is fighting Drumm’s case and Black Americans are protesting against his false conviction.

The Litigators (2011)

Even thous a legal thriller, this book is regarded as more humorous than his previous works. It is about a two-partner Chicago law firm that is trying to win a lawsuit over a cholesterol reduction medicine against a major pharmaceutical drug company.

The story also deals with a skilled young lawyer who is getting fed up with the big law firm he used to work with so he accepts a job at this law firm, belonging to two disreputable street lawyers.

Calico Joe (2012)

This is Grisham’s first baseball story and it mixes both facts and fiction. Joe Castle was the biggest baseball star in 1973, the most outstanding rookie ever seen, and soon became the idol of every baseball player in America.

He was idolized by Paul Tracey as well, the son of Calico Joe’s greatest rival, Warren Tracey who was finally about to face him. On that day Paul was also in the stands, witnessing Warren’s fastball that would change their lives forever.

The Racketeer (2012)

It is remarkable that only four active federal justice in the USA have been murdered, due to the complexity of their work. Judge Raymond Fawcett just became the fifth and it is his case that is going to be analysed in this novel.

The only one who knows what happened to Judge Fawcett and his young secretary is a lawyer who is in prison and wants to tell us his story. Which is a pretty long one.

Gray Mountain (2014)

Samantha Kofer’s career at a big Wall Street firm has been a great success until the recession when he got fired. She was the lucky one since she was offered to work in a legal aid clinic for one year for free with a slim chance to get her old job back after it.

She is now moving to Virginia and preparing for a lawsuit and while doing it she will learn that the town of Brady hides some big secrets, just like all small towns.

Rogue Lawyer (2015)

This is the story of Sebastian Rudd, a not very typical street lawyer with a custom-made bulletproof van and only one employee, his driver, who is also his confidant and gold caddie.

He is a specific lawyer who helps the ones no one will – addicts, troubled kids, and similar. He believes that everyone deserves a fair trial even if he has to cheat or bend the law. He really doesn’t like big companies and banks and hates injustice so he laughs at their notion of ethical behavior.

The Rooster Bar (2017)

Mark, Todd, and Zola have always wanted to change the world so they decide to become lawyers but now, after three years of studying, they are slowly starting to realize that nothing is as they have imagined.

After they learn that their college is owned by a big, but shady New York hedge-fund operator, as well as their bank responsible for student loans, they hatch a plan to expose the bank and the scam they happened to learn they are a part of. 

The Reckoning (2018)

Pete Banning was one of the most ideal inhabitants of Clayton, Mississippi, until one day he drove to town and killed his best friend and pastor the Reverend Dexter Bell. His only comment to everyone about the murder was: “I have nothing to say.”

He is determined not to speak and take his secret to his grave. This is an interesting novel that will take us from the deep American South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II and to an insane asylum.

The Guardians (2019)

Keith Russo, a young lawyer is found dead at his desk in Seabrook, a small town in North Florida. The killer left no trace and clues and there was no motive, but the police soon decided to accuse Quincy Miller, a young black man, and former Russo’s client.

He was sentenced to life and spent 22 years in prison before sending a letter to Guardian Ministries, stating he was innocent. Cullen Post decides to defend him and finds himself in much more than he bargained for, finding out that there are rich and powerful people behind Russo’s murder and they don’t want Miller to be exonerated.

Sooley (2021)

Samuel Sooleymon is a 17-year-old gifted basketball player who gets the opportunity to travel to the US and play in a showcase basketball tournament. While playing in the States, he receives terrible news from his home in South Sudan.

His father is dead, his sister missing and his brothers and mothers are sent to a refugee camp and he wants to go back home. But as this is not possible, he decides to be the best where he is and soon he becomes one of the best players. Will he be able to lead his team and will his success help him to save his family?

The Boys from Biloxi (2022)

Biloxi has for many years been famous for its beaches, resort, and seafood industry but it hides its dark side as well. It was a notorious place known for corruption and vice, all handled by the Dixie Mafia.

Keith and Hugo grew up there in the 60s and were childhood friends but their teenage days took them in different directions. They followed their fathers so Keith became a lawyer and Hugo worked in his father’s nightclubs. Their families will meet in the courtroom after many years of a different lifestyle.