Description

The brand new Slough House thriller from the #1 bestseller Mick Herron
*Now an award-winning Apple TV+ series starring Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott
Thomas and Jack Lowden*
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Old spies grow ridiculous, River. Old spies aren’t much better than clowns.

Or so David Cartwright used to say, but he forgot to add they can be dangerous too,
especially if they’ve fallen on hard times – as Diana Taverner learns when the past lands
on her desk. An operation carried out during the height of the Troubles laid bare the ugly
side of state security, and those involved are threatening to expose details. But every
threat hides an opportunity, and the would-be blackmailer is soon being used as
Taverner’s solution to a much newer problem.
The O.B. himself is long buried, and has left his library t

o the Spooks’ College, where it
turns out that one of the books has gone missing. Or perhaps never existed . . . River
Cartwright has time to kill while waiting to be passed fit for work, and investigating the
secrets his grandfather’s library hid seems a harmless activity. But nothing involving the
slow horses stays harmless for long.

Louisa Guy is pondering her future, but before making any big decisions, she might as
well check River’s not about to come a cropper. Shirley Dander is wondering if the new
kid, Ash Khan, is as annoying as she seems. Roddy Ho wants the team to know that his
tattoo is a hummingbird, and not, as Lech Wicinski claims, a platypus. And Catherine
Standish just wants everyone to play nice.
As far as Lamb’s concerned, they should all be at their desks – when Taverner starts
plotting mischief people get hurt, and Lamb has no plans to send in the clowns. On the
other hand, if the clowns ignore his instructions, any harm that befalls them is hardly his
fault.

But they’re his clowns. And if they don’t all come home, there’ll be a reckoning.

Available to pre-order now!