I went to a Mick Herron event* a couple of days ago. That's the second time I've been to see him, despite not having read any of his books, but Mr. C. is a big fan, and MH is extremely entertaining, so much so that I bagged his new book straightaway and am reading it now.
The Secret Hours is not one of the famous Slough House series, though there is some common ground, I believe, but 100 pages in I am enjoying it greatly. Mick Herron told us something of his writing process the other night: he does not plan, preferring to let the story take shape organically on the page, and he takes particular pleasure in crafting his sentences to make each one just right, especially with regard to its rhythm and how it maintains the greater rhythm of the passage or paragraph in which it sits. This attention to detail really shows in the finished piece which I'm finding clever, witty, sharply topical, and elegantly constructed.
As to the subject-matter, here's the blurb: "Two years ago, the Monochrome inquiry was set up to investigate the British secret service. Monochrome's mission was to ferret out misconduct, allowing the civil servants seconded to the inquiry unfettered access to confidential information in the service archives.
But with progress blocked at every turn, Monochrome is circling the drain ... Until the OTIS file appears out of nowhere.
What classified secrets does OTIS hold that see a long-redundant spy being chased through Devon's green lanes in the dark? What happened in a newly reunified Berlin that someone is desperate to keep under wraps? And who will win the battle for the soul of the secret service - or was that decided a long time ago?
Spies and pen-pushers, politicians and PAs, high-flyers, time-servers and burn-outs. They all have jobs to do in the daylight. But what they do in the secret hours reveals who they really are."
*I have photographs but can't post them here due to some technical glitch.