John Grisham
in order.
The undisputed master of the legal thriller, with a new courtroom page-turner nearly every year since 1989.
John Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas in 1955 and practiced law in Mississippi for nearly a decade, serving in the state House of Representatives at the same time. A case he overheard in a courtroom inspired his first novel, A Time to Kill (1989), which sold modestly at first. His second book, The Firm (1991), became a runaway bestseller, launched a blockbuster Tom Cruise film, and turned Grisham into a publishing institution.
Since then Grisham has published roughly a book a year, dominating bestseller lists with legal thrillers like The Pelican Brief, The Client, and The Rainmaker, while also branching into small-town Southern fiction (A Painted House), sports novels, comedy (Skipping Christmas), young-adult mysteries (Theodore Boone), and nonfiction about wrongful convictions (The Innocent Man, Framed). He remains one of the best-selling novelists alive, with more than 300 million books in print worldwide.
Where to start
The good news: almost all of Grisham's legal thrillers are standalones, so you don't need to read them in order. The classic starting point is The Firm (1991), the book that made him famous, or A Time to Kill (1989), his most acclaimed and personal novel. If you start with A Time to Kill, you can continue the Jake Brigance story with Sycamore Row and A Time for Mercy. Beyond those, most readers simply work through the 1990s classics — The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury — then pick later titles by premise. The only true series requiring order are Jake Brigance, Camino Island, and the YA Theodore Boone books.
Jake Brigance 4 BOOKS · IN ORDER
Grisham's most personal series follows small-town Mississippi lawyer Jake Brigance through the biggest trials of his career in Clanton, Ford County.
01
A Time to Kill 1989
Jake Brigance defends a Black father who killed the men who assaulted his daughter, in Grisham's searing debut about race and justice in Mississippi.
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02
Sycamore Row 2013
A wealthy man's handwritten will leaves his fortune to his Black housekeeper, dragging Jake into a bitter estate fight with roots in Ford County's dark past.
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03
A Time for Mercy 2020
Jake takes on the deeply unpopular defense of a sixteen-year-old accused of murdering a local deputy.
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04
Sparring Partners 2022
A collection of three novellas, including 'Strawberry Moon' and a new Jake Brigance story that revisits Clanton.
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Camino Island 3 BOOKS · IN ORDER
Lighter, beachier mysteries centered on bookstore owner and reformed rogue Bruce Cable on a resort island in Florida.
01
Camino Island 2017
Stolen F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts and a struggling novelist recruited as a spy collide at Bruce Cable's island bookstore.
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02
Camino Winds 2020
A hurricane hits the island and leaves behind a body that looks less like storm damage and more like murder.
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03
Camino Ghosts 2024
The last descendant of an island of freed slaves fights a developer, with Bruce Cable and a writer digging into the island's haunted history.
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Theodore Boone 7 BOOKS · IN ORDER
A young-adult mystery series about a thirteen-year-old aspiring lawyer who knows more about the law than most adults.
01
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer 2010
Theo gets entangled in a sensational murder trial when he learns a secret that could change the verdict.
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02
Theodore Boone: The Abduction 2011
Theo races to find his best friend after she disappears in the night.
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03
Theodore Boone: The Accused 2012
Theo lands on the wrong side of the law when he's framed for a crime.
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04
Theodore Boone: The Activist 2013
Theo takes on a controversial highway project threatening his town.
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05
Theodore Boone: The Fugitive 2015
A class trip puts Theo face to face with an escaped murder suspect.
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06
Theodore Boone: The Scandal 2016
Theo uncovers a cheating scandal on standardized tests.
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07
Theodore Boone: The Accomplice 2019
Theo fights to clear a friend caught up in a robbery gone wrong.
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Standalone books by Grisham 37 BOOKS · BY YEAR
In publication order — read these in any order you like.
01
The Firm 1991
A hotshot Harvard Law grad discovers his dream job at a Memphis firm is a front for the mob — the mega-bestseller that defined the modern legal thriller.
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02
The Pelican Brief 1992
A law student's speculative brief about the murder of two Supreme Court justices turns her into a target.
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03
The Client 1993
An eleven-year-old boy who knows where a body is buried hires a scrappy lawyer to protect him from the mob and the FBI alike.
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04
The Chamber 1994
A young lawyer fights to save his grandfather — a Klansman on death row — in Grisham's darkest early novel.
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05
The Rainmaker 1995
A broke rookie lawyer takes a corrupt insurance giant to trial in one of Grisham's most beloved underdog stories.
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06
The Runaway Jury 1996
A mysterious juror and his partner manipulate a landmark tobacco trial from the inside.
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07
The Partner 1997
A lawyer who faked his death and stole $90 million from his firm is dragged back from Brazil.
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08
The Street Lawyer 1998
A big-firm attorney abandons his career to fight for the homeless after a hostage crisis exposes his firm's sins.
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09
The Testament 1999
A dying billionaire leaves his fortune to an unknown missionary daughter deep in the Brazilian wetlands.
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10
The Brethren 2000
Three imprisoned ex-judges run a mail scam that hooks a presidential candidate.
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11
A Painted House 2001
A quiet, acclaimed departure from legal thrillers — a boy's coming of age on an Arkansas cotton farm in 1952.
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12
Skipping Christmas 2001
A comic novel about a couple who dares to skip Christmas, later filmed as Christmas with the Kranks.
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13
The Summons 2002
A law professor finds three million dollars in cash in his dead father's study.
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14
The King of Torts 2003
A public defender is seduced by the fast money of mass tort litigation.
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15
Bleachers 2003
A short novel about former players returning home as their legendary high school football coach lies dying.
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16
The Last Juror 2004
A young newspaper owner in Clanton covers a brutal murder trial whose verdict haunts the town for a decade.
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17
The Broker 2005
A pardoned Washington power broker is dumped in Italy as CIA bait.
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18
The Innocent Man 2006
Grisham's first nonfiction book — the true story of Ron Williamson, wrongfully sentenced to death in Oklahoma.
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19
Playing for Pizza 2007
A washed-up NFL quarterback lands on a semi-pro team in Parma, Italy.
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20
The Appeal 2008
A chemical company tries to buy a state supreme court seat to overturn a verdict against it.
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21
The Associate 2009
A blackmailed law grad is forced to spy inside the world's largest law firm.
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22
Ford County 2009
Seven short stories set in the fictional Mississippi county of A Time to Kill.
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23
The Confession 2010
A convict confesses to the murder another man is about to be executed for — with days to stop it.
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24
The Litigators 2011
A burned-out associate joins a two-bit ambulance-chasing firm that stumbles into a massive drug case.
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25
Calico Joe 2012
A short novel about a beanball, a phenom, and a son reckoning with his pitcher father.
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26
The Racketeer 2012
An imprisoned lawyer trades what he knows about a judge's murder for his freedom — but he has his own plan.
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27
Gray Mountain 2014
A laid-off Wall Street lawyer takes on Big Coal from a legal aid clinic in Appalachia.
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28
Rogue Lawyer 2015
Street lawyer Sebastian Rudd defends the clients no one else will touch, from the back of a bulletproof van.
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29
The Whistler 2016
An investigator for Florida's judicial conduct board uncovers the most corrupt judge in American history.
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30
The Rooster Bar 2017
Three students at a scam law school drop out and practice law without licenses.
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31
The Reckoning 2018
A decorated war hero calmly shoots the town's beloved pastor and refuses to say why.
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32
The Guardians 2019
A lawyer-priest who exonerates the innocent takes on a case that got the last lawyer killed.
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33
The Judge's List 2021
A sequel to The Whistler — Lacy Stoltz hunts a sitting judge who may be a serial killer.
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34
The Boys from Biloxi 2022
Two friends on the Mississippi coast grow up to face each other as prosecutor and mob lawyer.
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35
The Exchange 2023
The long-awaited sequel to The Firm finds Mitch McDeere fifteen years later, in trouble on a global stage.
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36
Framed 2024
Nonfiction with Jim McCloskey — ten true stories of innocent people convicted of crimes they didn't commit.
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37
The Widow 2025
A small-town Virginia lawyer becomes the prime suspect when a rich widowed client turns up dead.
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The movies READ IT BEFORE YOU WATCH IT
The Firm 1993
Based on: The Firm
Sydney Pollack's hit thriller starring Tom Cruise turned Grisham adaptations into a Hollywood staple.
The Pelican Brief 1993
Based on: The Pelican Brief
Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington star in Alan J. Pakula's conspiracy thriller.
The Client 1994
Based on: The Client
Susan Sarandon earned an Oscar nomination as lawyer Reggie Love.
A Time to Kill 1996
Based on: A Time to Kill
Matthew McConaughey's breakout role as Jake Brigance, with Sandra Bullock and Samuel L. Jackson.
The Rainmaker 1997
Based on: The Rainmaker
Francis Ford Coppola directs Matt Damon in what many consider the best Grisham film.
The Runaway Jury 2003
Based on: The Runaway Jury
John Cusack, Gene Hackman, and Dustin Hoffman; the trial was changed from tobacco to guns.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to read John Grisham books in order?
No. Nearly all of Grisham's legal thrillers are standalones with new characters and settings, so you can read them in any order. The exceptions are the Jake Brigance books (start with A Time to Kill), the Camino Island books, The Whistler and its sequel The Judge's List, The Firm and its sequel The Exchange, and the Theodore Boone YA series.
What John Grisham book should I read first?
Most readers start with The Firm (1991), the fast-paced bestseller that made him famous, or A Time to Kill (1989), his most powerful courtroom drama. Either is an excellent entry point; if you love A Time to Kill, you can continue straight into Sycamore Row and A Time for Mercy.
How many books has John Grisham written?
Grisham has written roughly 50 books since 1989, including around 40 adult novels, the seven-book Theodore Boone series for young readers, short story collections, and nonfiction like The Innocent Man and Framed. He has published at least one book nearly every year since The Firm.
Is Sycamore Row a sequel to A Time to Kill?
Yes. Sycamore Row (2013) returns to Clanton, Mississippi three years after the events of A Time to Kill, with Jake Brigance again at the center of a racially charged trial. A Time for Mercy (2020) continues the series, and the Sparring Partners collection (2022) includes another Jake Brigance story.