Dead Lions

Slough House is the headquarters of the so-called slow horses. The rundown, mold-coated building is described in meticulous detail in every scene. Everything is old, nothing quite works, and even the modern computer equipment of Roderick Ho is set to pre-programmed busywork while he goes about more nefarious tasks, surrounded by empty pizza boxes and crumpled cans of energy drink. The building smells of rot and decay, as well as Jackson Lamb’s many odors. In this way, Slough House represents Britain and Bureaucratic Decay. This may not be the cutting edge of the world of British intelligence, but the novel’s decision to focus on Slough House elevates the building into a representation of a certain sense of Britishness suited to the time and place.

The decay of Slough House is contrasted with the modern cleanness of places like Regent’s Park and the Needle. Regent’s Park is the headquarters of MI5, the place where everyone in Slough House wishes they were. Yet the novel portrays Regent’s Park as a hive of backstabbing and treachery. The building itself may be clean and modern, but no one is happy. Everyone is self-interested and duplicitous. The modernity of Regent’s Park contrasts with the decay of Slough House but serves only to mask the same rot that affects Slough House.