Mrs. Shim Is a Killer

A struggling mother turns to contract killing to support her family in this darkly funny thriller from Jiyoung (Shopping Mall for Killers). Recent years have been tough on South Korean matriarch Mrs. Shim: first her husband lost his butcher shop, then he died. Mrs. Shim started working at another butcher shop, but after her boss there is arrested, she finds herself out of a job and scrambling to take care of her two children. Distraught, she responds to a job posting for the Smile Detective Agency and is hired after demonstrating her superior knife-handling skills. The pay is exceptional, but the agency’s work turns out to be less about solving mysteries and more about killing clients. Mrs. Shim proves a talented assassin, but when she stumbles into the middle of a turf war, she inadvertently endangers her family—and realizes the only answer is to carve her way out. Jiyoung tells the story through a series of initially disconnected vignettes that gradually cohere into a rich narrative stuffed with surprises and grim humor. It’s a sharp and satisfying crime novel. Agent: Lisette Verhagen, Peters, Fraser, & Dunlop. (Apr.)