London Rules (Slough House book 5) by Mick Herron (book review)
In the build-up in ‘London Rules’ by Mick Herron, you could also miss the significance of Roddy Ho being nearly run over by a car and saved by fellow slow horse Shirley Dander and still not realise it, more upset that his mobile phone was broken. Jackson Lamb is rather dismissive of it but Dander and, reluctantly, River Cartwright and Louisa Guy decide something is wrong and decide to keep an eye on Ho. Oh, Lamb’s definition of London Rules is ‘Mind your arse’.
Thing is, although they watch Ho, Lamb watches Ho’s home and stops a second attempt on the computer whizz’s life. That in turn gets the attention of Regent’s Park who swoops in on Slough House, take Ho for interrogation and have the rest in a lockdown by the chief dog, Emma Flyte. There is, however, a connection to a series of other acts, including murder and the bullet shot at Ho belongs to that deadly incident. JK Coe points out that this is actually an MI5 plan being put into operation. Lamb holds Flyte at gunpoint while the four slow horses divide in two pairs to go after two politicians who are likely to fit the profile to be assassinated. The detail of that is spoiler.
In fact, a lot of this story is spoiler and, for much of the time, the slow horses are on the edge of what is going on and you aren’t even classified to even see what they are up to. Herron regularly jumps any significant action and gets it described afterwards and for you to pick up the threads which seems odd for a spy drama. There was also a lot more talking heads scenes than action. You can do a lot if you bury it in descriptive detail.
A lot of loose ends are completed by the end of the story and although there are two more novels after this one, I got the impression Herron was either at the end of his contract or he was considering this as his last ‘Slough House’ novel at the time.
Looking up the release of season 5, author Mick Herron reveals he has done a second version of this story for TV. I can see why. Slough House doesn’t really get involved until a quarter of the way into the book and then unveiling how Roddy Ho was involved until much further in. A lot of it is also talking heads which isn’t always advisable in a TV series. Actor Christopher Chung, who plays Roddy Ho, in a BBC interview says he had a lot more to do in the interrogation scenes and more prominent than in the earlier TV stories. In the novel version, we actually see him do less.
OK, now for a look at the TV version. Like previously, I pulled a copy from China and was surprised how quickly it was available over there after it finished in the UK. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, especially as the auction site dealer was also offering a lot of new series at a discount. Some of which are also SF so likely to appear here as well. You don’t even have to turn off the Chinese sub-titles this time.
The opening episodes match the book with only minor details different. Lamb’s socks don’t always have holes in them all the time. Roddy Ho’s bed mattress is full of water, so Lamb prefers to sleep on a chair rather than be seasick.
It isn’t until the fifth episode that there is a significant change, which is so spoiler I can’t say much about it but can understand why Herron suggested it because MI5 is played royally, especially first desk. Obviously there is a lot more to do for the slow horses here and really questions the competency of Regent’s Park when they have the jump on them so much. Mind you, I doubt if Jackson Lamb would want any of them at Slough House. Any success they have is in spite of themselves as much as deliberation. Then again, do we really need total competence in the espionage field just results?
GF Willmetts
November 2025
(pub: Baskerville, 2018. 344 page small enlarged paperback. Price: varies but get the wrap pack if you want them all. ISBN: 978-1-399-80308-3)
