Slough House Novellas

Slough House Novellas:

The Drop & The List by Mick Herron (2019 John Murray Publishers paperback 202pp)

The Catch by Mick Herron (2020 John Murray Publishers hardcover 105pp)

 

 

These two volumes contain three short novella-length excursions into Mick Herron’s Slough House spy thrillers universe. The stories are so short and slight that now only a couple of weeks after reading them I’m struggling to recall the finer details of the plots.

If you are already fan of Herron’s Slough House (aka Jackson Lamb) novels it’s a no-brainer recommending these to you.

The plots, as such, follow the downward spiral of one John Batchelor an MI5 agent who has found himself relegated to doing the ‘milk round’ – checking in on elderly agents and assets who even in their twilight years could cause trouble if what they know came to light. Batchelor isn’t particularly fastidious in his rounds and is always looking for an easy way out of his situation.

In “The List” one of Batchelor’s charges a German called Dieter Hess dies and a hidden list of names is found in his possession. It seems Hess was receiving money from abroad to run a spy-ring but was actually pocketing the money and most of those on the list were either disabled shut-ins or dead themselves. One name on the list however turns out to be a capable young woman and a plan is hatched to bring her over to the British side – Batchelor thinks he may finally have a success as an agent but of course things don’t go exactly to plan.

In “The Drop” (renamed “The Marylebone Drop” in US editions) one of Batchelor’s charges Solomon “Solly” Dortmund witnesses a ‘dead drop’ (a disguised passing of material between agents) in a local café and reports it to Batchelor. The agent then takes it upon himself to investigate and the consequences spiral out of control leading to Solly’s death and even more humiliation for Batchelor himself.

“The Catch” starts some months later with Batchelor still living in Solly’s flat (he’s neglected to report the old man’s death to the authorities of course). He’s a roused from his slumber by what seems to be two rogue agents who want him to find the current location of Benny Manors, a notorious Cat Burglar who once worked for MI5. Manors is on the list of people Batchelor is supposed to be keeping tabs on for his “milk round’ but in reality, he’s lost track of him after a physical confrontation years before. Things aren’t quite what they seem and soon Batchelor finds himself on the wrong side of a fist again.

You could probably finish all three in a couple of hours without distractions. If you’re already a Herron fan there’s a certain joy in finding yourself back in that world with the wry comments and sarcasm. Two or three characters from the main novels also make an appearance including one Jackson Lamb himself in fine form.

If Herron writes more of John Batchelor’s misadventures, perhaps we’ll find all the stories collected in one volume instead of these thin and relatively expensive books. We’ll see...