Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Murder Mindfully by Karsten Dusse

  

Karsten Dusse is a German lawyer, actor, and television scriptwriter. He’s received the German Television Award and the German Comedy Award. His debut novel Achtsam Morden was published by Heyne Verlag in 2019. It was translated into English by Florian Duijsens and published in the UK as Murder Mindfully by Faber & Faber in February 2025. It will be released in the US by Soho Crime in April 2026. Netflix realized what a gem it is and turned it into a series. Fortunately for all of us, there are four more titles in the series. The second, My Inner Child Wants to Murder Mindfully, also translated by Florian Duijsens, will be published by Faber & Faber on 15 January 2026. My copy is on pre-order with Waterstones.

Björn Diemel is just a plain ordinary lawyer, working far too many hours to keep the partners in his law firm happy and coping with a difficult client. A client so difficult that no one else in the firm can deal with him but Diemel seems to have a knack for pleasing the challenging Dragan Sergowicz. Diemel’s wife Katharina, however, is tired of Diemel working so much. She tells him he must find more time with his family or she will leave and take their daughter Emily. Diemel adores his daughter, so reluctantly he signs up for sessions with Joschka Breitner, a mindfulness coach who encourages Diemel to breathe deeply, to live in the moment, to only do the things he wants to do, and on and on.

Diemel begins to take Breitner’s advice with devastatingly unexpected but funny results. He gets rid of his client, he stands up to the draconian receptionist in his law office, he refuses to cower when the partners of the firm take him to task. Best of all, he gets more time with his daughter, which he realizes is the most important thing of all.

A tongue-in-cheek send-up of the “everything is beautiful” mindset with a comedic if violent approach to organized crime. The funniest bit may be when Diemel accidentally discovers a completely legal way to make useful people like police detectives and government officials obligated to him that doesn’t involve bribes, drugs, or lavish parties.

A wildly original and witty book. Highly recommended.

 

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Publication date: February 1, 2025

Language: English

Print length: 416 pages

ISBN: 9780571384044

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4qMRTqo

  

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.