Other spy series like Slough House?

January 19, 2023 10:33 PM

I've just been inhaling Mick Herron's Slough House series over the past month, both the books and the stellar HBOMax series. Best stuff since Le Carré, I'm thinking. But I'm just a few chapters away from the end. What other spy series offer the same combination of acerbic wit, endearingly offbeat characters, gritty action and old school political intrigue? Ones that assume the reader is reasonably intelligent and paying attention. British author probably helps but not required.
posted by gottabefunky to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

Here's a non spy genre recommendation that hits some of the notes you're looking for: Hilary Mantel's historical fiction -- both the trilogy of Cromwell books (Wolf Hall, Bring Up The Bodies, The Mirror and the Light) and her earlier novel set during the french revolution - A Place of Greater Safety. Mantel's writing is darkly witty, and both settings are saturated with political intrigue.
posted by are-coral-made at 1:18 AM on January 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

If you don't mind going old school; Len Deighton books are a bit more serious than Slough House but there's enough gritty action without going overboard plus the reader needs to pay attention to follow the plot.

Michael Caine played Harry Palmer in 2 more than decent films: The Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin.

I do like his Bernard Samson book series even better. It's all cold war stuff which I personally also prefer over the modern themes Slough House has to work with. (I do like those books very much, don't get me wrong, but you can't top the cold war for spy stories IMO)

I haven't watched any of the TV series based on his books so can't comment on those.
posted by Kosmob0t at 3:40 AM on January 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

Ooh I came into recommend Len Deighton, I love that his books have an emotional throughline as well as obviously all the political intrigue.
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:51 AM on January 20, 2023

It’s a (really) oldie, but have you seen Sandbaggers? It’s also British spy stuff with wit and political intrigue and possibly, like Le Carré, written by a professional in the field.
posted by joyceanmachine at 4:39 AM on January 20, 2023 [5 favorites]

Robert Littell was one of the first to mix spy fiction with comedy. I find his books very uneven (The Once and Future Spy is one of the better ones) but they're good on Le-Carre-style tradecraft.

Anthony Price is a bit dated now (in terms of the English upper-class social setting) but I like the general premise: academic historian gets drawn into espionage while pursuing his historical research.

Lionel Davidson is drily funny and worth seeking out. The Night of Wenceslas is Lucky-Jim-meets-Le-Carre, A Long Way to Shiloh and The Sun Chemist are both about academics who stumble unsuspectingly into espionage.
posted by verstegan at 9:47 AM on January 20, 2023

For TV, watch the French series, The Bureau. I'd place it in the pantheon of spy shows.
posted by maupuia at 10:32 AM on January 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

On the Canadian tip, CBC used to have a show called Intelligence, which was about agents, their informants, and spies on agents, all trying to survive a gritty Vancouver underworld.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:16 PM on January 20, 2023

Seconding Anthony Price; I’d start with the earlier ones (the way his characters handle the 1960s is interestingly incompetent but I don’t think it’s understandable without understanding their previous milieu)
posted by clew at 7:34 PM on January 20, 2023

Slow Horses is on Apple TV, not HBO Max, but everyone's recs have been spot on.
posted by emelenjr at 7:59 PM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Have you read books by Alan Furst? Your description reminded me of them, and now I need to read Slough House :)
posted by Red Desk at 9:36 PM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Alan Furst is amazing, but less humor (the humor there is is BONE dry), more grit and historical accuracy.
posted by lalochezia at 3:29 PM on January 21, 2023

To throw in a couple of other names:

I think there is some overlap in fandom between Mick Herron and Olen Steinhauer. I have read more of the former than the latter, and I did not love the ones I read of Steinhauer, but I think there are plenty of people who like both for many of the qualities that the OP cites.

I also read The Expats by Chris Pavone and I think it is in a similar category of newish, smartish spy books. It's been a while, but I remember enjoying the book. The protagonist is a woman, which is a change from the usual in this genre.

Furst is an interesting one in this context. I agree he is worth trying if you are into Le Carre-esque novels, but his books tend to be a collection of vignettes or episodic glances at a character, at least in the few that I have read. Not so much a single, linear plot with building suspense/tension, etc. -- at least in the 4 or so that I have read. But plenty of psychological/philosophical elements about war and spying, which is where I think the Le Carre comparison lies. I personally would not put him in the same group as Herron and these other spy folks -- mainly because he's not as fast-paced/plot driven -- but that's debatable and I think he's worth trying in his own right anyway.
posted by Mid at 1:51 PM on January 22, 2023