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Arabel and Mortimer Books in Order

Part ofJoan Aiken Books in Order

See 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

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17 books

1

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.

2

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.

3

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.

4

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.

5

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.

6

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.

7

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.

8

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.

9

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.

10

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.

11

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.

12

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.

13

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.

14

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.

15

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.

16

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.

17

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

  1. Book cover for "Arabel's Raven"

    Arabel's Raven

    by Joan Aiken

    1972Arabel and Mortimer, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Arabel, Mortimer, and the Escaped Black Mamba"

    Arabel, Mortimer, and the Escaped Black Mamba

    by Joan Aiken

    1973Arabel and Mortimer, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Mortimer's Bread Bin"

    Mortimer's Bread Bin

    by Joan Aiken

    1974Arabel and Mortimer, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Mortimer's Tie"

    Mortimer's Tie

    by Joan Aiken

    1976Arabel and Mortimer, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "The Spiral Stair"

    The Spiral Stair

    by Joan Aiken

    1979Arabel and Mortimer, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur"

    Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur

    by Joan Aiken

    1979Arabel and Mortimer, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Arabel and Mortimer"

    Arabel and Mortimer

    by Joan Aiken

    1980Arabel and Mortimer, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Mortimer's Portrait on Glass"

    Mortimer's Portrait on Glass

    by Joan Aiken

    1982Arabel and Mortimer, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "The Mystery of Mr. Jones's Disappearing Taxi"

    The Mystery of Mr. Jones's Disappearing Taxi

    by Joan Aiken

    1982Arabel and Mortimer, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Mortimer's Cross"

    Mortimer's Cross

    by Joan Aiken

    1983Arabel and Mortimer, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Mortimer Says Nothing"

    Mortimer Says Nothing

    by Joan Aiken

    1985Arabel and Mortimer, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Mortimer and Arabel"

    Mortimer and Arabel

    by Joan Aiken

    1992Arabel and Mortimer, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "Mortimer's Pocket"

    Mortimer's Pocket

    by Joan Aiken

    1994Arabel and Mortimer, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "Mortimer's Mine"

    Mortimer's Mine

    by Joan Aiken

    1995Arabel and Mortimer, Book 14
  15. Book cover for "Mayhem in Rumbury"

    Mayhem in Rumbury

    by Joan Aiken

    1995Arabel and Mortimer, Book 15
  16. Book cover for "Arabel and Mortimer Stories"

    Arabel and Mortimer Stories

    by Joan Aiken

    2019Arabel and Mortimer, Book 16
  17. Book cover for "More Arabel and Mortimer"

    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

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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