Once again, Herron captures the dramedy of the battle between spies and bureaucrats better than anyone else on either side.
As if its tendency to self-destruct weren’t efficient enough, the British establishment’s last depository for spies too old, compromised, or incompetent to defend queen and country is under attack from every side.
While the slow horses of Slough House gradually remove themselves from further embarrassment by dying off, their personal information is being methodically purged from government computers, except for the names and addresses that allow the survivors to keep getting paid. At the same time, someone who doesn’t think they’re dying fast enough has slimmed their rolls by executing veteran members Kay White and Struan Loy, reportedly as revenge for the killing of a murderous Russian agent on the orders of Diana Taverner, the First Chair at Regent’s Park. In the face of slashed budgets, power-hungry politician Peter Judd offers Slough House an exemption from the funding cuts, but there’s a catch: He expects them to invite millionaire news princeling Damien Cantor to a closer relationship than Jackson Lamb or any of his loyalists is comfortable with. Oh, and the money men Judd maintains he speaks for would “like you to ease off on your infiltration of the Yellow Vest movement.” Just asking, of course, he smoothly assures Diana. One way or the other, it seems certain that somebody—the Russians, the accountants, the press, the Grim Reaper—is coming for regulars Louisa Guy, River Cartwright, Lech Wicinski, and Catherine Standish—not to mention Shirley Dander, whose partners have already displayed a disconcerting habit of dying in harness.
Once again, Herron captures the dramedy of the battle between spies and bureaucrats better than anyone else on either side.Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-641-29236-8
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Soho Crime
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.
Following her father’s sudden death, Aisling Swann is secretly horrified when her mother begins to date again—and she quickly becomes suspicious of this new flame.
Four years ago: A mysterious male narrator reflects upon his relationship with his wife—along with a few pointed comments about how she is aging. It quickly becomes apparent that this self-proclaimed “very pleasant” man is not who he seems; he already has a girlfriend on the side, and he’s playing both women with sob stories about his job and his traumatic past while taking money from them. Even as they get more and more frustrated with his lack of communication during ever-lengthening absences, he still gives them what they want: “a top-notch husband.” In the present day, Ash Swann; her brother, Arlo; and their mother, Nina, mourn the loss of her charismatic father, Paddy, a successful chef with a chain of lucrative restaurants. Nina receives a sympathy note from a man who claims to have worked closely with Paddy in the industry, which leads to a robust online flirtation that moves into the real world about a year after her husband’s death. Ash is living at home, mired in grief as well as her own mental health struggles, and she’s none too happy to see her mom dating—but particularly this handsome, egregiously suave Nick Radcliffe. Ash begins to notice some inconsistencies with his stories and his past, so she enlists Paddy’s ex-girlfriend Jane to help her investigate. Meanwhile, Ash’s story continues to intercut that of the mysterious man who is now married to his former girlfriend—and still up to his old tricks. Jewell’s cutting between past and present certainly allows revelations to ooze out at a slow, controlled pace; even as the reader makes obvious connections, the full picture remains obscure. Jewell has written some incredibly engaging and strong female characters, Nina, Ash, and Jane foremost among them. What would it have been like to split the narrative between them instead of giving so much voice—and thus narrative power—to the male antagonist?
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781668033876
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
Plenty of intrigue and action for crime fans.
A paper mill in Georgia uses murder to buoy its bottom line.
Killers hunt down and kill a retiree while he’s peacefully fishing. No one suspects foul play, as the poor man apparently hit his head on a low branch and drowned. Attorney Brent Walker is hired to be assistant general counsel for the Southern Republic Pulp and Paper Company, where his longtime friend Hank Reed is a union official. They are not privy to the company’s biggest secret, and this story is about what they learn and what they do about it. A small cabal at the top of the company has a creative approach to cost-saving: They’ve created something called the Priority program, which identifies and eliminates expensive employees and retirees. Critically for the plot, the company is self-insured. So how can it stay profitable if it must pay out big claims for, say, cancer or Alzheimer’s patients? Maybe an employee stays healthy but has a child with a lifelong debilitating illness. The solution for this company lies in the untimely deaths of these troublesome claimants. “Terminal care was particularly expensive. An almost bottomless pit.” Top management has a long-standing arrangement with a group of professionals who expertly make deaths look natural. There is a mysterious list of nine-digit numbers, unaccompanied by any explanation. The obvious guess is that they are Social Security numbers, which may or may not be what they are. Walker and Reed intend to learn their significance, and their sleuthing could end up with—well, people dying. In fact, the killings become much less subtle as the action reaches a crescendo. Meanwhile, the bad guys are acutely aware of their culpability—if anyone finds a certain set of secret folders, there may be “enough evidence to indict us all for mass murder.” One of their hired killers is dying from cancer and wishes to partially repent, though he knows “his soul was beyond saving, his eternal fate sealed.” But maybe he can keep Priorities off future lists. The author is an attorney familiar with Georgia’s paper industry, so he’s clearly well suited to the topic, and readers will recognize the similarities to John Grisham.
Plenty of intrigue and action for crime fans.Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781538770870
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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