Mick Herron

British novelist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mick Herron is a British mystery and thriller novelist. He is the author of the Slough House series, early novels of which have been adapted into the Slow Horses television series. He won the Crime Writers' Association 2013 Gold Dagger for Dead Lions and the Diamond Dagger in 2025 for lifetime achievement.

Born
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
OccupationNovelist
EducationBalliol College, Oxford
GenreSpy fiction
Quick facts Mick Herron FRSL, Born ...
Mick Herron

FRSL
Mick Herron, wearing a suit, sitting at a Microphone.
Herron in 2018
Born
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
OccupationNovelist
EducationBalliol College, Oxford
GenreSpy fiction
Years active2003 – Present
Notable worksSlough House (novel series) Dead Lions (2013)
Notable awards
PartnerJo Howard
Website
Official website
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Early life

Herron was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a degree in English.[1][2][3] He is one of six children; his father was an optician and his mother a nursery-school teacher.[4]

Career

Herron was a subeditor[5] at IDS Employment Law Brief (Incomes Data Services), a trade journal on U.K. employment law,[6] "I wrote about people who were having a bad time at work".[6]

Herron commuted from Oxford to London daily, returned home around 6 p.m., and wrote for an hour.[7] In 2002, Herron had an office on a floor with few people, eventually hot-desking on a floor with hundreds of people.[7] Herron resigned from IDS Employment Law Brief in 2017.[5]

"The larger the organization was that I worked for, the less concern it had for the people working for it."[7] - Mick Herron

In 2003, Herron published his first novel, Down Cemetery Road. It was the first volume in a four-book series about Zoë Boehm, an Oxford private detective.[8]

"I wanted to write about a bunch of people who were forced to work together who were thwarted by life and having a terrible time with their careers"[9] - Mick Herron

After the 7 July 2005 London bombings, as a London-Oxford commuter, he wanted to write about the UK security services.[7][10][11][12]

In 2010, he began the Slough House spy series with the first volume Slow Horses. The series concerns MI5 agents who have been exiled from the agency mainstream for various failures. The second volume, Dead Lions, published in 2013, won the Crime Writers' Association 2013 Gold Dagger.[2] Herron has stated that the lead character, Jackson Lamb, was influenced by Reginald Hill's Andy Dalziel.[13][14] As of September 2025, the series includes nine novels, plus several associated novellas, and events in related novels. Early volumes have also been adapted for television as Slow Horses.

Slow Horses was published by Constable in 2010, but the firm declined the opportunity to publish the next book in the series in the United Kingdom due to disappointing sales of its predecessor. Soho Press published the Slough House novels in the United States, and John Murray started republishing the series in the UK from 2015.[15]

Herron's short stories have been regularly published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and some are collected in the book All the Livelong Day, published in 2013.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2024.[16]

Bibliography

Zoë Boehm series

  1. Down Cemetery Road (2003)
  2. The Last Voice You Hear (2004)
  3. Why We Die (2006)
  4. Smoke and Whispers (2009)

The Slough House series

Further information: Slough House (novel series)

The Slough House series comprises nine novels and five novellas:

More information Number, Title ...
Slough House series
NumberTitleFirst publishedFormatISBN
1Slow Horses2010novel978-1473674189
2Dead Lions2013novel978-1616952259
2.5The List2015novella978-1616957452
3Real Tigers2016novel978-1616956127
4Spook Street2017[17]novel978-1473621299
5London Rules2018novel978-1473657403
5.5The Drop (US title: The Marylebone Drop)2018novella978-1473678309
6Joe Country2019novel978-1473657441
6.3The Catch2020novella978-1529331707
6.7The Last Dead Letter2020novella[Note 1]978-1529371260
7Slough House2021novel978-1529378641
8Bad Actors2022novel978-1529378702
8.3Standing by the Wall2022novella978-1399807081
8.7Standing by the Wall2022collection[Note 2]978-1641295031
9Clown TownSeptember 2025[18][19]novel978-1399800433
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Standalone novels

Although not part of the Slough House series, Reconstruction, Nobody Walks and The Secret Hours use some of the same characters and provide some character backstory. In story terms, Reconstruction is set before Slow Horses, whereas Nobody Walks comes after The List and before Spook Street. The Secret Hours is set around the time of or after Bad Actors but includes a section set well before the series begins.

  • Reconstruction (2008)
  • Nobody Walks (2015)
  • This Is What Happened (2018)
  • The Secret Hours (2023)

Short story collections

Dolphin Junction features five standalone crime fiction stories complemented by four mystery stories featuring Zoë Boehm and Joe Silvermann. It also includes tales with Jackson Lamb of Slough House.[20] Standing by the Wall: The Collected Slough House Novellas includes all novellas in the Slough House series published as of 2022. In story terms, Proof of Love, Mirror Images and The Other Half are set before Down Cemetery Road, whereas What We Do comes after Why We Die.

  • All the Livelong Day (2013)
    • "All the Livelong Day"
    • "The Usual Santas"
    • "Proof of Love" (Zoë Boehm)
    • "Mirror Images" (Zoë Boehm)
    • "Lost Luggage"
  • Dolphin Junction (2021)
    • "Proof of Love" (Zoë Boehm)
    • "Remote Control"
    • "Luggage"
    • "Mirror Images" (Zoë Boehm)
    • "Junction"
    • "An American Fridge"
    • "The Other Half" (Zoë Boehm)
    • "All the Livelong Day"
    • "The Last Dead Letter" (Slough House)
    • "The Usual Santas"
    • "What We Do" (Zoë Boehm)
  • Standing by the Wall: The Collected Slough House Novellas (2022)
    • The List (2015)
    • The Drop (US title: The Marylebone Drop) (2018)
    • The Catch (2020)
    • The Last Dead Letter (2020)
    • Standing by the Wall (2022)

Adaptations

The Slough House series has been adapted for television under the name Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb,[3] with the first six-part season, based on the book Slow Horses, streamed on Apple TV+ from 1 April 2022. The second season, based on Dead Lions, was filmed back-to-back with the first and premiered on 2 December 2022.[21] It was announced in June 2022 that further seasons, adapting Real Tigers and Spook Street, had been greenlit.[22] Season 3, based on Real Tigers, premiered on Apple TV+ 29 November 2023.[23] Season 5, based on London Rules, premiered on Apple TV+ on 24 September 2025.[24]

An Apple TV+ adaptation of Down Cemetery Road starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson was released in October 2025.[25] The second season was announced by Apple TV on December 12, 2025.[26]

Awards

Herron won the 2025 CWA Diamond Dagger.[27]

Personal life

Herron lives in Oxford, England.[2] He enjoys playing squash.[31] His partner is Jo Howard, a "headhunter for the publishing industry"[5] and "leadership development consultant",[32] formerly a commercial director at Waterstones Booksellers.

Notes

  1. [1]
    Originally collected in Dolphin Junction
  2. [2]
    Slough House novellas:
    • The List (2015)
    • The Drop (2018)
    • The Catch (2020)
    • The Last Dead Letter (2020)
    • Standing by the Wall (2022)

References

External links

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