Review: The Catch, by Mick Herron

While fans wait for the arrival of the seventh Slough House novel by British author Mick Herron, he has thrown some crumbs to his audience with a series of novellas — this being the most recent. It does not disappoint.

Continuing the story that began in two previous novellas, Herron invites us into the world of The Park and Slow House, of Lady Di and Jackson Lamb, of Milkmen, Dogs and Joes. Like John LeCarré, he has created a somewhat (though not entirely) believable world of espionage fiction set in present-day London.

One of the most enjoyable things about these books is not only the familiar characters (who are the last people on earth you’d ever want to work with, or even meet) but the clever plotting. One cannot help but wonder while reading them — how did I not see that one coming? And that is the genius of Herron’s spooks: they can see things that we cannot.