Novels No. 32 (LL350)

 

Mick Herron. Standing By the Wall, the Collected Slough House Novellas. Soho Press, Inc. 2015 ‒ 2022.

What luck! Walked into Ben McNally's bookstore, and there it was, the perfect collection because I'd missed a couple of the individually published novellas. These five stories fill out some background, behind the scenes, so to speak, behind the activities of both Slough House and Regent's Park. Jackson Lamb and Diana Taverner appear, but as bit parts rather than leading roles.

Having seen the first three seasons of Apple TV's Slow Horses series, it's impossible not to picture Gary Oldman and Kristen Scott Thomas as those two characters. Staying largely true to Mick Herron's books, the screen series is a huge hit in the U.K. Admit it: I'm a Superfan of both genres.

Some of the novellas feature MI5 "milkman" John Bachelor, a long-term, undistinguished asset assigned to monitor clapped out, pensioned-off spies—ensure that their old age is comfortable in relative obscurity, that they're behaving quietly, and still of sound mind. Although Bachelor himself is close to homeless, he's sharp enough to recognize the use of Cold War tactics to conceal and protect double agents. Here's background for some Slough House inhabitants such as JK Coe, Lech Wicinski, and Roddy Ho, plus a few new faces. Molly Doran, dragon ruler of the Park's archives, also gets a turn. Even while handing us the most intricate of plots and unforgettable characters, Herron creates those special laugh-out-loud moments. Not to mention taking sly swipes at some live politicians and tabloid celebrities.

A lot of treasure packed into 280 pages. Long may Slough House entertain us! And while I'm celebrating Mick Herron, let me say that his earlier work, the four-book Oxford/Zoë Boehm series, is about to be adapted for the small screen.

A Few Bon Mots

▪ When a spy passes, his cupboards need clearing out. (3)

▪ Lady Di would have him flayed alive. Just knowing there were names being bandied round in code: she'd have him peeled and eaten by fish. (19)

▪ He looked like a Punch cartoon of a drunk artist, in a jacket that might have been corduroy once, and another colour—it was currently brown—over a collarless white shirt. (35)

▪ "Drunks have blackouts," he explained kindly. "And wake up in strangers' beds. I never do that." (40)

▪ "A man who wears yellow socks is capable of anything." (83)

▪ "It came through one of my people," Bachelor told him. Having people lent him weight, he thought. (97)

▪ The lines were wavier than they used to be, old rivalries nearer the surface, and anyone who wasn't spying for us was spying on us. (105)

▪ "John Bachelor. You would have lasted exactly two seconds in the field. Any field. Walk into a fucking cornfield, you'd last two seconds." (154)

▪ It started in a bar, because when did anything start anywhere else? (214)

Victor Methos. Crimson Lake Road. Thomas & Mercer, 2021.

Las Vegas prosecution attorney Jessica Yardley is retiring; her replacement Kyle Jax is a humourless narcissist. But Jess is in the midst of the bizarre murder case of Kathie Pharr; a second victim, Angela River, survived the same kind of attack. Jess has a long amicable history with FBI agent Cason Baldwin, who is also working the case along with the sheriff's department. The eccentric positioning of the women's bodies mimicked the little-known, scary paintings of an African artist. I have to say that the killing is gory, but thankfully not dwelt upon too long. Local media dub the killer as the Executioner. Angie is a strong, spirited individual despite her trauma, and a mutual friendship grows with Jess. The attorney and her teenage daughter Tara are wowed by the impressive home River shares with fiancé Dr. Michael Zachary.

Alarm bells ring when Harmony Pharr, Kathie's young daughter, goes missing. Her father Tucker has an ambiguous criminal history. Baldwin learns of a connection between Kathie and psychiatrist Dr Zachary, who ‒ due to overwhelming evidence found in his home ‒ is finally charged with murder. Jess joins the state's trial team, believing Zachary not only abducted the women to kill them, but that he also kidnapped Harmony, whose whereabouts are unknown. It's up to the dauntless young lawyer Dylan Aster to defend what looks like a hopeless case. There's more to absorb: Unknown to her mom who would freak out, Tara Yardley has established a relationship with her imprisoned father Eddie, himself a serial killer—no, Jess had not chosen well with husbands.

Trust me, this book is hard to put down. Methos is arguably not as well-publicized as other lawyers who turn to fiction writing, yet he's incredibly prolific. His forte is the courthouse experience, complex legal twists and turns; every complex step of each different case is carefully projected, making for memorable and densely packed thrillers. I'll be watching for the third in this particular series.

Bits

▪ "Yeah ... look, no offense, but that's not how I work these. I did Narcs for a long time and prosecuted a shit ton of homicides." (31)

▪ "He also kidnapped a girl her age. That doesn't seem like too big a coincidence to you?" (63)

▪ "Angela River is our best source right now. It'd be easier for someone she trusts to get anything out of her we might've missed." (76)

▪ "All four paintings are victims of someone who has turned their morality off but doesn't know that it's off. They think they're creating art." (98)

▪ "You're ten times the defense attorney these jokers are, and they're the ones on TV and getting hundred-grand retainers." (149)

▪ "My job is to test the prosecution's case and make sure they're following the constitutional protections you have. My job, Doc, is to save your ass if I can." (157)

Yardley

▪ "Nothing surprises me anymore except the stupidity of the reasons people kill each other over." (5)

▪ "Then do this thing for me and don't ask me about it. Don't ask why I need it done or why I think there'll be something there." (119)

▪ The only thing she could think about was what River would do when law enforcement showed up at her house and accused the man she loved as the one who'd tried to kill her. (123)

▪ "You're an arrogant little shit, and you're going to get people killed." (146)

▪ There were only three people in her life she had never been able to read correctly. Tara was one of them. The other two wanted her dead. (164)

▪ River turned to face her, letting out a deep breath. "Thank you for coming here. I, um, don't have any other friends." (208)

A few of Judge Weston's courtroom comments:

▪ "Ninth Circuit's a bunch of pot-smokin' hippies." (210)

▪ "What can I say," Weston said. "Life kicks you in the nuts, and then you die." (213)

▪ "This better not be bullshit, Counselor. I need a cigarette and don't want to sit here through bullshit feeling jittery." (247)