Selecting books for review each month at Bookreporter is like stepping up to a rich smorgasbord. Often reviewers (myself included) tend to pick authors they have enjoyed before, or at least have heard good things about. Yum, my inner self says, I’ll take one of those again. Or I may boldly reach for a tasty-looking new title. I tend to fall into the first category.

But when the pickings are slim, or I’m late to the title-picking party, I’m compelled to expand my horizons and look for new authors. It’s comforting to know that there are no shortage of fantastic finds out there, just sitting on that bookshelf in the corner waiting for a tap on the shoulder. Mick Herron is one of those discoveries.

"DOLPHIN JUNCTION inspired me to download the opening installment of the [Slough House] series, SLOW HORSES, to my Kindle the moment I closed the book."

The author of the Slough House espionage series, Herron and his work originally appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine in the early 2000s, and a couple of those gems pop up in DOLPHIN JUNCTION, which collects his short fiction into one volume for the first time. I was especially drawn to his wry sense of humor and British idiom. It’s a delight to find something that makes you chuckle out loud as you share it in your American imitation of a British accent with a reading partner.

But where Herron truly hooked me were the excerpts from the Slough House novels featuring Joe Silverman and Zoë Boehm, the Oxford husband-and-wife detective team with a colorful past. Joe bumps into people in trouble and reels them in, while Zoë helps sort everything out. For a fee. They are cleverly written with just enough danger and humor to create an irresistible read.

DOLPHIN JUNCTION inspired me to download the opening installment of the series, SLOW HORSES, to my Kindle the moment I closed the book. I’m a sucker out here waiting to be reeled in, Mick Herron. Throw me a line, please!