Read time: 4 minutes
ARC provided by: NetGalley
📱📖 Read on Kindle | 📃 448 pages
⏱ Duration: 5 hours
🏷️ Publisher: Soho Crime
Expected Publishing: August 4, 2026
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Book Blurb:
Björn Diemel, a once-overworked lawyer turned mindful murderer, returns in this laugh-out-loud sequel. Having mastered the art of stress-free homicide and the balance between fatherhood and felonies, Björn now faces a new challenge, his inner child. Guided by his therapist, Björn embarks on a hilariously twisted journey toward emotional healing while juggling mafia management and moral mayhem. But mindfulness has its limits, especially when your subconscious might be holding the knife.
Let’s talk … murder!!!
With a title like My Inner Child wants to Kill, you’d never guess this is cozy, but oh, it absolutely is. Cozy in the chaos, maybe like, sipping herbal tea while hiding a body. This is one of the most genuinely funny, unexpectedly insightful books I’ve read in a long time. Karsten Dusse’s humor translates brillantly into English, thanks to Florian Duijsens. I laughed out loud more times that I could count, and yes, this is definitely not a book to read in public unless you enjoy confused stares from strangers.
The distinction Björn makes between childish (an adult throwing a tantrum) and childlike (a child responding with age-appropriate clarity and creativity) hit differently than I expected. His inner child isn’t a punchline. It’s actually the most emotionally intelligent character in the book, and that’s both hilarious and surprisingly moving. Björn trying very hard to not kill anyone while also absolutely killing everyone is a premise that shouldn’t work this well, and yet here we are.
Something special here is…
Björn Diemel’s mindfullness journey hits deeper this time. His therapist introducs the concept of inner-child healing, and Dusse manages to mix psychoanalysis, absurd comedy, and crime into something unexpectedly heartwarming. I’m still processing the fact that a dark comedy about a lawyer-turned-accidental-mafia-boss gave me actual, usable inner child therapy exercises. I did those exercises, people. I felt things. Somehow, the book doubles as a crime caper and a surprisingly effective self-help manual.
My biggest regret is not having read Book One first. I jumped in mid-series and while this absolutely holds up as a standalone read, I could feel the shadow of backstory I was missing. The kind that makes you want to sprint to Book One immediately and then binge the Netflix series at 1 am. The pacing is sharp, the supporting cast (yes, Sasha, you!) is wild in the best way, and the mindfulness chapter openers are equal part satirical and strangely soothing. Between mob meetings and meditation classes, Björn redefines what personal growth looks like, sometimes with hilarious collateral damage.
Would I recommend it?
This book is proof that translated fiction is doing things English-language publishing hasn’t caught up to yet. It delivers both humor and heart with surgical precision. If you love dark comedy, cozy-adjascent crime, or anything that makes you think while making you wheeze-laugh, this is your next read. My Inner Child Wants to Kill is clever, chaotic, and oddly healing. This one is a true gem.
5 Book Recommendations:
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman — if you love introspective comedy rooted in emotional truth.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - Dial A for Aunties – Jesse Q. Sutanto — Family chaos, accidental crime, and laugh-out-loud moments — same unhinged energy, warmer vibes.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie — for readers who enjoy morally gray humor with bite.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - Anxious People by Fredrik Backman — similarly mixes chaos, psychology, and compassion in absurdly human ways.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy - Squeaky Clean – Callum McSorley — A darkly comic Scottish crime novel with the same pitch-black humour and gleeful chaos as Dusse’s world. Perfect mood match.
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
Are You In Touch With Your Inner (Murderous) Child?
Have you read Murder Mindfully or watched the Netflix series? Are you, like me, now deeply considering what your inner child would do if left unsupervised? Drop a comment below — let’s talk about the books that made us laugh embarrassingly loud in public (and whether we’d do it again).
Book Links:
Want to purchase this or any of your favourite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfil your book orders. #SupportLocal
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org
Find it on: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
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