Order of Book Series
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William Bayer Books in Order

William Bayer has written 20 books, published between 1966 and 2019. The first book is In Search of a Hero (1966) and the newest is The Murals (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.

William Bayer also publishes as David Hunt.

Books
20
Published
1966–2019
Pages on record
4,434 in 13 of 20 books
Reading time
74–111 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,434 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 13 of 20 titles with a page count on record.

See all 20 books in order Printable William Bayer checklist
Photo of William Bayer, author

William Bayer is an American novelist with twenty-one books, among them the New York Times best-sellers Switch and Pattern Crimes. NYPD lieutenant Frank Janek leads a series of Bayer's New York crime novels. Switch became the basis for seven CBS prime-time television movies, two of them four-hour mini-series, all starring Richard Crenna as Janek. Bayer also writes for television, and his other series are Foreign Detective and Kay Farrow.

How many William Bayer books are there?

William Bayer has 20 books, released between 1966 and 2019. They include 3 series and 11 titles listed outside any series.

William Bayer Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 20 William Bayer 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 Visions of Isabelle by William Bayer (1976)
  2. Cover of Tangier by William Bayer, book 1 of the Foreign Detective series (1978)
  3. Cover of Peregrine by William Bayer, book 1 of the Frank Janek series (1983)
  4. Cover of Switch by William Bayer, book 2 of the Frank Janek series (1984)
  5. Cover of Blind Side by William Bayer (1989)
  6. Cover of Wallflower by William Bayer, book 3 of the Frank Janek series (1991)
  7. Cover of Mirror Maze by William Bayer, book 4 of the Frank Janek series (1994)
  8. Cover of The Magician's Tale by William Bayer, book 1 of the Kay Farrow series (1997)
  9. Cover of Trick of Light by William Bayer, book 2 of the Kay Farrow series (1998)
  10. Cover of The Dream of the Broken Horses by William Bayer (2002)
  11. Cover of Breaking Through, Selling Out, Dropping Dead and Other Notes on Filmmaking by William Bayer (2004)
  12. Cover of City of Knives by William Bayer, book 3 of the Foreign Detective series (2006)
  13. Cover of The Murals by William Bayer (2019)
  1. 1
    In Search of a Hero1966 · confirmed 1/4
    1966–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Great Movies1973 · confirmed 1/4
    1973–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Stardust1974 · confirmed 1/4
    1974–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Visions of Isabelle1976 · 318 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1976318
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    TangierForeign Detective #11978 · 350 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1978350
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Punish Me With Kisses1980 · confirmed 1/4
    1980–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    PeregrineFrank Janek #11983 · 304 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    SwitchFrank Janek #21984 · confirmed 1/4
    1984–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Pattern CrimesForeign Detective #21987 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Blind Side1989 · 321 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1989321
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    WallflowerFrank Janek #31991 · 375 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1991375
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Mirror MazeFrank Janek #41994 · 385 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1994385
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Magician's TaleKay Farrow #11997 · 406 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997406
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Trick of LightKay Farrow #21998 · 405 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998405
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Dream of the Broken Horses2002 · 450 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2002450
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Breaking Through, Selling Out, Dropping Dead and Other Notes on Filmmaking2004 · 234 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2004234
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    City of KnivesForeign Detective #32006 · 342 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2006342
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Hiding in the Weave2013 · confirmed 1/4
    2013–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Luzern Photograph2016 · confirmed 1/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Murals2019 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2019224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

William Bayer 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.

Frank Janek in order

4 books
  1. 1. Peregrine
  2. 2. Switch
  3. 3. Wallflower
  4. 4. Mirror Maze

Foreign Detective in order

3 books
  1. 1. Tangier
  2. 2. Pattern Crimes
  3. 3. City of Knives

Kay Farrow in order

2 books
  1. 1. The Magician's Tale
  2. 2. Trick of Light

Standalone books

11 books

11 William Bayer titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read William Bayer books in order?

You only need to read William Bayer books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with William Bayer

Start with In Search of a Hero (1966), the earliest published title.

What is the newest William Bayer book?

The Murals (2019) is the newest William Bayer book released so far.

Is there a new William Bayer book coming?

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

Awards William Bayer has won

Wikidata records 1 award for William Bayer. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Edgar Awards1982Won

William Bayer at a glance

No recent titles
The newest William Bayer title on record dates from 2019, 7 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
William Bayer books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
4,434 pages across the 13 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 342 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most William Bayer books, 5 of 20, were published in the 1980s.

What the William Bayer books are about

17 of the 20 William Bayer books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: frank janek (fictitious character) is tagged on 3 of 17. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.