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Mrs Shim is a Killer

Brief Description
From a major new international voice comes a gritty, humorous Korean literary crime novel about a housewife turned contract killer. Mrs Shim is a Killer is perfect for fans of BUTTER and KILLING EVE. A hilariously unsettling tale of love, food, and one woman's unconventional quest... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3100
Elsewhere:
$3800
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From a major new international voice comes a gritty, humorous Korean literary crime novel about a housewife turned contract killer. Mrs Shim is a Killer is perfect for fans of BUTTER and KILLING EVE.

A hilariously unsettling tale of love, food, and one woman's unconventional quest to support her family.

I am no ordinary ajumma. I am a killer.

When Mrs Shimβ€”widowed, unemployed, with two children at home and a fridge to fillβ€”answers a job ad at the Smile Detective Agency, she boosts its fortunes forever. For Mrs Shim is sharp as a blade, handles business cleanly, and is like a padlock when it comes to keeping secrets.

By day, she prepares kimchi for her family and her neighbour with dementia; by night, Mrs Shim is out on a contract.

But what starts as a need for survival escalates into a thirst for vengeance. For Mrs Shim is done with being everyone's doormat.

Diving headfirst into her new career among petty criminals, crooked cops, ghosts, and assassins, Mrs Shim's past comes hurtling towards her.

Savage and unexpectedly moving, Kang Jiyoung presents a kaleidoscopic tale of twisted love, unhinged loathing, and hopeful reinvention. Her world of endearing misfits, dead bodies, and good food marks the exuberant arrival of a major new international literary voice.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781529957518

Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 23 April 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Doubleday

Contributors:

  • Translated by Paige Morris

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 40.0mm

Width: 135.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 600g

Pages: 368

About the Author

Kang Jiyoung (Author) Kang Jiyoung is an established Korean writer based in Paju, near Seoul. She is the author of the story collections Goodbye Paradise, Time for Dogs to Eat and The Killer's Shopping List. Her novels include Quarantine Station of New Culture, Elza's Ha-yin, Circus in the Dark Forest, Frankenstein Family, Yawning is Delicious, Pheromone Boutique and Shopping Mall for Killers. Shopping Mall for Killers was adapted for television by Disney+. Mrs Shim Is a Killer will be published in over twenty languages worldwide. Paige Morris (Translator) Paige Morris divides her time between the United States and Korea. Recent translations include works by Pak Kyongni, Ji-min Lee, and Chang Kang-myoung. She was recently longlisted for a National Book Award for her co-translation of Han Kang's We Do Not Part.

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