While Slow Horses has become a smash success on AppleTV+, it’s been three years since we’ve seen Jackson Lamb and his unmerry band of MI5 misfits on the pages of a new novel. That changes in September, when Oxford-based author Mick Herron will resume Lamb’s story in Clown Town.
Published in the UK by Baskerville and in the US by Soho Crime, Clown Town is one of those books where secrets thought long buried come back to bite the powers that be on the backside. In this, the ninth novel in the series, MI5 First Desk Diana Taverner is being blackmailed by someone who knows what British security forces got up to during a very ugly episode of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Of course, Taverner’s approach is to try and snuff out the story, but she needs one or two stooges to do the dirty work for MI5. Who does she think of? Well, Slough House, of course. However, while Jackson Lamb will say whatever he wants about his team of demoted spooks, he will not allow anyone else to take them for clowns. Nonetheless, Taverner tries to stir things up, and more trouble from The Troubles is on its way to London…
Meanwhile, River Cartwright is on medical leave after events in Bad Actors, which came out in May 2022. This leaves him free to look into the curious case of a missing book. It’s not just any book, though. It’s one from the library that his grandfather David Cartwright – former MI5 First Desk – bequeathed to Spook’s College at Oxford University.
Here at Crime Fiction Lover, we are ready and waiting. Bring on the clowns.
At Herron’s US publisher, they’re already popping the champagne. Clown Town is the publisher’s most pre-ordered book ever and the company is hailing 2025 as Mick Herron’s big year.
As well as Clown Town, Soho will be republishing Mick Herron’s very first crime novel, Down Cemetery Road, in August. Originally released in 2003, this book features private investigator Zoë Boehm, who takes on a double murder case in Oxford, which is more than it first appears and leads her into uncovering a conspiracy.
Why is Down Cemetery Road returning now? Well, it’s to accompany the Apple TV+ series based on the work, which will star Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. This is due to appear in the Autumn. The book will include a foreword by Emma Thompson.
In addition, Soho will be releasing a hardcover collector’s edition of Slow Horses, the first Jackson Lamb novel, released in 2010. A whole range of special printing and packaging techniques will make this version of the book extra special. Here’s what the press release says:
“This impressive objet comes with a die-cut cover, illustrated endpapers and interior, sprayed edges and an Easter egg-packed fold-out architectural cross-section drawing of Slough House itself. It has everything but scratch-and-sniff stickers. That was better left out.”
And there are two more bits of news for fans of Mick Herron. Firstly, Slow Horses will be returning for a fifth season on Apple TV+ later this year. Secondly, he has won the Crime Writer’s Association’s Diamond Dagger for 2025 thanks to his contribution to the genre over his career. And it’s a career which is far from over!
Clown Town is released on 9 September, while the new edition of Down Cemetery Road is out from 1 August. Pre-order using the buttons below. Also see our guide to the Slough House series here.
