Mick Herron Explained

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.

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

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.[5]

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. Herron has stated that the lead character, Jackson Lamb, was influenced by Reginald Hill's Andy Dalziel.[6] [7], the series includes eight novels, plus several associated novellas, and events in related novels. Early volumes have also been adapted for television.

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.[8]

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.

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

  1. Slow Horses (2010)
  2. Dead Lions (2013)
  3. The List (2015 novella)
  4. Real Tigers (2016)
  5. Spook Street (2017)[9]
  6. London Rules (2018)
  7. The Drop (US title: The Marylebone Drop) (2018 novella)
  8. Joe Country (2019)
  9. The Catch (2020 novella)
  10. The Last Dead Letter (2020 novella)
  11. Slough House (2021)
  12. Bad Actors (2022)
  13. Standing by the Wall (2022 novella)

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.

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.[10] Standing by the Wall: The Collected Slough House Novellas includes all novellas in the Slough House series published as of 2022.

Adaptations

The Slough House series has been adapted for television under the name Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, 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.[11] It was announced in June 2022 that further seasons, adapting Real Tigers and Spook Street, had been greenlit.[12] Season 3, based on Real Tigers, premiered on Apple TV+ 29 November 2023.[13]

An Apple TV+ adaptation of Down Cemetery Road starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson was announced in 2024.[14]

Awards

Personal life

Herron lives in Oxford. He enjoys playing squash.[17] His partner is Jo Howard, a 'headhunter for the publishing industry'[18] and 'leadership development consultant',[19] formerly a Commercial Director at Waterstones Booksellers.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mick Herron (Author of Slow Horses) . 18 December 2016 . Goodreads.com.
  2. Web site: Dead Lions — The Crime Writers' Association . 18 December 2016 . Thecwa.co.uk.
  3. Web site: Higgins . Charlotte . 15 January 2021 . Mick Herron: 'I look at Jackson Lamb and think: My God, did I write that? My mother reads this stuff!' . 25 December 2022 . The Guardian . en.
  4. Lepore . Jill . 2022-11-28 . Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation? . 2024-02-14 . The New Yorker . en-US . 0028-792X.
  5. Web site: Mick Herron website . Zoë Boehm Thrillers . 16 February 2022 . 25 December 2022.
  6. News: Mick Herron . Crime writer Mick Herron: 'I don't know my hero's backstory yet' | Books . . 18 December 2016.
  7. Web site: If you read one spy novel this year, read Real Tigers . 18 December 2016 . Spectator.co.uk.
  8. News: Nicol . Patricia . 4 February 2018 . the UK's new spy master . 20–21 . . London.
  9. Web site: Mick Herron . 18 December 2016 . Mick Herron.
  10. Web site: Dolphin Junction: Stories by Mick Herron: 9781641293020 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books . 28 June 2022 . PenguinRandomhouse.com.
  11. Web site: 19 October 2022 . Apple's hit espionage drama "Slow Horses" debuts season two trailer . Apple.com.
  12. Web site: 1 June 2022 . 'Slow Horses' Renewed Through Season 4 at Apple TV+ . 17 June 2022 . The Hollywood Reporter.
  13. Web site: 29 Nov 2023 . 'Slow Horses' Season 3 airing at Apple TV+. 19 December 2023 . Apple TV+.
  14. Web site: Variety. 15 June 2024. Emma Thompson, Ruth Wilson to Lead ‘Down Cemetery Road’ Series at Apple Based on Novel by ‘Slow Horses’ Author. April 16, 2024. Joe. Otterson.
  15. Web site: 15 June 2020 . Harper, McKinty shortlisted for Theakston Old Peculier crime award . 27 July 2020 . Books+Publishing . en-AU.
  16. Web site: 14 August 2020 . Robotham shortlisted for CWA Gold Dagger . 16 August 2020 . Books+Publishing . en-AU.
  17. Web site: 7 May 2013 . 10 Questions with Mick Herron | . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180330080515/https://ethanjonesbooks.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/10-questions-with-mick-herron/ . 30 March 2018 . 18 December 2016 . Ethanjonesbooks.wordpress.com.
  18. News: Kellaway . Kate . 2023-09-10 . Author Mick Herron: 'I'd have made an awful spy. I don't have a smartphone or wifi' . 2024-02-06 . The Observer . en-GB . 0029-7712.
  19. Web site: Jo Howard . 2024-02-06.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mick Herron".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.