Pure genius

 

 ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ Being a huge fan of the Slough House series, and the various tie-in novels that dovetail loosely into that yarn, I deeply enjoyed The Secret Hours. Reflecting on past events, and learning more detail behind casually dropped mentions of Berlin in the 90s and The Park (under different stewardship), this shed a lot of light on why we are where we are. Smartly constructed, this book carries on from the tie-in novels, which run in parallel with the Slough House books. There is much gold dust to be mined from the unofficial books. For fullest enjoyment, I find it is best to read all the books in order as characters have been known to bridge the gap between the two parallel storylines.

Mick Herron is a masterful story teller, weaving beautiful turns of phrase flawlessly with cutting sarcasm. He is easily one the best British writers of the moment. His skill with constructing complex stories and delivering them at pace with tension and action is noteworthy. In The Secret Hours we have two stories to follow: a current day inquiry into security service wrong-doing and Berlin in the 90s. The events of the 90s have been hinted at briefly in the preceding books but are illustrated in full colour with plenty of detail here, leaving us in no doubt on a few fronts. It's a bittersweet story for me but one that adds to the greater Slough House universe. Pure spy catnip that improves with each book, this series in not to be missed.