Clown Town by Mick Herron

If you’re already hooked on Mick Herron’s Slough House series, Clown Town feels like coming home—if home smells faintly of cigarette ash, stale coffee, and quiet despair. The “slow horses,” those misfit MI5 agents banished to bureaucratic purgatory, are back in all their messy glory. This time, River Cartwright stumbles onto a mystery involving his late grandfather’s library and a missing book that might never have existed—a breadcrumb trail that leads straight into the murky heart of British intelligence’s past. Meanwhile, Diana Taverner, ever the calculating First Desk, is doing damage control over a scandal tied to the Troubles. Naturally, she drags Lamb and his sorry crew into it, because when you need something deniable done poorly but effectively, there’s no better team. Herron’s wit is as sharp as ever, lacing bleak humor through scenes that could otherwise be unbearably grim. The pacing takes its time out of the gate—he’s always been a slow burn—but when it hits stride, the tension hums. The final act is full of deft twists, emotional gut punches, and that lingering question of what it all costs to stay in the game. Excerpt: “Spies didn’t retire, not really. They just faded into the wallpaper, waiting for someone to notice they were still part of the pattern—and wondering, when that moment came, whether it was a rescue or an execution.” Clown Town isn’t just another spy caper—it’s mordant, brilliant, and steeped in character. Longtime fans will find plenty to savor, and the series’ world feels darker, funnier, and more human than ever.