The Back Passage
James Lear
Publisher: Cleis Press
ISBN: 10: 1-57344-243-7
Price: £8.99
Reviewed by: Sandra Scholes
In a seaside village, Edward Mitchell lives in an English country house and always comes across a sexual liaison with other willing men. A 22-year-old originally from Boston in the US he grew up with his two passions, cock and crime solving. Edward likes to think of himself as a fun-loving man, adaptable and likeable, but is one who since childhood has developed a hidden streak, that is to say he likes the thrill of investigating since reading novels on the subject in-between his studies by Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He never refuses a sexual encounter with a male and while he is busy investigating the goings on in the house, he takes time out to make love with many like-minded young men and some older men.
Edward is busy trying to investigate a murder, but in-between the mystery whodonit this is, he has forged a relationship with Boy Morgan, a school chum he grew up with, but he also has an eye for someone else when he isn't making-out with other men when Morgan isn't around. Edward tries not to feel out of touch in an unfamiliar setting being an American male overseas around traditional English people, all upper-class and hiding several secrets about their own sexuality. Not being one for having an orthodox attitude, Edward has to sift the truth from the lies around him and has a novel way of getting clues and information from others.
Morgan had invited Edward to Drekham Hall, a place of hidden debauchery, and his reason for doing so was so that his lust for him would be fulfilled. He is oblivious of his relationship with other men. He might find his lasciviousness shocking, especially as he's a virgin. He is an excitable kind of man who ends up being Edward's sidekick in his mystery solving escapades. Morgan becomes an essential part of the story even as Edward's right hand man; as he can come up with ideas and vital clues to help out in more ways than he at first thinks. A student of medicine, Morgan is a bit slow to notice when someone has a sexual interest in him.
Morgan has battled with his own sexuality for a while and if he is to open up to Edward, he must put aside all thoughts that what he feels for him are wrong. He has a tendency to just go along with what happens in the house without question, and as a result, he follows his lover around, but also knows when to back off and let Edward have his own time with friends, some of whom prove to be extremely dastardly. The novel never shows his talking with the other members of Drekhem Hall as it is told in the third person.
James Lear's novel shows what happens when a man who tries to have liaisons with other men out of view of others, and also conducts an investigation into a murder. There are many suspects, just as Edward well knows there is only one killer - and he has to get to find him! The description of the sexual scenes are vibrant, original and have the ability to thoroughly entertain the reader.
Edward and Morgan make a great pair, they are the gay Holmes and Watson with a hedonistic relationship thrown in. It has a 1920's setting which is quintessentially English with an American man in it to spice things up a bit. Their relationship will only grow if the killer is found and Edward can get on with showing Morgan the pleasures of a wholesome gay relationship.
The Back Passage by James Lear is a well-written, witty and funny novel that will appeal to readers who like plenty of interesting and arousing sex scenes in their erotic fiction. It starts as it means to go on, and is as fast paced as it needs to be, leaving no room for boredom. If Agatha Christie had been born a man she would have written her novels exactly like this. The Back Passage envelops the reader in a period setting they won't regret investigating themselves. It is already out on public sale by James Lear, and is published by Cleis press at www.cleispress.com.
Other books by James Lear:
The Low Road
Hot Valley
Sticky End
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