The Secret Hours, Mick Herron
The Secret Hours, Mick Herron
1 Rating(s)
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The Secret Hours

Author: Mick Herron

Narrator: Gerard Doyle

Unabridged: 12 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 09/12/2023


Synopsis

Something happened in 1994 Berlin that forever changed MI5. Very few know that story and those who do will do anything to keep it secret.

Two years ago, a hostile prime minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating “historical over-reaching” by the British Secret Service.

Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so.

But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn. Now the administration that created Monochrome has been ousted, the investigation is a total bust—and Griselda and Malcolm are stuck
watching as their career prospects are washed away by the pounding London rain.

Until the eve of Monochrome’s shuttering, when an MI5 case file appears without explanation. It is the buried history of a classified operation in 1994 Berlin—an operation that ended in tragedy and scandal, whose cover-up has rewritten thirty years of Service history.

The Secret Hours is a dazzling entry point into Mick Herron’s body of work, a standalone spy thriller that is at once unnerving, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny. It is also the breathtaking secret history that Slough House fans have been waiting for.

About Mick Herron

Mick Herron, British novelist and short story writer, is the author of the Slough House espionage series, four Oxford mysteries, and three standalone novels. His work has won the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel, the Steel Dagger for Best Thriller, the Theakston’s Novel of the Year Award, the Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the Ellery Queen Readers Award, and the USC Libraries Scripter Award. His works have been nominated for the Macavity, Barry, and Shamus Awards. He was born in Newcastle and studied English at Oxford.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara on April 19, 2025

Amidst the ongoing jealousy and rivalry between the British government and the British Intelligence Service, the Prime Minister, who nurses a huge grudge against the spy service, institutes a program called Monochrome. Monochrome is designed to sniff out wrongdoing in the secret service, but the Pri......more

Goodreads review by PattyMacDotComma on February 04, 2024

5★ “The lane lit up: the car had made its decision, and was coming to collect him. Easier to conquer that steep hill on four wheels: his own legs were trembling now, partly the cold, mostly with all this effort. Not so long ago his worst problem had been insomnia.” Retired academic Max Janáček, is run......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on October 29, 2023

Mick Herron’s latest novel returns to the realm of cryptic innuendo, jealously guarded information and serpentine intrigue.His secret world blurs the line between fiction and reality and is populated by sharply drawn characters that have a surfeit of political acumen and an abundance of waspish repa......more

Goodreads review by Kate on July 22, 2023

I am ashamed to say this is my first Mick Herron therefore obviously not one of the Slough House series. I am delighted to say that I absolutely loved it. And now I can get stuck into all the Slough House books knowing I've hours of joy to look forward to. The book centres around The Park (aka secret......more