The Back Passage is a fab read. It is like Agatha Christie (which I love) with astonishingly frequent sex, some seriously funny moments and a murder mystery to boot.

Our hero Mitch is on holiday at an English country side home with his friend, and soon to be lover, Boy Morgan. While not terribly altruistic, Mitch is a likable rouge and has been dying to get into Morgan’s pants since the first time he met him at Cambridge. He’s set about it in a deliberate manner and has high hopes that the weekend away will be the culmination of months of subtle seduction. Morgan is engaged to be married after all, but not altogether reluctant.

While hiding in a closet with Boy, and doing some rather furious fooling around, a dead body is discovered. Coitus interruptus! Unable to leave well enough alone, Mitch takes it upon himself to investigate the murder when it looks like an innocent man may be jailed. With Boy as his trusty sidekick and a whenever, whoever and wherever attitude (srsly WHENEVER) Mitch looks deeper into the crime and finds all is not as it seems in Drekeham Hall.

There is a little something there for the die hard romantics but I would not class it as a romance as such. But, there are bad cops, voyeuristic house staff, hot groundsmen on horseback, opportunistic chauffeurs and a secret back passage so I think there is a little something for everyone. My one caution, don’t read it in public. Because when you do get snapped by someone who has read it you’re more than likely be up to smex and there is nothing worse than trying to get coffee with a red face! They just know what you’re reading… heh.

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Edward Mitchell is a handsome young American studying towards a postgraduate degree at Cambridge in 1920s. His best friend Morgan has secured him an invite to his fiancé's parents' countryhouse but the party is disturbed by a discovery of a body, and nearly everyone in the house appears to be acting oddly. So Mitchell decides to investigate, which gives him lots of opportunities to have steamy encounters with the men who help him in his enquiries. Pure fluff. ( )

The Back Passage is a historical mystery set in 1925 Norfolk, England. The period feel is refreshing and the mystery aspect plays into it well. The comedy and sex were extremely entertaining. At the risk of sounding trite, I thought it was very heart-warming.

Mitch's character is easy to relate to and easy to love. He's just a Yankee in Britain. He is always optimistic, very sexually driven, and curious of everything. Mitch is a wannabe detective, but often thinks with his cock instead of his head. The reader's ability to suspend disbelief will be tested repeatedly because Mitch has sex with almost all the people he questions; he even plays exhibitionist at one point.

That's not to say that there wasn't any mystery in the book. There are a few shocks near the end and the murderer was unexpected enough. I have the niggling feeling that mystery wasn't the focus of the book.

However, as is typical of mysteries, pieces of the puzzle get solved and hidden relationships are revealed. Although Mitch hitches up with almost everyone he meets, he comes to realize that he wants to share the experience of love with another person. The ending was satisfying and I was glad that characters who had been alone in the past were able to find new love.

The Back Passage flows smoothly and I was able to finish it quickly. It's a real page-turner and would be an enjoyable experience for most, even those that don't usually read mystery. I hear tell of a sequel called The Secret Tunnel, and I will definitely keep my eye out for that one. I love the titles Lear is coming up with for this series. ( )

1925, England. Bostonian Mitch, who is studying at Cambridge, accompanies his friend Boy to a country house mainly to get into said friend's pants. A mystery in the form of a dead body, plenty of m/m sex and a satisfying ending made this romp a fun, if short, read.

It's about to get even better for Mitch, an avid fan of detective novels. Belinda stumbles upon a dead body, and her screams bring everyone in the house running! Sir James summons the police! If he works fast, Mitch might even get to examine a crime-scene!

As he admits, he has two obsessions in life –
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I heard great things about this book, but it was just too silly for me. As far as I'm concerned, it was a long succession of highly improbable smutty interludes, rather than a good mystery with some smut. Of course I realize it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, but I guess I expected a little more grounding in reality. ( )

A quite enjoyable romp. It might actually be a bit of a genre breaker in that it actually has a decent mystery thrown in with the pr0n. Because pr0n it is! And lots of it. Apparently everyone in this novel has a penchant for the rear. But the mystery part is believable, the stakes are high, and you want to find out who- and whydunnit. Not for everyone, obviously... :)

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way more sex than mystery. Although I am not bothered by gay sex whatsoever, I did find that it took over the book. However, I did enjoy the main character's matter of fact humor! ( )

This was an outrageous romp! People who enjoyed the movie Gosford Park, or like Agatha Christie novels with a twist, will find this book naughty fun. A tongue-in-cheek mystery set in 1925, in England. Mitch is a handsome wannabe sleuth who's attempt to solve a mystery nets him sex around every corner! Witty, fast-paced. Read it in one night. ( )

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The hot summer of 1925, and a twenty-two year old randy Bostonian hunk, Edward “Mitch” Mitchell, in England following postgraduate studies at Cambridge, has been invited to Drekeham Hall, Norfolk, home of Sir James Eagle, MP, for the weekend by his best friend and fellow student, Harry “Boy” Morgan, handsome muscular athlete and rowing blue. Boy is set to marry Belinda, the daughter of the house, but this minor inconvenience does not deter Mitch, the narrator, from his aim of seducing him by the end of the day.
While playing the game of sardines, incidentally during which Mitch begins his seduction of Boy, a dead body tumbles from a cupboard, and so begins a weekend of action, drama and amateur sleuthing. Immediately a servant of the house is arrested for the murder, but Mitch suspects things are not quite so simple and sets out, with Boy’s help, to find the real culprit. Mitch’s attempts at detective work are hampered only by his sex drive, for he meets temptation at every turn. Apart from his ongoing seduction of Boy, Mitch also enjoys other diversionary assignations with among others Sir James’ flamboyant brother, a handsome young policeman and an investigating journalist. He also encounters sadistic and corrupt policemen, a couple of naked male servants on horseback and cavorting in the long grass, an oversexed chauffeur, a voyeuristic butler, and a compliant young house boy plus a few surprises.
Well written, with smooth flowing prose, this is a most enjoyable, if unlikely mystery; very funny and with plenty of twists and surprises in the plot. More vividly described sexual encounters than one could ever hope for in an average weekend, but then this is no average weekend. ( )

The Back Passage
James Lear

I can’t quite remember how I stumbled onto this book. I know I found it through finding the author. I think I may have hopped around from one author’s site to another and stumbled across the very tasteful (and tasty) cover to “The Back Passage”. Once I read the synopsis I had very high hopes for this book.

My hopes were definitely met and even exceeded. The story is about an American student from Cambridge, Mitch, who spends a weekend in the English country with his best friend, Boy Morgan, at Morgan’s fiancée’s home. The book starts with Mitch hiding in a closet with Boy and succeeding in his long seduction of his friend. They are unfortunately interrupted by Boy’s fiancée who has rudely screamed the house down at the discovery of a body upstairs. Now, it turns out that Mitch has a bit of a thing for detective fiction and decides to emulate his favorite and greatest, Sherlock Holmes, and discover what exactly happened. Clues begin to turn up, as well as plenty of opportunities for sexual encounters with everyone from the servants to the Lord’s younger brother. Mitch gets plenty of men and in the end, also solves the mystery with the help of his very own Watson and new lover, Boy Morgan.

This story was wonderful. It’s told in the first person and held my attention all the way through. Mitch is a fun character and takes everything, even himself, none too seriously. He is witty and adventurous and smart. And even has quite a heart. What I also liked about him was that he was not infallible. He is portrayed as exactly as he is, a young man enjoying himself as he lives out a boyhood dream. He doesn’t solve the mystery alone and he is quite easily distracted by his libido.

To sum this book up, I’ll quote the author from his MySpace blog:
“All of my books are meant to be very very dirty FIRST AND FOREMOST, offering the reader at least two good wanks per chapter (one, for the older reader). Then (this is the "pretensions" bit) I try and make them entertaining, funny, exciting and touching as a kind of bonus to the loyal reader.

I can't attach a free packet of tissues to the front of every book, so I think that giving a good narrative is the next best thing.”

Really, how can you go wrong with that? The only quibbles I had with the book, was that towards the climax (of the narrative, of course) it seemed… rushed? There were certain scenes that kind of seemed thrown together just a bit too fast, or perhaps in a distracted way. The staging of certain actions did not flow as smoothly as before, so it was slightly jarring. It certainly did not take away from the story in any way, though, so no worries on that account.

I am very excited to hear that Mr. Lears will soon be releasing a new book, Hot Valley, and that he will also be returning to Mitch in the near future. Very happy news to a reader who purposely slowed my devouring of the book as much as I could to make it last as long as possible. ( )