Mick Herron's 'Clown Town' Available for Pre-Order

The Slough House series, which now includes nine novels and several novellas, centers on a group of disgraced MI5 agents relegated to a dilapidated building and given pointless tasks to encourage their resignation. These agents, known as "slow horses," are overseen by the brilliant but crude Jackson Lamb, a Cold War-era spy. The series has sold over four million copies. Mick Herron's work has been praised for its dark humor, intricate plots, and sharp dialogue, drawing comparisons to the spy novels of John le Carré but with a satirical twist. The series has won several prestigious awards, including the CWA Gold Dagger for the second book, *Dead Lions*, and the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the fourth, *Spook Street*. In 2025, Herron received the Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. The books often draw inspiration from contemporary events, with the novel *Slough House* echoing the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and a fictional Tory politician, Peter Judd, being based on Boris Johnson. This grounding in reality adds a layer of relevance to the espionage plots. The popularity of the novels led to a critically acclaimed television adaptation titled *Slow Horses*, which premiered on Apple TV+ in April 2022. The series stars Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, and each season has adapted a corresponding book in the series. The show has been renewed for a sixth season.