Clown Town: Slough House, Book 9
Mick Herron
Sep 2025 · Baskerville · Narrated by Sean Barrett
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2 reviews
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12 hr 6 min
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The brand new Slough House thriller from the #1 bestseller Mick Herron
SUNDAY TIMES, THRILLER OF THE YEAR
GUARDIAN, CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR
DAILY TELEGRAPH, BOOK OF THE YEAR
TLS, BOOK OF THE YEAR
THE SPECTATOR, BOOK OF THE YEAR
----
'Mick Herron is our best and most topical spy writer' Ian Rankin
'Clown Town is a masterpiece' India Knight, Sunday Times
'An authentic megastar of the genre' Sam Leith, Guardian
'No one can rival Mick Herron' The Times
'A superb thriller' The Spectator
'Masterly' Times Literary Supplement, books of the year
----
Spies lie. They betray. It's what they do.
Slow horse River Cartwright is waiting to be passed fit for work. With time to kill, and with his grandfather - a legendary former spy - long dead, River investigates the secrets of the old man's library, and a mysteriously missing book.
Regent's Park's First Desk, Diana Taverner, doesn't appreciate threats. So when those involved in a covert operation during the height of the Troubles threaten to expose the ugly side of state security, Taverner turns blackmail into opportunity.
Over at Slough House, the repository for failed spies, Catherine Standish just wants everyone to play nice. But as far as Jackson Lamb is concerned, the slow horses should all be at their desks.
Because 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 and fool around, 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.
*Mick Herron's Clown Town was a Sunday Times Number Four bestseller in hardback in the second week of September 2025 and a Sunday Times Number Nine bestseller in paperback in the first week of May 2026.
SUNDAY TIMES, THRILLER OF THE YEAR
GUARDIAN, CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR
DAILY TELEGRAPH, BOOK OF THE YEAR
TLS, BOOK OF THE YEAR
THE SPECTATOR, BOOK OF THE YEAR
----
'Mick Herron is our best and most topical spy writer' Ian Rankin
'Clown Town is a masterpiece' India Knight, Sunday Times
'An authentic megastar of the genre' Sam Leith, Guardian
'No one can rival Mick Herron' The Times
'A superb thriller' The Spectator
'Masterly' Times Literary Supplement, books of the year
----
Spies lie. They betray. It's what they do.
Slow horse River Cartwright is waiting to be passed fit for work. With time to kill, and with his grandfather - a legendary former spy - long dead, River investigates the secrets of the old man's library, and a mysteriously missing book.
Regent's Park's First Desk, Diana Taverner, doesn't appreciate threats. So when those involved in a covert operation during the height of the Troubles threaten to expose the ugly side of state security, Taverner turns blackmail into opportunity.
Over at Slough House, the repository for failed spies, Catherine Standish just wants everyone to play nice. But as far as Jackson Lamb is concerned, the slow horses should all be at their desks.
Because 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 and fool around, 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.
*Mick Herron's Clown Town was a Sunday Times Number Four bestseller in hardback in the second week of September 2025 and a Sunday Times Number Nine bestseller in paperback in the first week of May 2026.
The brand new Slough House thriller from the #1 bestseller Mick Herron
SUNDAY TIMES, THRILLER OF THE YEAR
GUARDIAN, CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR
DAILY TELEGRAPH, BOOK OF THE YEAR
TLS, BOOK OF THE YEAR
THE SPECTATOR, BOOK OF THE YEAR
----
'Mick Herron is our best and most topical spy writer' Ian Rank...
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Ratings and reviews
2 reviews
Alison Robinson
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September 14, 2025
Three and a half stars. Maybe its me. I was super excited to see an ARC on NetGalley and 'wished for it', was stoked to get my wish granted and then ... nada, couldn't bring myself to start the book. After the gut-wrencher that was The Secret Hours, probably my favourite book so far, Jackson Lamb felt less like a prize-winning racehorse hiding his talents and more like a blunt instrument. Still love the series. I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
About the author
Mick Herron is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Slough House thrillers, which have been published in over thirty languages and are the basis of the award-winning TV series Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. Among his other novels are the Zoë Boehm series, also now adapted for TV starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, and the standalone novels The Secret Hours and Nobody Walks. Mick's awards include the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the CWA Gold, Steel and Diamond Daggers. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and now lives in Oxford.
Mick Herron is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Slough House thrillers, which have been published in over thirty languages and are the basis of the award-winning TV series Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. Among his other novels are the Zoë Boehm series, also now ada...
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