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Clown Town

Slough House, Book 9

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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

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'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

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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©2025 Mick Herron Crime Thrillers Espionage Mystery Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense

Critic reviews

Masterly
Clown Town is a masterpiece (India Knight)
Over the last decade this series of novels about a community of cashiered spies has made the transition from "well-kept secret" to "household name". Herron is now an authentic megastar of the genre . . . It's Herron's line-by-line writing that really makes [the books] stand out. Has there been a more magnificently bossy narrative voice since Dickens? Or one more in love with the baroque flourish? (Sam Leith)
No one can rival Mick Herron . . . the series is increasingly acquiring a seriousness of heart that befits Herron's achievement
Funny, thrilling and shot through with real anger at the state of the nation
This isn't just a superb thriller about dysfunctional spooks. In these dark days, there are not many novels of any sort that make you laugh aloud. But this is one of them
Intricate plots of simmering tension, an intelligence service that hums with mundanity and mendacity, and X-rated dialogue delivering character assassination with every withering riposte. . . a series that continues to reinvigorate the spy fiction genre
Laced with Herron's mordant wit and whip-crack dialogue . . . Herron knits the threads together with his familiar verve
The jokes are as good as ever, the writing is glorious, the plot is deviously clever and the glimpses of real history add a layer of seriousness to the story . . . superb novel
A fabulous, funny book with a delicious sting in the tail
A twisty, comic tale centred on a covert operation from the heigh of the Northern Ireland Troubles
Herron at his masterly best, a stylish page-turner . . . the tales of the Slow Horses have matched the muddle, shoddiness and loss of status of post-Brexit Britain
Herron again blends satire with politics and page-turning pacing
Mick Herron has that rare gift of being able to write exquisitely and hilariously while keeping us on the edge of our seats. An IRA double agent and a corrupt politician are central to this story while Diana Taverner and Jackson Lamb slug it out once again. Thoroughly enjoyable, I now have a whole new bunch of insults to add to my collection (Liz Nugent, author of STRANGE SALLY DIAMOND)
Pure class: thrilling, funny and moving. By now it's obvious that the Slough House novels are not just suspenseful, laugh-out-loud entertainments, not just literary marvels, but important too, essential stories of the state of the UK in the twenty first century (Simon Mason, author of A VOICE IN THE NIGHT)
Clown Town is an absolute belter. No one is better than Mick at loading exactly the right words and taking aim at the egos and idiocies in Westminster and further afield. More satisfying than a squirty flower in the face of your least favourite politician (Sarah Hilary, author of SHARP GLASS)
All stars
Most relevant
Something very odd about the narration on this book which really detracted from my enjoyment of what seems to be a great story. It’s as though it’s been whispered throughout and there’s so much sibilance in the sound that it’s actually really distracting. I’ve listened to all the other Slough House audio books with this (usually amazing) narrator. Not sure why it’s all gone a bit whispery and conspiratorial.
PS I wrote this review a few chapters in and I’ve now listened to the whole thing. The whispery narration improves as time goes on so stick with it as the book’s worth hearing.

Not sure what’s gone wrong with the narrators voice

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I absolutely love the slow horses series of audio books. Enjoy listening to them all and couldn’t wait for the latest book 9.
With every book apart from this one ( book 9) I have been impressed with the quality of the narrator - bringing every character to life.
Sadly the slurring is making it difficult to hear/understand even with airpods and complete silence. Sean Barrett’s voice sounds completely different compared books 1 - 8. Very sorry.

My favourite books - but sadly struggling with audio

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Why is the narrator an 80 year old asthmatic rasping his was through the story.. I LOVE Mick Herron books, I'll just have to read it for myself.

painful listen

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Loved the story, it is up there with the rest of Mick Herron’s Slough House books.
The narrator is hard to listen to, I really struggled to make out what he was saying in some parts, and that took me away from the mind-play that a good audiobook book will generate.
He sounded like he had a mouth full of pie as he mumbled through some sections.
It was like hearing Paul Whitehouse’s ‘Rowley Birkin QC’ reading Mick Herron…. “And of course I was very, very drunk.”

Great Story, Hard to Understand Narration.

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Even though I had the hardback on pre-order, I had to get the audiobook as well because Sean Barrett brings me so much joy. His earnestly simple Roddy Ho voice never fails to make me laugh. His increasingly gravelly Lamb voice is what I hear in my head when I read the text (not shade to Gary Oldman, who is the person I see). How is it that I can tell the protagonist of each chapter from Barrett’s tone, even though he never puts on any specific voice. He just seems to embody the character.

This long-awaited episode in the slow horse series is as brilliant as anyone could hope for. And its performance here by Barrett is just fantastic from start to finish. I just wish that I had more people in my life with whom to unpick the nuances of this universe. So, please read it and tell your friends.

This series is smart, dry, unpredictable and more tender than it has any business being.

They keep getting better

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