Bill Travis Books in Order
Part ofGeorge Wier Books in OrderSee the Bill Travis books by George Wier in order, with quick summaries, Texas mystery background, and a simple guide to where to start.
Last updated: July 8, 2026
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Publication Order
19 books
Capitol Offense
by George Wier
2011
A death row inmate tells Bill Travis a secret that could destroy the governor of Texas. Once the governor's men start closing in, Bill has to decide whether telling the truth is worth the price.
Longnecks & Twisted Hearts
by George Wier
2011
Bill Travis returns to the town where he grew up after his best friend is murdered. Old ghosts, a seventeenth-century French ship, and dark secrets under East Texas soil make this one painfully personal.
The Devil to Pay
by George Wier
2011
When the curator of the Texas Rangers Museum is killed, suspicion falls on a veteran Ranger with a long past. Bill Travis follows the trail through arson, paranoia, and sinister links stretching across the border.
The Last Call
by George Wier
2011
Bill Travis is nearing forty and expecting another ordinary workday when client Julie Simmons brings him a mess involving stolen millions. The chase across Texas soon uncovers a much older mystery lurking underneath.
Arrowmoon
by George Wier
2012
A halted highway project, sniper fire, and an old safe in a barn pull Bill Travis into a century-old conspiracy. To survive, he has to uncover why the past still matters so much to the present.
Caddo Cold
by George Wier
2012
Bill Travis takes on a job for Holt Gatlin and uncovers a deadly secret tied to a missing military plane. The deeper he digs, the more he has to wonder whether his client is a savior, a fraud, or something worse.
Death on the Pedernales
by George Wier
2012
A millionaire war hero is murdered in a small Texas town where everyone seems to know everyone else's business. Bill Travis has to sort through local loyalties and buried secrets before the killer strikes again.
Slow Falling
by George Wier
2012
An old man staggers into a honky-tonk, mutters about the falling, and dies at Bill Travis's feet. The trail leads into nuclear secrecy, West Texas desolation, and a race to save a man in terrible danger.
After the Fire
by George Wier
2013
A dead prize billygoat sounds almost laughable, until Bill Travis realizes someone will kill to keep the truth hidden. Toxic waste, local rage, and attacks on Bill and Jessica turn the case deadly fast.
Buffalo Bayou Blues
by George Wier
2013
Houston's blues scene turns deadly when an aging musician is pushed toward murder. Bill Travis moves through taverns, piers, and backstreets to untangle a war of rival clubs, hidden motives, and sudden violence.
Desperate Crimes
by George Wier
2013
When Jennifer Travis's piano teacher vanishes before her recital, Bill throws himself into the search. The trail winds through family secrets, missing identities, and plenty of chaos, with Hank and a pet ferret along for the ride.
Ghost of the Karankawa
by George Wier
2013
Bill Travis heads to the Texas Gulf Coast after eerie shrieks and a dried-out corpse shake a historic town. With his wife, dog, and a very odd guide, he digs into a case that feels half legend, half murder.
Mexico Fever
by George Wier
2013
A dying former governor sends Bill Travis to Mexico to find missing Ranger Walt Cannon and stop a ruthless killer known as Sunlight. Jungle, ruins, soldiers, and a cult-like movement make this one especially dangerous.
The Lone Star Express
by George Wier
2013
Bill Travis must escort a former governor's body to its burial in West Texas, aboard an old steam train. The journey becomes a race against armed enemies who will do anything to stop the Lone Star Express.
Trinity Trio
by George Wier
2013
A favor for his partner sends Bill Travis to an East Texas town where a woman is jailed for trying to kill a senator. Badges, conspiracy, and a trio of powerful women turn the case into a hard fight for the truth.
Reveille in Red
by George Wier
2019
Bill Travis plans a wine-country getaway with Julie, then starts poking at an unsolved murder near a winery. The bus tour soon turns violent, with gangs, shootouts, and far more trouble than a weekend trip should hold.
Amarillo Waltz
by George Wier
2020
A trip to Amarillo for a dance benefit turns into a missing-child case when Bill Travis follows an Amber Alert into the Panhandle. The search leads into Palo Duro Canyon, old legends, and plenty of danger.
Bexar County Line
by George Wier
2020
After the biker gang violence of the previous case, Bill Travis becomes the target again when a sniper nearly kills his daughter. To protect his family, he heads toward San Antonio and hunts the mind behind the plot.
The Long Goodnight
by George Wier
2020
Bill Travis is asked to help an elderly blues musician and former Negro League ballplayer accused of murder. What starts as one case quickly widens into a brutal, street-level search through old crimes and buried history.
Series background & context
The Bill Travis books start with an ordinary man who keeps getting dragged into very unordinary trouble. Bill is an Austin investment counselor in The Last Call, not a badge-carrying detective, and that outsider angle matters. He knows business, people, and Texas, but he is rarely the most heavily armed person in the room. What he does have is curiosity, stubbornness, and a habit of stepping forward when backing away would be smarter.
As the series grows, Bill turns into a kind of all-purpose Texas troubleshooter. He chases money, missing people, corrupt officials, killers, cult figures, and cold cases that should have stayed buried. The books do not stick to one narrow mystery template. One story can lean political, another can feel like a road thriller, another like small-town noir, and another like a bruising adventure yarn.
Texas is the secret weapon.
Wier uses the whole state. Austin, East Texas, the Gulf Coast, Houston, the Hill Country, the Panhandle, border country, and even trips into Mexico all become part of the series' identity. Old history is never just background decoration either. Lost ships, long-ago crimes, Ranger lore, family grudges, and local legends keep surfacing and pushing the present into motion.
Bill also does not work alone for long. Julie becomes central to his life, and recurring characters like Hank Sterling, Jessica, Jennifer, Perry Reilly, Walt Cannon, and Felix Bruce give the series a lived-in feel. These are not polished super-spies. They are friends, relatives, ex-lawmen, oddballs, and fellow survivors, the sort of people who can argue in one scene and save each other in the next.
The tone is fast, a little rough around the edges, and very willing to have fun with itself. There are fistfights, shootouts, bus trips gone wrong, steam trains, ghosts of the past, biker gangs, piano teachers who vanish, and cases that can turn from funny to dangerous in a page or two. Now and then the series brushes up against the uncanny, but it stays rooted in crime, action, and the practical question of who is lying and why.
If you like long-running mysteries that care as much about movement and place as puzzle mechanics, this is the draw of Bill Travis. Start with The Last Call and go forward, because part of the pleasure is watching Bill's world widen, his relationships deepen, and Texas keep handing him fresh trouble.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.





































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