# Mrs. Shim Is a Killer

By Kang Jiyoung

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/mrs-shim-is-a-killer-be5bb385/

Widowed and out of work, Mrs. Shim needs to keep her two children fed. The Smile Detective Agency sees a promising recruit in the former butcher: someone whose knife skills could earn far more as a contract killer.

## What makes it funny?

Her interview turns murder into an employment opportunity, with arrangements for comfortable work clothes and a training allowance. Even the boss’s long examination of her two-line résumé makes this frightening new workplace feel embarrassingly familiar.

### The comedy at work

The agency’s professional manners soften the language around killing while Mrs. Shim calculates what the money could do for her family. Practical worries about wages and bills keep colliding with the enormity of the proposed work.

### Try this if…

For readers drawn to dark crime comedy with something to say about the work expected of women. The story moves among several characters, gradually assembling its intrigue from their separate views.

### Good to know

Paige Morris translates from the Korean. Murder and bloody violence accompany the social satire, and Mrs. Shim’s financial desperation gives the jokes a painful basis.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary & literary · Crime & thriller
- Kind of humor: Dark comedy · Dry wit · Satire
- Format: Novel
- Length: 368 pages

## A few distinguishing details

- Butchery as a qualification for a new career
- An assassination agency with ordinary hiring rituals

## Sources & further reading

- Publisher: [Mrs Shim is a Killer | Penguin Books UK](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/471034/mrs-shim-is-a-killer-by-morris-kang-jiyoung-translated-by-paige/9781529957518)
- Book information: [Bibliography](https://books.google.com/books/about/Mrs_Shim_Is_a_Killer.html?id=ftOB0QEACAAJ)
- Reading sample: [Publisher sample](https://cdn.penguin.co.uk/dam-assets/books/9781529957518/9781529957518-sample.pdf)
- Book information: [Library record](https://library.ltikorea.or.kr/translatedbooks/415153)
- Review: [Shelf Awareness review](https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers/2026-04-17/mrs._shim_is_a_killer.html)
- Publisher: [Publisher](https://www.penguin.com.au/books/mrs-shim-is-a-killer-9781529957525)