I’ve loved every one of the Slough House books by Mick Herron. In Bad Actors, eighth in the series about the reject spies, the Prime Minister’s special advisor has plans to reform the intelligence service. Break it and re-make it is his motto. But this threatens First Desk Diana Taverner, who has a few things to hide, as well as Jackson Lamb and his eccentric failures in the anonymous office in East London. A ‘superspreading’ specialist working for Downing Street has disappeared, Russia’s First Desk has flown into London and gone off radar and Shirley Dander is banished to ‘The San,’ a retreat in the West Country for spies who’ve gone off the rails. Meanwhile SPAD disruptor Anthony Sparrow – who calls anything ‘fake news’ if it doesn’t suit his storyline – is seen eating at an anonymous pizza restaurant in London which is odd as he does nothing without a scheme.
It takes a while for the details to connect, for the full impact of what is happening, to sink in. The certainty is that what is expected to go well will always be a car crash. Devious, selfish, deluded politicians, each with their own plan for advancement, cause problems for the slow horses who are sent by Jackson Lamb on missions that sound safe, innocuous and boring but turn out to be anything but. Roddy Ho’s computer wizardry takes centre stage and it’s good to see a full storyline given to Shirley Dander.
There is an element of predictability in the plot structure, perhaps inevitable in what is becoming a long series. Threat, Slough House endangered, Lamb’s unlikely spies save the day. But this doesn’t negate the enjoyment and Herron is so good at surprises. The wit is laugh-out-loud.
Twisty, turny, loopy, always surprising. Never disappoints. For true appreciation, start with Book One.

Click the title to read my reviews of the previous books in the Slough House series:-
SLOW HORSES #1SLOUGHHOUSE
DEAD LIONS #2SLOUGHHOUSE
REAL TIGERS #3SLOUGHHOUSE
SPOOK STREET #4SLOUGHHOUSE
LONDON RULES #5SLOUGHHOUSE
JOE COUNTRY #6SLOUGHHOUSE
SLOUGH HOUSE #7SLOUGHHOUSE

If you like this, try:-
‘Five Days of Fog’ by Anna Freeman
‘I Found You’ by Lisa Jewell
‘The Second Midnight’ by Andrew Taylor

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview BAD ACTORS by Mick Herron https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6K4 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-