Order of Book Series
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James Lear Books in Order

James Lear has written 11 books, published between 2001 and 2018. The first book is The Low Road (2001) and the newest is In the Ring (2018). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
11
Published
2001–2018
Pages on record
2,585 in 10 of 11 books
Reading time
43–65 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,585 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 11 titles with a page count on record.

See all 11 books in order Printable James Lear checklist

James Lear writes gay erotica and mystery fiction, and the catalogue lists 11 books from 2001 to 2018. Two series appear under the name: Mitch Mitchell Mystery and Dan Stagg Mystery. The Low Road (2001) is the first book, followed by The Palace Of Varieties (2003), The Back Passage (2006), Hot Valley (2007) and The Secret Tunnel (2008). A Sticky End (2010), The Hardest Thing (2013), Straight Up (2015), The Sun Goes Down (2016) and While My Wife's Away (2017) come later, and In the Ring (2018) is the newest. Subject tags include gay men, murder, suspense, action and adventure, history and Scotland.

How many James Lear books are there?

James Lear has 11 books, released between 2001 and 2018. They include 2 series and 4 titles listed outside any series.

James Lear Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 11 James Lear books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Low Road by James Lear (2001)
  2. Cover of The Palace Of Varieties by James Lear (2003)
  3. Cover of The Back Passage by James Lear, book 1 of the Mitch Mitchell Mystery series (2006)
  4. Cover of Hot Valley by James Lear (2007)
  5. Cover of A Sticky End by James Lear, book 3 of the Mitch Mitchell Mystery series (2010)
  6. Cover of Straight Up by James Lear, book 2 of the Dan Stagg Mystery series (2015)
  7. Cover of The Sun Goes Down by James Lear, book 4 of the Mitch Mitchell Mystery series (2016)
  1. 1
    The Low Road2001 · 266 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2001266
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Palace Of Varieties2003 · 280 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2003280
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Back PassageMitch Mitchell Mystery #12006 · 176 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2006176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Hot Valley2007 · 200 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2007200
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Secret TunnelMitch Mitchell Mystery #22008 · 298 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2008298
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    A Sticky EndMitch Mitchell Mystery #32010 · confirmed 2/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Hardest ThingDan Stagg Mystery #12013 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2013256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Straight UpDan Stagg Mystery #22015 · 296 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2015296
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Sun Goes DownMitch Mitchell Mystery #42016 · 286 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2016286
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    While My Wife's Away2017 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    In the RingDan Stagg Mystery #32018 · 287 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2018287
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

James Lear books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Mitch Mitchell Mystery in order

4 books
  1. 1. The Back Passage
  2. 2. The Secret Tunnel
  3. 3. A Sticky End
  4. 4. The Sun Goes Down

Dan Stagg Mystery in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Hardest Thing
  2. 2. Straight Up
  3. 3. In the Ring

Standalone books

4 books

4 James Lear titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read James Lear books in order?

You only need to read James Lear books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with James Lear

Start with The Low Road (2001), the earliest published title.

What is the newest James Lear book?

In the Ring (2018) is the newest James Lear book released so far.

Is there a new James Lear book coming?

No next James Lear book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

James Lear at a glance

No recent titles
The newest James Lear title on record dates from 2018, 8 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
James Lear books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
2,585 pages across the 10 of 11 books with a recorded length, a median of 273 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most James Lear books, 6 of 11, were published in the 2010s.

What the James Lear books are about

All 11 James Lear books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: gay men is tagged on 9 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.