Spook Street by Mick Herron
Spook Street by Mick Herron is the fourth book in the Slow Horses/ Slough House spy thriller series. It is the sequel to Real Tigers, which I read recently.
A suicide bomb in a shopping centre kills more than 40 people, many of them teenagers. It sends the country into a panic and the media into a frenzy. Pressure is on the new First Desk, Claude Whelan, whose strings are being pulled by Second Desk, Diana Taverner. But the Intelligence Service misfits and rejects at Slough House aren’t involved in the investigation. They are plodding on with their mundane tasks, while wondering where Jackson Lamb is and being intrigued by two new members of the team – Moira and JK.
Meanwhile, River Cartwright is getting increasingly worried about his grandfather – ‘the OB’ – Service legend David Cartwright. The OB is clearly suffering from dementia and has taken to forgetting where he is going and what he is saying. Sometimes, he doesn’t even recognise River. What if he spills Service secrets to the neighbours in the local shop? What if he lets someone into the house that he shouldn’t?
When things go wrong for River and the OB in a big way, the slow horses come together to try and sort it out. But will they all get through it unharmed?
Spook Street is another brilliant read in the series – balancing humour, great characters and a really tense and exciting plot. In fact, it is my favourite Slough House book to date.
I’ve never particularly been a fan of spy books, but I don’t think it’s necessary to be a fan of them to enjoy the Slough House thrillers. If you like a clever plot and a bit of humour, I would definitely recommend the series. But I would also definitely recommend that you start at the beginning, with Slow Horses. I made the mistake of reading Slough House – the seventh book in the series – first and I was confused!
