Even as Mick Herron modestly basks in his escalating fame arising from his Jackson Lamb/Slow Horses spy thriller novels, the world is beginning to discover his prior thriller series featuring unconventional, stubborn British private investigator Zoë Boehm. Published over 2003-2009, this series is as stylishly, almost poetically written as the Slow Horses one, but it exudes a very different vibe. Where the spy series, now nine books deep, is kinetic, intelligent, and almost comical, the Zoë Boehm books are altogether more serious, if at all times possessing Herron’s dry wit. Down Cemetery Road opens with a cloistered suburban woman investigating the disappearance of a neighboring child, whereupon Zoë enters the tale to steamroll toward a violent finale. The Last Voice You Hear finds Zoë investigating a woman killed in a train accident and discovering a recurring perpetrator. In Why We Die, a psychopathic band of brothers implodes and hunts for a widow while Zoë rocks into action. And in Smoke and Whispers, Zoë’s body is found in a river, summoning the hero of the first book to come looking for answers. All four instalments are impeccably plotted and rich with detail and nuance. A pleasure to imbibe, the entire series comes recommended for any discerning reader of thrillers.
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