The follow up novel to what was, frankly, one of the highlights of my reading 2025, MY INNER CHILD WANTS TO MURDER MINDFULLY comes after MURDER MINDFULLY which came out in 2024 from memory. That first novel has been made into a Netflix series which we watched - it works pretty well although obviously all the wondrous, sly, slightly mucky moments from the novel couldn't make it onto the screen. It's one of those series (so far) that would really benefit from reading from the start because frankly, how it got to what happens in the second novel has to be read to be believed. And besides, there's a lake and a chipper and well ....
This second novel in the MINDFUL MURDER series is as good as the first, even allowing for the fact that you get the central premise now. Lawyer, turned kindergarten owner, gang boss in all but name, and murderer, Björn would really like to stop killing people. His marriage has hit the rocks, and his daughter is still the most important child in his life, even if he does seem to spend a lot of time listening to his "Inner Child". The one that's convincing him that something drastic needs to be done with the prisoner in the basement below his apartment and the kindergarten. His parent's committee are also getting very bent out of shape about the sorts of things that liberal, inner-city, eco-conscious and proud of it parents do, especially when they don't have a dangerous gang war looming, so he's a bit on the stressed side. He's also being blackmailed.
There's only so much a mindfulness coach can do under these circumstances, but helping him master the art of listening to the unmet needs of his inner child leads him to some very creative solutions to a whole lot of problems. Thereby solving the big one. Björn doesn't want to commit murder and mayhem, it's all the work of his inner child.
These books are so slyly funny, and clever that you really will have to be careful where you read them so as not to appear greatly in need of a bit of counselling in your own right. They are dry, cleverly plotted and just barking mad enough to be uncomfortably believable. And nearly as creative as the ways in which an inner child can guide a fully grown man on how to clear the decks of some very tricky problems and exit himself with grace from a marriage.
Doesn't hurt that the highly qualified early childhood educator who runs the kindergarten also happened to be the ex-driver, ex-confidant of the real-life gangster who ran the gang that owns the building that houses the kindergarten (who only seemingly communicates via Björn / read the first book seriously read the first book.... ), because he's the one person who gets quite the dilemma that's being addressed here. The identity of their prisoner, the reason he's locked up, and what the hell they are going to do about the parent's committee and their heating system crusade when there's a man hidden down there in very close proximity.
If it all sounds a bit crazy, it is. Bit violent, yep. More than a bit strange, often. Worth every moment of reading time.
My Inner Child Wants to Murder Mindfully
No more corpses. At least, that was the plan.
Lawyer turned murderer Björn wants to stop killing. Unfortunately, the prisoner in his basement is getting restless, the parents' committee at his daughter's preschool is clamouring for his attention, and to cap it all, he's also being blackmailed.
To manage all this stress, he turns to a mindfulness coach to learn about the unmet needs of his inner child. As he begins listening to this inner child, he finds it doesn't just have needs, but creative ways he can solve his problems. All of them.
The trouble is, they involve murder.
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