This post details all of the books and novellas in the Slough House Series by Mick Herron. With all of the books listed in the order they were first released. Plus details of where to listen to these top spy thriller audiobooks for free!
Don’t forget to check out my review of the Slow Horses TV adaptation for Apple TV+, starrring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb.
For more top picks of the mystery and thriller audiobooks from 2022, see my posts listed below.
Mick Herron’s Slough House Book Series
Author: Mick Herron | Audiobook Narrator: Sean Barrett | Publishers: ISIS Audio Books/Baskerville/John Murray.
1. Slow Horses
Audiobook Release Date: 11 August 2010.
Plot: Slough House is Jackson Lamb’s kingdom; a dumping ground for members of the intelligence service who’ve screwed up: left a secret file on a train, blown surveillance, or become drunkenly unreliable. They’re the service’s poor relations – the slow horses – and bitterest among them is River Cartwright, whose days are spent transcribing mobile phone conversations…
But when a young man is abducted, and it’s threatened that he’ll be beheaded live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem him. Is the victim who he first appears to be? And what’s the kidnappers’ connection with a disgraced journalist? As the clock ticks on the execution, River finds that everyone involved has their own agenda… [Source: Amazon]
2. Dead Lions
Audiobook Release Date: 10 February 2014.
Plot: London’s Slough House is where disgraced MI5 spies go to while away what’s left of their washed-up careers. Now they have a chance at redemption. An old Cold War-era spy is found dead on a bus outside Oxford, far from his usual haunts. Slough House’s head honcho, the despicable, irascible Jackson Lamb is convinced Dickie Bow was murdered.
As the agents dig into the circumstances, they uncover a shadowy tangle of ancient Cold War secrets that seem to lead back to a man named Alexander Popov, who is either a Soviet bogeyman or the most dangerous man in the world. How many more people will have to die to keep those secrets buried? [Source: Amazon]
The List
A Slough House Novella | Audiobook Release Date: 20 July 2017.
Plot: Dieter Hess, an aged spy, is dead, and John Bachelor, his MI5 handler, is in deep, deep trouble. Death has revealed that the deceased had been keeping a secret second bank account – and there’s only ever one reason a spy has a secret second bank account.
The question of whether he was a double agent must be resolved, and its answer may undo an entire career’s worth of spy secrets. [Source: Amazon]
3. Real Tigers
Audiobook Release Date: 11 February 2016.
Plot: London’s Slough House is where disgraced MI5 operatives are reassigned to spend the rest of their careers pushing paper. But when one of these fallen spies is kidnapped by a former soldier bent on revenge, the agents must breach the defenses of Regent’s Park to steal valuable intel in exchange for their comrade’s safety.
The kidnapping is only the tip of the iceberg, however, as the agents uncover a larger web of intrigue that involves not only a group of private mercenaries, but also the highest authorities in the Security Service. After years spent as the lowest on the totem pole, the spies suddenly find themselves caught in the midst of a conspiracy that threatens not only the future of Slough House, but of MI5 itself… [Source: Amazon]
4. Spook Street
Audiobook Release Date: 1 May 2017.
Plot: Twenty years retired, David Cartwright can still spot when the stoats are on his trail. And he’s not as defenceless as they might think. Jackson Lamb worked with Cartwright back in the day. He knows better than most that this is no vulnerable old man.
‘The old bastard’ has raised his grandson with a head full of guts and glory. But far from joining Spook Street, River Cartwright is consigned to Lamb’s team of no-hopers at Slough House. So it’s Lamb they call to identify the body when Cartwright’s panic button raises the alarm at Service HQ. And Lamb who will do whatever he thinks necessary to protect an agent in peril… [Source: Amazon]
*Listen to Mick Herron’s Slough House Books in order – available free from UK Amazon or US Amazon on Audible.
5. London Rules
Audiobook Release Date: 1 February 2018.
Plot: London Rules might not be written down, but everyone knows rule one… Cover your arse. Regent’s Park’s First Desk, Claude Whelan, is learning this the hard way. Tasked with protecting a beleaguered prime minister, he’s facing attack from all directions himself: from the showboating MP who orchestrated the Brexit vote, and now has his sights set on Number 10; from the showboat’s wife, a tabloid columnist, who’s crucifying Whelan in print; and especially from his own deputy, Lady Di Taverner, who’s alert for Claude’s every stumble.
Meanwhile, the country’s being rocked by an apparently random string of terror attacks, and someone’s trying to kill Roddy Ho. Over at Slough House, the crew are struggling with personal problems: repressed grief, various addictions, retail paralysis, and the nagging suspicion that their newest colleague is a psychopath. But collectively, they’re about to rediscover their greatest strength – that of making a bad situation much, much worse. It’s a good job Jackson Lamb knowsthe rules. Because those things aren’t going to break themselves. [Source: Amazon]
The Drop/The Marylebone Drop
A Slough House Novella | Audiobook Release Date: 1 November 2018.
Plot: Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone café, he knows he’s witnessed more than an innocent encounter. But in relaying his suspicions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly, he sets in train events which will alter lives. Bachelor himself, a hair’s breadth away from sleeping in his car, is clawing his way back to stability; Hannah Weiss, the double agent whose recruitment was his only success, is starting to enjoy the secrets and lies her role demands; and Lech Wicinski, an Intelligence Service analyst, finds that a simple favour for an old acquaintance might derail his career.
Meanwhile, Lady Di Taverner is trying to keep the Service on an even keel, and if that means throwing the odd crew member overboard, well: collateral damage is her specialty. A drop, in spook parlance, is the passing on of secret information. It’s also what happens just before you hit the ground. [Source: Amazon]
6. Joe Country
Audiobook Release Date: 20 June 2019.
Plot: ‘We’re spies,’ said Lamb. ‘All kinds of outlandish shit goes on.’ Like the ringing of a dead man’s phone, or an unwelcome guest at a funeral…
In Slough House memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process.
And with winter taking its grip Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can’t ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man responsible breaks cover at last, Lamb sends the slow horses out to even the score. This time, they’re heading into joe country. And they’re not all coming home. [Source: Amazon]
The Catch
A Slough House Novella | Audiobook Release Date: 9 January 2020.
Plot: If life in the Intelligence Service has taught John Bachelor anything, it’s to keep his head down. Especially now, when he’s living rent-free in a dead spook’s flat. So he’s not delighted to be woken at dawn by a pair of Regent’s Park’s heavies, looking for a client he’s not seen in years. John doesn’t know what secrets Benny Manors has stolen, but they’re attracting the wrong attention.
And if he’s to save his own skin, not to mention safeguard his living arrangements, John has to find Benny before those secrets see the light. Benny could be anywhere, provided it serves alcohol. So John sets out on a reluctant trawl through the bars of the capital, all the while plagued by the age-old questions: Will he end up sleeping in his car? How many bottles of gin can he afford at London prices? And just how far will Regent’s Park go to prevent anyone rocking the Establishment’s boat? [Source: Amazon]
7. Slough House
Audiobook Release Date: 4 February 2021.
Plot: ‘Kill us? They’ve never needed to kill us,’ said Lamb. ‘I mean, look at us. What would be the point?’ A year after a calamitous blunder by the Russian secret service left a British citizen dead from novichok poisoning, Diana Taverner is on the warpath. What seems a gutless response from the government has pushed the Service’s first desk into mounting her own counter-offensive – but she’s had to make a deal with the devil first. And given that the devil in question is arch-manipulator Peter Judd, she could be about to lose control of everything she’s fought for.
Meanwhile, still reeling from recent losses, the slow horses are worried they’ve been pushed further into the cold. Slough House has been wiped from Service records, and fatal accidents keep happening. No wonder Jackson Lamb’s crew are feeling paranoid. But have they actually been targeted? With a new populist movement taking a grip on London’s streets, and the old order ensuring that everything’s for sale to the highest bidder, the world’s an uncomfortable place for those deemed surplus to requirements. The wise move would be to find a safe place and wait for the troubles to pass. But the slow horses aren’t famed for making wise decisions. [Source: Amazon]
8. Bad Actors
Audiobook Release Date: 12 May 2022.
Plot: Politics is a dangerous game… In MI5 a scandal is brewing and there are bad actors everywhere. A key member of a Downing Street think-tank has disappeared without a trace. Claude Whelan, one-time First Desk of MI5’s Regent’s Park, is tasked with tracking her down. But the trail leads straight back to Regent’s Park HQ itself, with its chief, Diana Taverner, as prime suspect. Meanwhile her Russian counterpart has unexpectedly shown up in London but has slipped under MI5’s radar.
Over at Slough House, the home for demoted and embittered spies, the slow horses are doing what they do best: adding a little bit of chaos to an already unstable situation. In a world where lying, cheating and backstabbing is the norm, bad actors are bending the rules for their own gain. If the slow horses want to change the script, they’ll need to get their own act together before the final curtain. [Source: Amazon]
*Listen to Mick Herron’s Slough House Books in order – available free from UK Amazon or US Amazon on Audible.
Check out my Slow Horses – New Dark Comedy Drama on Apple TV+ Review. And my latest Best Apple TV Murder Mystery, Detective & Crime Shows.
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