Books: Standing By the Wall (Slough House 8.5) by Mick Herron (2022)

“Roddy Ho is used to being the one the slow horses turn to when they need miracles performed, and he’s always been Jackson Lamb’s Number Two.  So when Lamb has a photograph that needs doctoring, it’s Ho he entrusts with the task.  Christmas is a time for memories, but Lamb doesn’t do memories – or so he says.  But what is it about the photo that makes him want to alter it?  How would the slow horses cope if Roddy Ho did not exist?  And most importantly of all, are the team having Christmas drinks, and if so, where? 

Standing by the Wall is (currently) the last novella that Slough House creator Mick Herron has written. Here we see Roddy Ho, the teams punching bag (99.0% deserved) of weirdness and (in Ho’s mind), Jackson Lamb’s Number Two, the Q to this small clown car of slow horses, the apparent lynchpin for Slough Houses entire “success”, demanded by Lamb to alter a photograph of three people. Basically remove the center figure. Who that person is –that’s not revealed- but the one on the left is a much younger Jackson Lamb and the other Molly Dornan, the Park’s archivist and –perhaps- Lamb’s only friend. 

The other part is a setup for the return of River Cartwright, who was apparently left for dead at the end of book seven. We learn that River was dosed with novichok, a family of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993. He’s still has a few weeks left before returning to duty, but because it was Christmas, he felt this was a good chance to see his friends and meet the newest recruit, Ashley. But it’s clear he has some reservations here, mostly because his relationship with Sid has grown. 

There is also, apparently a reference to Operation Monochrome, which appears to be link to his stand-alone spy thriller Secret Hours. 

Otherwise, Lamb is Lamb and it’ll be interesting if this picture will tie into a later novel. But it also serves as another glimpse into Lamb’s murky past. 

Which bring me to the short story Last Dead Letter (which is set just after David Cartwright’s funeral in the novel Joe Country). Here is another glimpse into Lamb’s past. 

”Molly Dornan is there waiting to extract her pound of flesh from Jackson Lamb for an earlier favor. In this case, it’s learning the truth to a story Dornan has found in her precious archives. She’s put most of the pieces together but needs Lamb for the last bits of the puzzle. Molly enjoys closing off those unknown loops in her files wherever possible. The tale she tells is of “Dominic Cross”, an agent runner in Berlin, he’s a little crooked and drinks too much but always looks after his joes. Cross is a veteran of the spy game, but been in Berlin too long. He makes the misjudgment that many spies seem to make – he falls in love. When the Stasi opposition finds a way to turn this against him the question becomes whether he can find a way out of the devil’s choice he’s been given. Does he choose the life of his lover or his joe?” 

For a short story, the Last Dead Letter gives us a lot of information to parse through. Here Herron creates a pretty good atmosphere of Cold War Berlin and as you read, you get a sense that this Cross is really Lamb (but while the whole series is just a variation on themes presented before, I had hoped that this was one trope Herron would avoid – the British spy who falls for the German spy). And I can guess this was Herron’s attempt at giving his long-time readers, who are eager to learn of more of Lamb’s life before Slough House, a reason to read the tale. But there is a twist, as always, and we learn really nothing more beyond the fact that even some forty years earlier, Cross called his watcher The Shit.  

Like all the novellas and this short story, they are not necessary reads. But for those completists out there, these tales are like bits of candy in small packages, but sometimes, usually at the end, they turn tart.

Books: Slough House (Slow Horses/Slough House #7) By Mick Herron (2021)

“A year after a calamitous blunder by the Russian secret service left a British citizen dead from novichok poisoning, Diana Taverner is on the warpath. What seems a gutless response from the government has pushed the Service's First Desk into mounting her own counter-offensive—but she's had to make a deal with the devil first. And given that the devil in question is arch-manipulator Peter Judd, she could be about to lose control of everything she's fought for. Meanwhile, still reeling from recent losses, the slow horses are worried they've been pushed further into the cold. Slough House has been wiped from Service records, and fatal accidents keep happening. No wonder Jackson Lamb's crew are feeling paranoid. But have they actually been targeted? With a new populist movement taking a grip on London's streets, and the old order ensuring that everything's for sale to the highest bidder, the world's an uncomfortable place for those deemed surplus to requirements. The wise move would be to find a safe place and wait for the troubles to pass. But the slow horses aren't famed for making wise decisions. And with enemies on all sides, not even Jackson Lamb can keep his crew from harm.” 

Set only months after the events Joe Country, our slow horses find themselves erased from the Park’s intelligence record database, being followed regularly, while River discovers one the earliest slow horses still alive and hiding in his late grandfather’s house. Meanwhile, Peter Judd (turning very much into a Bond villain) continues to move the pawns on his game board that could put him 10 Down Street. Meanwhile, First Desk arch-manipulator Diana "Lady Di" Taverner finds herself in a bind and makes a strategic mistake that could cost her much more than she’s willing to pay. Then there is Jackson Lamb, who continues to know more than everyone else, trying to figure out why past and present slow horses are being targeted by, what turns out to be, Russian assassins. 

Slough House is another fast-paced tale playing out against the backdrop of British politics, much of it I don’t grasp, but I guess it sort of seemly plays out like our current political world in the US. The writing remains sharp, with witty and clever dialogue, and Lamb remains at his politically incorrect best. One thing I like, as I read this series,  is how the team sort of hates each (well, all of them really hate Roddy Ho, who Herron makes more funny and weirdly icky at the same time) but there is an undeniable feeling of loyalty to each other as well. 

Also while all the characters have continuing arcs, each book has sort of been self contained "episodes". But for the first time, Herron leaves us with a huge cliffhanger. While I have Bad Actors sitting on the shelf, along with another novella, I was going to read something else. Mostly because I reached a point where I’ve caught up with the series and that means waiting a year for book nine to released in paperback, or buy the hardcover when it’s released in September. I'm conflicted, but I think I need to start on that next. 

Books: The Catch (Slough House 6.5) by Mick Herron (2020)

“John Bachelor is the saddest kind of spy: not a joe in the field, not even a desk jockey, but a milkman—a part-time pension administrator whose main job is to check in on aging retired spies. Late in his career and having lost his wife, his house, and his savings after a series of unlucky choices, John's been living in a dead man's London apartment, hoping the bureaucracy isn't going to catch up with him and leave him homeless. But keeping a secret among spies is a fool's errand, and now John has made himself open to blackmail by rogue elements within Regent Park that seemly also involves royalty.” 

Not sure how much of The Catch will play out in later full-length novels within the Slough House universe, but this novella takes a page from modern headlines. When Benny Manors, a one-time asset to the spooks around Regent Park, burgles a place and steals photos, audio and what not of young girls involved with (apparently) rich and well-placed men, he sees opportunity to up his lifestyle. When John is recruited by Richard Pynne to find Manors and that incriminating evidence, he has no idea why. But soon breaking news about the apparent suicide of an American billionaire (Jeffrey Epstein) and a connection to His Royal Highness Prince Andrew sends Bachelor on a mission that may get him killed. 

Once again, even these short novellas are smart, witty and devious. While no appearance from any of the slow horses, we see Lady Di fully engaging in her attempt to take power and have no compulsion what so ever of making spy vs. spy a delightful game.

Books: Joe Country (Slough House #6) by Mick Herron (2019)

“In Slough House, the London outpost for disgraced MI5 spies, memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him an outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process. Meanwhile, in Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner’s tenure as First Desk is running into difficulties. If she’s going to make the Service fit for purpose, she might have to make deals with a familiar old devil. And with winter taking its grip, Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can’t ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man responsible for killing a slow horse breaks cover at last, Lamb sends the slow horses out to even the score.” 

For the most part, book six in the Slough House series continues author Mick Herron’s deconstruction and recreation of the spy genre. He continues with the dark humor and snappy dialogue as themes started earlier in the series come forward. While, we got the back story of Lech “Alec” Wicinski in The Marylebone Drop, he becomes a full-time character here. There are a lot of plot threads that weave themselves through Joe Country, with Wicinski’s hunt for those who betrayed him only being part of this tale. It doesn’t help that Jackson Lamb sort of goads Wicinski on, or that he’s working in Ho’s office space. The book opens with the funeral of River’s grandfather, David, and with the expected arrival of his mother and the surprise visit from his ex-CIA Dad Frank Harkness (who tossed him over a bridge the last time they met). 

But it’s Louisa who gets a good portion of the tale, as she’s contacted by Min’s former wife who needs her to find their missing son. With the help of Roddy Ho and ex-Dog Emma Flyte, Louisa heads to Pembrokeshire in Wales in search of the missing boy. Unknown to Louisa, is that River’s dad and 3 other European mercenaries are in Wales too.

A lot goes on here, and Lamb sees the plot unwinding too late, for his team is trapped in the most inclement of snowy and freezing weather and in a situation with much higher stakes than they are equipped to handle. 

Finally, we begin to see the plans of Lady Di Taverner and what she seems capable of doing to consolidate her power as First Desk (the final pages, written long before the second Trump administration, are very prescient). She’s a thoroughly unlikable character, despite Herron’s attempt to make it look like she’s appalled at Peter Judd’s suggestion on how she can take complete control of MI6. So beneath the humor and sometimes silly actions, we see some serious consequences and sad losses. It's clear there’s a conspiracy in the works, one even Jackson Lamb may not survive.

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.