THE SIXTH BOOK IN THE SERIES BEHIND SLOW HORSES, AN APPLE ORIGINAL SERIES NOW STREAMING ON APPLE TV
If Spook Street is where spies live, Joe Country is where they go to die.
“Suspense, spycraft, dry wit and vulgar humor are all well-deployed in this satisfying work by Mr. Herron, whose style can accommodate everything from a tough action scene to a lyrical elegy.”—Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
In Slough House, the London outpost for disgraced MI5 spies, memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him an outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process.
Meanwhile, in Regent’s Park, Diana Taverner’s tenure as First Desk is running into difficulties. If she’s going to make the Service fit for purpose, she might have to make deals with a familiar old devil . . .
And with winter taking its grip, Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can’t ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man responsible for killing a slow horse breaks cover at last, Lamb sends the slow horses out to even the score.
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Joe Country, the sixth book in the Slow Horses series, is praised for its suspenseful storytelling, well-developed characters, and engaging spycraft. Customers appreciate the dry wit and humor, as well as the satisfying conclusion to the series.
Summary topics
Book Quality (37%): A significant amount of customers expressed satisfaction with the book, describing it as great and well-written.
Writing Style (19%): A significant amount of customers expressed appreciation for the well-written book, describing it as beautifully written and enjoyable.
Series Quality (19%): Customers keep praising the slow horses series as the best ""Slow Horses"" book series.
Character Development (28%): A significant number of customers remarked that they love the characters and find them really good.
"I really find these books so well written I’m willing to slog on when it all comes too like this book ." — Jean G.
"Love all the Mick Herron books and the Apple TV series, love the humour, love the characters, I’m a little obsessed!" — Denny
"Great plot and characters" — Karen H.
Reviews
Welcome to Wale
"Mick Herron is the best writers of contemporary spy fiction-- he describes the mind numbing dreariness of intelligence gathering and punctuates it with accidental action--events seldom play out as planned!"
— Sunny R. (5/5)
Welcome to Wale
"Mick Herron is the best writers of contemporary spy fiction-- he describes the mind numbing dreariness of intelligence gathering and punctuates it with accidental action--events seldom play out as planned!"
— Sunny R. (5/5)
Great book
"another great book for this series, enjoy this reading."
— Edier (5/5)
Great book
"another great book for this series, enjoy this reading."
— Edier (5/5)
The best one yet!
"Each time I read one of the Slough House books I declare it my favourite and this one is my favourite so far! If you've enjoyed the TV adaptation you'll love the books - the writing is so witty. Definitely a literary spy thriller. #Indigo employee"
— Carolyn C. (4/5)
The best one yet!
"Each time I read one of the Slough House books I declare it my favourite and this one is my favourite so far! If you've enjoyed the TV adaptation you'll love the books - the writing is so witty. Definitely a literary spy thriller. #Indigo employee"
— Carolyn C. (4/5)
The Best of the Slough Horses
"As stated in the Review Title everything came together in this book for me and although always beautifully written, and on the edge the previous were often slow, ‘slough’ reading and could even be tedious. I really find these books so well written I’m willing to slog on when it all comes too like this book . So glad to find Mick Herron."
— Jean G. (4/5)
Can’t read one and not read the whole series, addictive!
"Love all the Mick Herron books and the Apple TV series, love the humour, love the characters, I’m a little obsessed!"
— Denny (5/5)
The Best of the Slough Horses
"As stated in the Review Title everything came together in this book for me and although always beautifully written, and on the edge the previous were often slow, ‘slough’ reading and could even be tedious. I really find these books so well written I’m willing to slog on when it all comes too like this book . So glad to find Mick Herron."
— Jean G. (4/5)
Can’t read one and not read the whole series, addictive!
"Love all the Mick Herron books and the Apple TV series, love the humour, love the characters, I’m a little obsessed!"
— Denny (5/5)
Q&A
Published date: Jun 10, 2025
Language: English
No. of Pages: 368
Publisher: Soho Press
ISBN: 9781641298155
Dimensions:
5.49" W x
1.0" L x
8.25" H
The Guardian Best Crime Novels of 2019 The Spectator Best Books of 2019 Shortlisted for the 2020 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel Award Shortlisted for the 2020 CWA Gold Dagger
Praise for Joe Country
“Suspense, spycraft, dry wit and vulgar humor are all well-deployed in this satisfying work by Mr. Herron, whose style can accommodate everything from a tough action scene to a lyrical elegy.” —Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
“Herron writes squeakingly well-plotted spy thrillers. More than that, he composes—at the rate of a pulpist—the kind of efficient, darkly witty, tipped-with-imagery sentences that feel purpose-built to perforate my private daze of illiteracy. More than that, he’s a world-bringer, the creator of a still-growing fictional universe with its own gravity, lingo, and surface tension.” —The Atlantic
“Herron blends character, place and espionage into a riveting melange that I’ve only encountered in the best of John le Carré or Len Deighton . . . Read one and you're hooked for the whole series.” —The Globe and Mail
“Herron’s morbidly witty backdrop hosts incisive storytelling with a rich mix of engaging characters.” —Financial Times
“John le Carré with an extra dose of dry humor.” —Adam Woog, The Seattle Times
“A series that hits every mark—wicked, black humor, complex characters and breathless plotting.” —The Cleveland Plain-Dealer
“Mick Herron is a master of misdirection. It’s a skill, it just so happens, that spies and their handlers require in abundance, and one that Herron wields with unerring effectiveness in his thrillers.” —Daneet Steffens, CrimeReads
“The espionage series you should be reading right now.” —Zoomer Magazine
“Though Joe Country is Mick Herron's sixth novel in his Slough House series, set in Britain's intelligence community, it stands on its own. Newcomers need not be familiar with the previous books, but this installment is so taut and witty, fans will be eager to go back and read from the beginning.” —Shelf Awareness
Mick Herron is a British novelist and short story writer who was born in Newcastle and studied English at Oxford. He is the author of the Slough House espionage series, four Oxford mysteries, and several standalone novels. His work has won the CWA Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement in Crime Writing, the Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel, the Steel Dagger for Best Thriller, the Theakstons Novel of the Year Award, the Barry award and the Ellery Queen Readers Award, and been nominated for the Macavity and Shamus Awards. He currently lives in Oxford and writes full-time.
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