Murder Mindfully (German: Achtsam Morden) is a German black comedy crime thriller television series based on the novel series of the same name by Karsten Dusse and produced for Netflix. It premiered on Netflix globally on October 31, 2024 (Halloween), with the first season adapting the first novel in the series, and received generally favorable reviews. A second season was released on May 28, 2026, based on the second novel. The series was renewed for a third season in January 2026, ahead of the second season's release.
Contents
Premise
Björn Diemel is a hardworking law firm employee, but has no prospect of becoming a partner, because he has to serve the firm's scumbag client: the mafia boss, Dragan Sergowicz. Björn's time-consuming job leaves little time for his wife Katharina and his little daughter Emily. To save their marriage and for the sake of their child, Katharina urges him to see the therapist Joschka Breitner.
Through Breitner's mindfulness coaching, Björn learns to achieve a better work-life balance, though with unforeseen outcomes. Unfortunately, Dragan gets himself into serious trouble and is dragging Björn down with him. Now, Björn is using his newly minted skill with mindfulness to survive the web of criminality he has been thrust into.
Cast and characters
Tom Schilling as Björn Diemel, a defense attorney with an occupational burnout
Emily Cox as Katharina Diemel, Björn’s wife
Peter Jordan as Joschka Breitner, the mindfulness coach
Sascha Alexander Geršak as Dragan Sergowicz, a mob boss and Björn’s client
Pamuk Pilavci as Emily Diemel, Björn and Katharina’s daughter
Amer El-Erwadi as Murat, a mobster and one of Björn’s clients
Murathan Muslu as Sascha, a mobster and kindergarten teacher
Marc Hosemann as Toni, a mobster
Britta Hammelstein as Nicole Eckmann / Egmann, a police officer and single mother
Bernd Hölscher as Walter
Johannes Allmayer as Klaus Möller
Friederike Kempter as Laura
Luca Maric as Boris
Michael Ihnow as a prison judge
Production
Netflix announced the eight-episode first season of the television series, starring Tom Schilling, in February 2022. Filming began in November 2023 under the direction of Martina Plura and Max Zähle. The screenplay was written by Doron Wisotzky, Anneke Janssen, and Michael Kenda. The series is produced by Jan Ehlert and Nina Viktoria Philipp, with Oliver Berben and Ehlert serving as executive producers.
On 18 December 2024, Netflix announced the production of an eight-episode second season, which was filmed in 2025 and released globally on 28 May 2026. In January 2026, Netflix commissioned a third season.
Episodes
Release
The first season premiered globally on Netflix on October 31, 2024 (Halloween), with the series made available in a number of languages aside from the original German, offering English, Spanish, French, Polish, Danish, Portuguese, and Cantonese versions. Netflix released the second season on May 28, 2026, and confirmed that the series was renewed for a third season.
Streaming success
Season 1 hit the number 1 spot in the Netflix Global Top 10 Non-English Shows category in the week after release. It stayed for three weeks in the Global Top 10.
Season 2 reached the number 6 spot in the same Netflix Global Top 10 Non-English Shows category in the week following its release. It remained in the Global Top 10 for a total of two weeks.
Awards
Murder Mindfully won the German Television Award 2025 for Best Comedy Series. Tom Schilling was nominated as Best Actor.
Reception
Joel Keller wrote for Decider: "Murder Mindfully takes a high-concept premise and makes it relatable, thanks to sharp writing and Tom Schilling’s performance."
David Hollingsworth (whattowatch) describes the series as "violently funny".
Charles Hartford wrote for ButWhyTho: "Murder Mindfully delivers a thoroughly enjoyable ride. With great characters and a surprising plot, the series keeps the viewer invested in its world, even if it lacks the highs of truly great television."
Craig Mathieson of The Age described the series as "a black comedy that blurs familiar genre lines."
Experimental filmmaker Josef Markus wrote for Goethe-Institut USA: "Murder Mindfully is a crash course in dark, deadpan German humor ... And the cast guarantees the viewer will keep watching. Tom Schilling has built a fine career as the thinking man’s thinking man of German film .. Murder Mindfully goes down smoothly. The half-hour episodes never overstay their welcome, and there are no extraneous subplots to pad the season, a rarity for a streaming series. Monika Plura’s sleek cinematography, particularly in the nighttime views of Berlin, could make a viewer want to pet their television. For plenty of audiences that may be enough ... Yet for all that the series feels meticulously cross-stitched from half a dozen earlier binge-watching hits. The streamers may not be interested in creative risks anymore. Instead, they’re all about giving viewers more of what they already liked — and they have the data to prove it."
Original novel series
The Netflix television series Murder Mindfully (German: Achtsam Morden) is based on a crime novel series of the same title by the German author and lawyer Karsten Dusse, the first novel of which was published in June 2019 by Heyne Verlag, Munich, and became a bestseller. Four more serialized novels were published by 2024 as sequels to the original, comprising five total released novels.
When Netflix announced the television adaptation starring Tom Schilling as Björn Diemel in February 2022, three novels had previously been published. The fourth novel was subsequently released in September 2022, with the fifth following in January 2024, the same year as the first season of the television series, which premiered in October.
As of now, the television series has a formula of adapting one novel per season. In 2024, Netflix released the first season, consisting of 8 episodes, which adapted the first novel in the series. In 2026, the second season followed, also with 8 episodes, which covers the second novel. A third season has been announced as in development, set to adapt the third novel.
Published novels
English: Murder Mindfully: A Slowed-Down Crime Novel
Heyne Verlag, Munich, June 10, 2019, ISBN 978-3-453-43968-9.
English: My Inner Child Wants to Murder Mindfully
Heyne Verlag, Munich, May 10, 2020, ISBN 978-3-453-42444-9.
English: Murder Mindfully at the Edge of the World
Heyne Verlag, Munich, April 25, 2021, ISBN 978-3-453-27356-6.
English: Murder Mindfully in the Here and Now
Heyne Verlag, Munich, September 13, 2022, ISBN 978-3-453-27386-3.
English: Murder Mindfully Through Conscious Eating
Heyne Verlag, Munich, January 10, 2024, ISBN 978-3-453-27387-0.
