Books: Marylebone Drop (Slough House #5.5) By Mick Herron (2018)

“Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone café, he knows he's witnessed more than an innocent encounter. But in relaying his suspicions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly, he sets in train events which will alter lives. Bachelor himself, a hair's breadth away from sleeping in his car, is clawing his way back to stability; Hannah Weiss, the double agent whose recruitment was his only success, is starting to enjoy the secrets and lies her role demands; and Lech Wicinski, an Intelligence Service analyst, finds that a simple favor for an old acquaintance might derail his career. Meanwhile, Lady Di Taverner is trying to keep the Service on an even keel, and if that means throwing the odd crewmember overboard, well: collateral damage is her specialty.”

The Marylebone Drop is the second novella associated with Mick Herron’s Slough House series (making this short tale #5.5) that also brings back John Bachelor, a man in his late fifties who is aging fast. Once a good spy, but his current job is acting as a third-tier "milkman" for MI-5, which just means he monitors retired assets.

 

The advantage of these novellas is it gives Herron a chance to explore some different areas of the Slough House universe. This is where we meet Alec Wicinski, an smart analyst who unfortunately, and against his better judgment, tries to help Bachelor out – which goes sideways pretty quickly. So no good deed goes unpunished, and Lady Di, the master manipulator, knows where to put him.

 

Like the previous novella, this one (and another follow after it) is not a necessary tale to read to keep up with the main series, but for some completist, this is just a fun side adventure. Herron’s humor and his skewed look at London, office politics, and old spooks who come in from the cold, remain the best aspect of this series. I suspect that German triple agent is an arc that the author is slowly dealing with, and there is another novella after book six, Joe Country, so I’m curious if that will play out there, or be folded into the main series.