The Catch

British spy master Mick Herron returns with an explosive novella set in the same world as his multiple CWA Dagger-winning Slough House series

John Bachelor is the saddest kind of spy: not a joe in the field, not even a desk jockey, but a milkman-a part-time pension administrator whose main job is to check in on aging retired spies. Late in his career and having lost his wife, his house, and his savings after a series of unlucky choices, John's been living in a dead man's London apartment, hoping the bureaucracy isn't going to catch up with him and leave him homeless. But keeping a secret among spies is a fool's errand, and now John has made himself eminently blackmailable.

"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."-The Wall Street Journal