Gangsta Granny Books in Order

David Walliams’s Gangsta Granny stories take a familiar figure – the slightly boring, cabbage‑cooking grandmother – and flip her into an unlikely criminal mastermind. Across the books he uses this outlandish premise to explore family bonds, ageing and how appearances can deceive.

In the first novel, Gangsta Granny, young Ben is packed off every Friday night to his grandmother’s house while his ballroom‑dancing‑obsessed parents go out. He is certain nothing could be duller than evenings filled with cabbage soup, knitting and silence. That changes when he stumbles across a stash of jewels and discovers that his frail, cardigan‑wearing gran was once an infamous international thief who specialised in daring heists.

Once the secret is out, Granny confides in Ben that she has always dreamed of stealing the Crown Jewels but has never quite managed it. The pair begin plotting the ultimate robbery, hatching an increasingly ridiculous plan that involves sneaking into the Tower of London. Walliams balances the daft, high‑stakes caper with quieter moments about loneliness, the way older people can be ignored or underestimated, and the importance of making time for the people you love.

Much of the humour in the book comes from the clash between Ben’s everyday world and the wild life Granny once led: there are getaway cars and disguises, but also hearing aids, slippers and worrying about her health. Children see that Granny is far more than the stereotype Ben originally believes, and the story gently encourages readers to look again at their own grandparents and the secret adventures they might once have had.

The sequel, Gangsta Granny Strikes Again!, returns to Ben some years later. Britain is suddenly plagued by a string of audacious jewel robberies that look suspiciously like Granny’s old work. Ben is thrown back into a world of coded messages, baffled police officers and larger‑than‑life villains as he tries to uncover who is behind the crimes and what connection they have to his beloved grandmother’s legendary past.

Taken together, the Gangsta Granny books blend heist‑movie excitement with the emotional pull of a family story. They are packed with chases, disguises and absurd set‑pieces, but at their heart they are about seeing value in older people, talking openly across generations and holding on to treasured memories. It is this mixture of big, silly fun and real feeling that has made the series one of David Walliams’s most enduring creations.