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Clown Town

Slough House, Book 9

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Clown Town

By: Mick Herron
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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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 and a Sunday Times Number Nine bestseller in paperback in the first week of May 2026.©2025 Mick Herron Crime Thrillers Espionage Mystery Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense
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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
Oh dear! Like other reviewers my enjoyment of this book, to which I had been looking forward for months, was seriously damaged by the quality of the narration. Sean Barrett is normally a brilliant narrator of this series, but something was seriously amiss here. I don't know whether it was a technical problem or a health issue or what, but many things were difficult to hear properly, there was some slurring and whispering and half the time the way Jackson Lamb was voiced sounded totally unlike the way it has been done previously.
The story was slow to start but once it got going it was suitably tense. There were some serious Wow! moments, lots of laughs and knowing smiles, a couple of really moving moments, all delivered in Herron's tense, observant prose. I 'll be waiting impatiently for the next one, but I suspect it will be an e-book or a physical copy, as this experience has seriously discouraged me from going the audio route again.

Great story, shame about the sound

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Bad Actors, the Slough House book which precedes this one, was less tragic and more comedic than many Slough House novels.

Clown Town is a return to the darker end of Spook Street where bad things happen. If you’ve yet to listen to it then gird your loins before embarking.

Diana Taverner is up to mischief again which that means no one is safe, least of all the inhabitants of Slough House. Those who love the series, which is surely anyone reading this, will be totally wrung out by the conclusion and running through the many ways the next instalment might play out.

Another essential Slough House book and one I’m already looking forward to relistening to in order to savour the plotting, writing, and humour - and Sean Barrett’s pitch perfect narration.

Another Mick Herron masterclass

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All the characters brought to life making it so sad when they do not all survive. This is a series which does not give in to writing longer and longer books which are going nowhere so well plotted

Superb story telling

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After the disappointing prequel to the series, Mr Heron is back on top form with Clown Town. What a relief.
Narrator Sean Barrett is the definitive Jackson Lamb, just as Alec Guinness was George Smiley.

Back on form..

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Sean Barrett is a phenomenal voice actor performing a great book. Mick Herron has given us another wonderful instalment in the lives of the Slow Horses - gripping, funny, insightful, and so much more.

Stellar performance as always

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