A standalone in the Slough House world. A pointless government inquiry called Monochrome has been given a windowless room and no real powers, and two civil servants have spent two years finding nothing — until a classified file lands on their desk that nobody meant to send them. It concerns an operation in Berlin in the nineties that went badly wrong. The book moves between the inquiry and that operation, and the pleasure is watching Herron write young versions of people you already know without ever naming them until he’s ready. Funny, cynical, and a great entry point for anybody who hasn’t started the series.
The Secret Hours