Gimlet Books in Order

Gimlet is Captain W.E. Johns' adventure series about Captain Lorrington “Gimlet” King and a small group of trusted comrades. Their story begins in the Second World War, when raids and resistance work require more than ordinary battlefield courage. They have to move through hostile territory, gather information and depend on one another when a plan becomes dangerous. The same close-knit team continues into adventures after the war, carrying its skills and loyalties into different kinds of trouble.

Alongside Gimlet are Copper, a former policeman, the French-Canadian Trapper Troublay and young Cub Peters. Their different backgrounds give the group a range of practical knowledge. Cub is especially important in the opening story because his experience in occupied France provides local contacts and information the commandos need. Rather than following a large military formation, readers stay close to a handful of people whose individual abilities can make the difference between success and capture.

Their greatest advantage is working together.

King of the Commandos introduces the group through a mission in France. Cub has been stranded there by the German invasion and knows a resistance group called the Grey Fleas. The commandos recruit him to help establish contact and support operations from a hidden forest base near Caen. The setting makes knowledge of paths, villages and local people as important as weapons. Being able to reach a place unnoticed can matter more than confronting an enemy directly.

The series later leaves wartime France behind without dissolving the friendship at its center. In Gimlet Comes Home, Cub, Copper and Trapper expect to meet their former leader for dinner in London. When he fails to appear, they begin looking for him. Their inquiries lead toward an inherited estate in Scotland, turning a reunion into a mystery. The opening situation shows that the team's loyalty doesn't depend on an official order: concern for one of their own is enough to bring them back into action.

Across the books, the tone is traditional action adventure, with reconnaissance, pursuit and quick decisions under pressure. The immediate problem changes between wartime missions and later investigations, but the shared experience of the central characters gives the stories continuity. They understand one another's strengths and have reasons to act when one member is in difficulty. The reader follows a working partnership as much as a succession of assignments.

Start with King of the Commandos to meet Gimlet and see how Cub joins the group, then continue through the team's adventures. Readers who like small-unit missions and companions solving practical problems together will find those elements at the heart of the series. Its central promise is a difficult job undertaken by people who know that neither planning nor courage will be enough unless they can rely on one another.