The groundbreaking early novels that defined the legal thriller genre and became major motion pictures:

• 1991: The Firm — Young attorney Mitch McDeere joins a prestigious Memphis law firm, discovering Mafia connections and a conspiracy that threatens his life.
• 1992: The Pelican Brief — Law student Darby Shaw writes a legal brief speculating on the assassination of two Supreme Court justices, putting her in the crosshairs of a powerful conspiracy.
• 1993: The Client — Eleven-year-old Mark Sway witnesses a Mafia lawyer’s suicide and knows the location of a murdered senator’s body, making him the target of both the FBI and the mob.
• 1994: The Chamber — Young attorney Adam Hall takes on the impossible case of defending his racist grandfather, a former KKK member on death row for a bombing that killed two children.
• 1995: The Rainmaker — Rookie lawyer Rudy Baylor takes on a massive insurance fraud case representing a dying young man denied medical coverage by a corrupt company.
• 1996: The Runaway Jury — A high-stakes tobacco trial where a mysterious juror manipulates both the jury and the opposing legal teams from behind the scenes.
• 1997: The Partner — Patrick Lanigan faked his death, stole $90 million from his law firm, and disappeared—now, four years later, they’ve found him in Brazil.
• 1998: The Street Lawyer — High-powered attorney Michael Brock’s life changes when a homeless man holds his firm hostage, leading him to abandon his career for legal aid work.
• 1999: The Testament — An eccentric billionaire leaves his $11 billion fortune to an unknown missionary in the Brazilian rainforest, sending his family and lawyers on a desperate hunt.
• 2000: The Brethren — Three imprisoned judges run a mail scam targeting wealthy closeted gay men, accidentally ensnaring a powerful man who will kill to protect his secrets.

The saga of Mitch McDeere from The Firm continues decades later:

• 1991: The Firm — Mitch McDeere graduates from Harvard Law and joins a small but prestigious Memphis firm, discovering ties to the Chicago Mob and a conspiracy of corruption and murder.
• 2023: The Exchange: After The Firm — Fifteen years after escaping the Firm, Mitch is a partner at a global legal powerhouse when a terrorist attack in London drags him into an international nightmare.

The middle-grade legal mysteries featuring thirteen-year-old Theodore Boone, son of two attorneys and an amateur lawyer himself:

• 2010: Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer — Theo knows every judge, policeman, and court clerk in Strattenburg, and when a murder trial begins, he holds the key witness that could change everything.
• 2011: Theodore Boone: The Abduction — Theo’s best friend April is abducted from her bedroom, and Theo must use his legal knowledge to help track down the kidnapper.
• 2012: Theodore Boone: The Accused — Theo is framed for a robbery and must clear his name while navigating the adult legal system.
• 2014: Theodore Boone: The Activist — Theo fights to stop a highway project that will destroy his friend’s ancestral home, learning about eminent domain and environmental law.
• 2015: Theodore Boone: The Fugitive — Theo encounters a fugitive accused of murder who claims he’s innocent, and must decide whether to help him or turn him in.
• 2016: Theodore Boone: The Scandal — A cheating scandal rocks the local high school, and Theo investigates while discovering the complexities of school disciplinary procedures.
• 2019: Theodore Boone: The Accomplice — Theo helps his friend Woody, whose father has been accused of a crime, while dealing with the FBI and international intrigue.

Mystery and rare books on the Florida coast featuring charismatic bookstore owner Bruce Cable:

• 2017: Camino Island — Mercer Mann is hired to infiltrate the circle of Bruce Cable, a bookseller who dabbles in the black market of stolen manuscripts.
• 2020: Camino Winds — A hurricane hits Camino Island and a suspicious death occurs, leading Bruce Cable and his friends to uncover a deadly conspiracy.
• 2024: Camino Ghosts — A legendary lost manuscript and a centuries-old curse lead Mercer Mann back to Camino Island for another literary mystery.

The Board of Judicial Conduct investigates corrupt judges:

• 2016: Witness to a Trial — Short story prequel: A murder trial is tainted by corruption and bribery, setting the stage for the Whistler investigation.
• 2016: The Whistler — Investigator Lacy Stoltz pursues a corrupt judge who is skimming millions from a Native American casino, putting her life in danger.
• 2021: The Judge’s List — Lacy investigates a judge who may be a serial killer, murdering those who wronged him years ago.

Standalone legal thrillers from Grisham’s second decade onward:

• 2002: The Summons — Law professor Ray Atlee returns to Mississippi when his dying father calls, only to find the judge dead and $3 million in cash missing.
• 2003: The King of Torts — Public defender Clay Carter stumbles into mass tort litigation and becomes rich beyond his dreams, but at what moral cost?
• 2004: The Last Juror — In 1970, a young newspaperman covers a murder trial in Mississippi and befriends the only black juror, leading to a decades-long friendship.
• 2005: The Broker — Joel Backman, a power broker convicted of espionage, is pardoned by the President and hidden in Italy, but foreign agents are hunting him.
• 2008: The Appeal — A chemical company appeals a $41 million verdict to the Mississippi Supreme Court by secretly financing a candidate to buy a seat on the court.
• 2009: The Associate — Kyle McAvoy, a brilliant law student, is blackmailed into taking a job at a prestigious firm to steal secrets from a major lawsuit.
• 2010: The Confession — A man on death row for a murder he didn’t commit has only four days to live when the real killer confesses to a minister.
• 2011: The Litigators — Partners Finley & Figg are ambulance chasers who hit the jackpot with a big pharma case, facing off against a massive law firm.
• 2012: The Racketeer — Malcolm Bannister is a former attorney in federal prison who knows who murdered a federal judge—and will trade the information for his freedom.
• 2014: Gray Mountain — Samantha Kofer loses her Wall Street job in the 2008 crash and volunteers at a legal aid clinic in Appalachia, discovering Big Coal’s dark secrets.
• 2015: Rogue Lawyer — Sebastian Rudd is a street lawyer who operates out of a bulletproof van, defending those no one else will touch.
• 2017: The Rooster Bar — Three law students discover their for-profit law school is a scam and decide to drop out to practice law illegally while exposing the fraud.
• 2018: The Reckoning — War hero Pete Banning murders the local minister in cold blood in 1946 Mississippi and refuses to explain why, taking his secret to the grave.
• 2019: The Guardians — Cullen Post, a lawyer and Episcopal minister, runs a small innocence project, trying to free a man wrongly convicted of murdering a lawyer.
• 2022: The Boys from Biloxi — Two childhood friends—one a prosecuting attorney, one a crime boss—face off in a deadly confrontation decades in the making.
• 2025: The Widow — A wealthy widow is accused of murdering her husband, and the case reveals dark secrets about the pharmaceutical industry and opioid addiction.

Grisham’s excursions beyond the courtroom into small-town drama, sports, and holiday comedy:

• 2001: A Painted House — Inspired by Grisham’s childhood, a seven-year-old boy spends a summer picking cotton in rural Arkansas in the 1950s, discovering family secrets and rural life.
• 2001: Skipping Christmas — Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip Christmas and go on a cruise instead, horrifying their neighbors and learning the true meaning of the holiday.
• 2003: Bleachers — Former high school football star Neely Crenshaw returns to his hometown after his legendary coach dies, confronting the ghosts of his past.
• 2007: Playing for Pizza — Disgraced NFL quarterback Rick Dockery finds redemption playing American football in Parma, Italy, discovering la dolce vita.
• 2012: Calico Joe — A story of baseball, fathers and sons, focusing on a near-fatal beaning that ended a rookie’s career and destroyed a pitcher’s life.
• 2021: Sooley — Samuel “Sooley” Sooleymon comes from Sudan to play basketball in America, facing tragedy at home while pursuing his NBA dreams.

• 2009: Ford County: Stories — A collection of seven short stories set in rural Mississippi, exploring the lives of ordinary people in Grisham’s fictional Ford County.

• 2006: The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town — The true story of Ron Williamson, a former baseball player wrongfully convicted of murder in Oklahoma, and his fight for justice on death row.
• 2024: Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions — A collection of true stories about innocent people convicted of crimes they did not commit, co-authored with Jim McCloskey.