The blurb:
What happens when an old spook loses his mind? Does the Service have a retirement home for those who know too many secrets but don't remember they're secret? Or does someone take care of the senile spy for good? These are the questions River Cartwright must ask when his grandfather, a Cold War–era operative, starts to forget to wear pants and begins to suspect everyone in his life has been sent by the Service to watch him.
But River has other things to worry about. A bomb goes off in the middle of a busy shopping center and kills forty innocent civilians. The agents of Slough House have to figure out who is behind this act of terror before the situation escalates.
Having ploughed my way through Pride and Prejudice for my sins, it was such a relief to dive back into something I knew I'd enjoy. The Slow Horses series is distinguished by sly humour, characters who should be unlikeable (I mean, imagine actually sharing an office with Jackson Lamb) but are fascinating to read, and twisty plots that never turn out quite like you think they're going to.
Spook Street follows on happily from Real Tigers, with a few changes in cast occuring prior to or during the novel. JK Coe joins the cast (he featured in an earlier novella, but has joined the Slow Horses in this novel) and is a new type of misfit from the others; they're all there because they've cocked up at various times, but JK seems to be there more as a sinecure after past trauma — he's been given an undemanding role where he can sit and listen to piano concerts in his head rather than being forced out onto a pension.
That's kind of a mirror of how David Cartwright, River's grandfather, is going. He was a force in the service in past decades — never First Desk, but described as controlling whoever was in the chair, and often being even more powerful because of it — and his reputation is all that kept River in the service at all after his mistake. Now, he's starting to gradually be overtaken by dementia; his neighbours are all under the impression he used to be at the Ministry of Transport, and he's always kept that cover, but now he can't remember to put pants on before walking to the shops for a loaf of bread, and paranoia is also starting to set in.
The book ties together several disparate threads: River's family (specifically, just who his dad is, something that's been flagged in past books in the series), a shopping centre bombing, David's disintegration, what happened to Catherine Standish after she walked out on Lamb at the end of Real Tigers, and a new First Desk who really is not ready for Diana Taverner or Jackson Lamb. Does it all with the usual humour and sharp dialogue. Very enjoyable read.
Started: 3 August 2025
Finished: 7 August 2025
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