Arabel and Mortimer Books in Order
Part ofJoan Aiken Books in OrderSee the Arabel and Mortimer books by Joan Aiken in order, with quick summaries, series background, and where to start with Mortimer's comic chaos.
Last updated: July 5, 2026
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Arabel and Mortimer books in publication order
17 books
Arabel's Raven
by Joan Aiken
1972
Young Arabel adopts an injured raven named Mortimer, and her life becomes noisier and much less orderly. This first story sets up the whole series' comic spirit perfectly.
Arabel, Mortimer, and the Escaped Black Mamba
by Joan Aiken
1973
An escaped snake is more than enough excitement, especially with Mortimer nearby. Arabel's loyalty and Mortimer's chaos make this one of the series' most gleeful mix-ups.
Mortimer's Bread Bin
by Joan Aiken
1974
Mortimer turns an everyday household object into the center of fresh mayhem. The joke, as ever, is how quickly one raven can make life unmanageable.
Mortimer's Tie
by Joan Aiken
1976
Something as small as a tie is enough to trigger full Mortimer chaos. Arabel stays game while adults, objects, and tempers fly in all directions.
Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur
by Joan Aiken
1979
Mortimer collides with Arthurian legend in one of the series' most gleefully absurd adventures. A sacred sword and a chaos-loving raven are a predictably bad combination.
The Spiral Stair
by Joan Aiken
1979
Arabel and Mortimer race into yet another comic muddle, this time with mystery circling around a spiral stair. Mortimer's involvement guarantees nothing will stay orderly for long.
Arabel and Mortimer
by Joan Aiken
1980
A cheerful collection built around Arabel Jones and the raven who turns quiet days upside down. Mortimer is funny, destructive, and impossible not to love.
Mortimer's Portrait on Glass
by Joan Aiken
1982
Mortimer gets mixed up in art, accidents, and another round of comic disorder. Arabel stays loyal while the adults around them lose patience and control.
The Mystery of Mr. Jones's Disappearing Taxi
by Joan Aiken
1982
When Mr. Jones's taxi vanishes, Arabel and Mortimer are close to the center of the confusion. What follows is a fast, funny mystery where chaos matters as much as clues.
Mortimer's Cross
by Joan Aiken
1983
Another jaunty Arabel and Mortimer escapade, with the raven's mischief turning one small incident into a much larger public nuisance. The fun lies in watching calm vanish by degrees.
Mortimer Says Nothing
by Joan Aiken
1985
These later Arabel and Mortimer stories keep the comic formula fresh with new household disasters and neighborhood uproar. Even when Mortimer seems quiet, trouble is not far behind.
Mortimer and Arabel
by Joan Aiken
1992
Arabel and her beloved raven Mortimer lurch from one comic muddle to the next. It is a brisk, funny dose of neighborhood chaos with plenty of outraged adults in Mortimer's wake.
Mortimer's Pocket
by Joan Aiken
1994
Arabel's raven plunges the Jones family into a string of small disasters that quickly grow bigger. Missing objects, worried adults, and Mortimer's appetite for trouble drive the fun.
Mayhem in Rumbury
by Joan Aiken
1995
Rumbury is never calm for long when Mortimer is around. This lively adventure sends Arabel and her raven through yet another round of comic mix-ups and town-wide disorder.
Mortimer's Mine
by Joan Aiken
1995
Arabel and Mortimer blunder into another comic crisis, this time with underground trouble and plenty of confusion. Mortimer's curiosity is once again bad news for everyone nearby.
Arabel and Mortimer Stories
by Joan Aiken
2019
A lively omnibus of Arabel and Mortimer tales, full of runaway chaos, outraged neighbors, and one unforgettable raven. Mortimer's cry of Nevermore is usually the start of a very bad day for everyone else.
More Arabel and Mortimer
by Joan Aiken
2019
More comic mayhem from Arabel Jones and her trouble-loving pet raven. Mortimer keeps turning ordinary errands and home life into uproarious disasters.
Arabel and Mortimer books in chronological order

Arabel's Raven
by Joan Aiken
1972Arabel and Mortimer, Book 1
Arabel, Mortimer, and the Escaped Black Mamba
by Joan Aiken
1973Arabel and Mortimer, Book 2
Mortimer's Bread Bin
by Joan Aiken
1974Arabel and Mortimer, Book 3
Mortimer's Tie
by Joan Aiken
1976Arabel and Mortimer, Book 4
The Spiral Stair
by Joan Aiken
1979Arabel and Mortimer, Book 5
Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur
by Joan Aiken
1979Arabel and Mortimer, Book 6
Arabel and Mortimer
by Joan Aiken
1980Arabel and Mortimer, Book 7
Mortimer's Portrait on Glass
by Joan Aiken
1982Arabel and Mortimer, Book 8
The Mystery of Mr. Jones's Disappearing Taxi
by Joan Aiken
1982Arabel and Mortimer, Book 9
Mortimer's Cross
by Joan Aiken
1983Arabel and Mortimer, Book 10
Mortimer Says Nothing
by Joan Aiken
1985Arabel and Mortimer, Book 11
Mortimer and Arabel
by Joan Aiken
1992Arabel and Mortimer, Book 12
Mortimer's Pocket
by Joan Aiken
1994Arabel and Mortimer, Book 13
Mortimer's Mine
by Joan Aiken
1995Arabel and Mortimer, Book 14
Mayhem in Rumbury
by Joan Aiken
1995Arabel and Mortimer, Book 15
Arabel and Mortimer Stories
by Joan Aiken
2019Arabel and Mortimer, Book 16
More Arabel and Mortimer
by Joan Aiken
2019Arabel and Mortimer, Book 17
Series background & context
The Arabel and Mortimer books are Joan Aiken at her most mischievous. These are younger readers' stories, but they never feel small or watered down. The basic setup is wonderfully simple: little Arabel Jones brings home a raven named Mortimer, and from that point on the ordinary world has very little chance of staying ordinary.
Arabel is young, trusting, and completely devoted to her bird. Mortimer is black, noisy, stubborn, and capable of causing trouble on a heroic scale. His signature cry, Nevermore, is funny in itself, but the real pleasure comes from what follows. Kitchens are wrecked, neighbors are outraged, public order wobbles, and poor adults find themselves losing arguments to a child and her pet raven.
That is the whole joke, and it keeps working.
The stories are usually set around the Jones family's home life and the wider chaos of Rumbury. Arabel's father, Ebenezer Jones, is often dragged into the mess, as are suspicious neighbors, officials, burglars, ghosts, and whoever else happens to be nearby when Mortimer takes an interest. Aiken keeps the plots moving briskly, but the real engine is comic escalation. One small mishap becomes a neighborhood crisis before anyone has time to sit down.
These books are episodic, so you do not need to read every title in strict order to enjoy them. Still, starting with Arabel's Raven gives you the clearest introduction to how Arabel and Mortimer find each other, and later collections such as Arabel and Mortimer Stories and More Arabel and Mortimer make it easy to keep going. The shorter books and the omnibus editions both work well.
The tone is silly, warm, and slightly anarchic. Mortimer is not cute in a tidy storybook way. He is funnier than that. He bites, squawks, steals, breaks things, and yet somehow remains entirely lovable. Arabel's loyalty to him is the calm center of the series, and it is what stops the books from becoming mere farce.
They were also a natural fit for adaptation, and several stories appeared on television. That makes sense. The series is full of visual comedy, sharp timing, and the kind of mayhem children understand at once.
If you want Joan Aiken in playful mode, start here. These books are fast, odd, and gloriously unruly.
Edited by
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