James Scott Bell Books in Order

James Scott Bell is an American bestselling thriller author, and a former trial lawyer, who has won both the International Thriller Writers Award and the Christy Award for Excellence in Inspirational Fiction. His book Plot & Structure has been at the top of the Writer’s Digest bestseller list for years, making him one of the most popular writing instructors in the United States. His novels include courtroom dramas, zombie novels, crime and action stories set in contemporary Los Angeles, and inspirational historical novels from the early 1900s in Los Angeles.

This page lists all James Scott Bell books in order, including the Mike Romeo series, Ty Buchanan series, the Trials of Kit Shannon, Mallory Caine Zombie-at-Law series which he writes under the pseudonym K. Bennett, Force of Habit series, Irish Jimmy Gallagher series, standalone novels, and non-fiction books.

Latest James Scott Bell Books

Romeo’s Truth (Mike Romeo #10), October 2025

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Kit Shannon Series (Books in Order)

The Trials of Kit Shannon series follows attorney Kit Shannon, a young woman from the East Coast who travels to Los Angeles in 1903 to practice law, a field that at the time did not accept women. She becomes an apprentice to Earl Rogers, the best criminal defense attorney in the city. While working with him, she takes cases involving murder, racial injustice, and political corruption. The series is a historical romantic suspense with a strong Christian faith theme, which is different from James Scott Bell’s contemporary thrillers.

The first three books were co-authored with Tracie Peterson.

Reading Order

  1. City of Angels, 2001
  2. Angels Flight, 2001
  3. Angel of Mercy, 2001
  4. A Greater Glory, 2003
  5. A Higher Justice, 2003
  6. A Certain Truth, 2004

Ty Buchanan Series (Books in Order)

The Ty Buchanan series follows defense attorney Ty Buchanan, a rising star at a Los Angeles law firm whose life collapses when his fiancée dies under suspicious circumstances. While he investigates her death, through his work he is pulled into the city’s criminal underworld. After losing his firm, he is offering free legal advice from a coffee bar and taking cases that nobody else will touch.

Reading Order

  1. Try Dying, 2007
  2. Try Darkness, 2008
  3. Try Fear, 2009

Mallory Caine, Zombie at Law Series (Books in Order)

The Mallory Caine series follows defense attorney Mallory Caine, who also happens to be a zombie. While trying to hide the fact and also searching for her missing soul before she dies again, she does strange jobs, involving the supernatural, and tries to stay one step ahead of a serial killer who is targeting zombies.

Written as K. Bennett.

Reading Order

  1. Pay Me in Flesh, 2011
  2. The Year of Eating Dangerously, 2012
  3. I Ate the Sheriff, 2012

Irish Jimmy Gallagher Series (Books in Order)

The Irish Jimmy Gallagher series follows Jimmy Gallagher, kind-hearted boxer from Los Angeles in the 1950s, as he participates in club fights, tries to juggle his risky job with his love for his girlfriend Ruby and his bulldog Steve, and often gets caught up in trouble that feels straight out of a noir film. It is a novella series with each story being rather short.

Reading Order

  1. Iron Hands, 2011
  2. King Crush, 2012
  3. Fight City, 2013
  4. Sucker Punched, 2014

Force of Habit Series (Books in Order)

The Force of Habit series follows Sister Justicia Marie, a nun in Los Angeles, who has a unique way of trying to make Los Angeles a little bit safer and dealing with her enemies: by fighting by any means, even if it includes mixed martial arts and kick boxing. The series mixes crime stories with dark humor as Sister J tries to protect those in need and manage her small group, while traveling through the city’s criminal underground to stop all evil by any means necessary.

Reading Order

  1. Force of Habit, 2013
  2. And Then There Were Nuns, 2013
  3. Nun The Wiser, 2014
  4. The Nun Also Rises, 2016
  5. Hot Cross Nuns, 2019

Mike Romeo Series (Books in Order)

The Mike Romeo follows former mixed marital arts fighter and philosophy student Mike Romeo, who now works as an investigator and a fixer for Los Angeles lawyer Ira Rosen, a wheelchair-bound former Mossad agent turned rabbi, who is also his friend. Each book takes him to solve a new case, and no locations, starting from Los Angeles to California’s Central Valley and more.

Reading Order

  1. Romeo’s Rules, 2015
  2. Romeo’s Way, 2016
  3. Romeo’s Hammer, 2017
  4. Romeo’s Fight, 2019
  5. Romeo’s Stand, 2020
  6. Romeo’s Town, 2021
  7. Romeo’s Rage, 2022
  8. Romeo’s Justice, 2023
  9. Romeo’s Fire, 2024
  10. Romeo’s Truth, 2025

Standalone Novels

Novellas and Short Stories

Short Story Collections

Anthologies

Non-Fiction Books

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  • Successful Closing Argument Techniques, 1987
  • Bell’s Good Faith Exception Book, 1997
  • Write Great Fiction – Plot & Structure, 2004
  • Plot and Structure, 2004
  • Write Great Fiction series, 2008, with Gloria Kempton and Nancy Kress
  • Write Great Fiction – Revision And Self-Editing, 2008
  • Revision And Self-Editing, 2008
  • The Art of War for Writers, 2009
  • The Write Great Fiction Collection Bundle, 2010, with Nancy Kress
  • Writing Fiction for All You’re Worth, 2011
  • Conflict and Suspense, 2011
  • How to Write Comedy, 2012
  • Self-Publishing Attack!, 2012
  • How to Achieve Your Goals and Dreams, 2012
  • How to Manage the Time of Your Life, 2012
  • Fiction Attack!, 2013
  • Write Your Novel From The Middle, 2014
  • How to Write Dazzling Dialogue, 2014
  • How to Make a Living as a Writer, 2014
  • Super Structure, 2015
  • Three Men and a Manuscript, 2015, with Larry Brooks and Randy Ingermanson
  • 27 Fiction Writing Blunders – And How Not To Make Them!, 2015
  • Voice, 2015
  • Some People Are Dead: Part Essay, Part Memoir, Parts Unknown, 2016
  • Just Write, 2016
  • Manliness: The Robert Mitchum Way, 2016
  • The Mental Game of Writing, 2016
  • How to Write Short Stories and Use Them to Further Your Writing Career, 2016
  • Marketing For Writers Who Hate Marketing, 2017
  • Knockout Fiction Power Pack, 2017
  • How to Write Pulp Fiction, 2017
  • Peter Charlie: The Cruise of the PC 477, 2017
  • How to Write Best-Selling Fiction, 2019
  • The Last Fifty Pages, 2019
  • Plotman to the Rescue, 2019
  • Writing Unforgettable Characters, 2020
  • Cinnamon Buns and Milk Bone Underwear, 2025

James Scott Bell Biography

James Scott Bell Books in Order

James Scott Bell is an American author and full time speaker best known for the Mike Romeo series, featuring a MMA fighter and philosophy student who is now working as an investigator for his friend and lawyer Ira Rosen.
Official website: jamesscottbell.com

James Scott Bell was born in 1954 and grew up as a third-generation native of Los Angeles. He graduated from Taft High School, after which he attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where where he studied writing under Raymond Carver, which was an experience that convinced him for the next ten years that he had no talent for writing fiction at all. Yet, he won an award for a screenplay he wrote during this time.

After graduating with honors from the University of Southern California Law Center, he moved to New York, where he spent time writing for the theater and briefly worked as an actor, including a role in Othello. He also appeared in TV commercials. Eventually, he returned to Los Angeles to work as a trial lawyer, first at a major law firm and then at his own newly opened practice.

His debut legal thriller Final Witness won the first-ever Christy Award for Suspense in 2000. Romeo’s Way, the second book in the Mike Romeo series, won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best E-Book Original in 2017. His legal thrillers are based on his experience in criminal defense law and his childhood spent in Los Angeles.

In addition to writing fiction books, James Scott Bell became one of the most widely read writing instructors in the U.S., teaching writing at Pepperdine University as well as holding writing seminars around the world, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Canada. His Plot & Structure reached the number one spot on the Writer’s Digest bestseller list and stayed there for years.

He has written more than 300 articles and several books for lawyers, and one of his books on search and seizure law has become a standard reference for lawyers and judges in California. He lives and writes in Los Angeles.

James Scott Bell Awards and Honors

Awards

  • Romeo’s Way – ITW Award for Best E-Book Original (2017)
  • Christy Award for Excellence in Inspirational Fiction

Nominations and Shortlists

  • Blind Justice – Christy Award for Best Mystery/Suspense/Thriller (2001)
  • Glimpses of Paradise – Christy Award for Best Historical (2006)

Edited by

Marika

Founder of Mystery Sequels, a reference site focused on listing mystery and thriller books in the correct reading order. I maintain and update the site’s bibliographies as new titles are released, ensuring accuracy and consistency across author and series pages.

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One Comment

  1. Hi, I’ve read many of your books, the library only lists your instuctional writing, im asking for your help in obtaining some of your mystery/suspence novels.
    I’m wheelchair bound due to ms and live in an assisted living and am a voracious reader. I’m nearly done reading all of Terry Blackstock work and looking for some fresh books.
    I read all ebooks, thanks in advance for any and all help.

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