Even though it always gives me nightmares of cannibals and murderers, my roommate got me addicted to the My Favorite Murder podcast by Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff. Worst idea to listen before bed, but it’s a nice background noise during homework.

So now that I’m a Murderino, I had to buy their book. Unlike their podcast, it has very few murder stories. Rather it focuses on the other enjoyable aspect of their podcast, their genuine conversations, funny asides and willing to be honest about their screw-ups.

Sort of like an advice book, but more like a best friend or cool big sister giving you advice because, as they reiterate, they’re not professional therapists. That’s why they go to therapy.

Alternating between the two, they get into their messy family lives as well as their biggest mistakes like worshipping the altar of doubt and meth or utilizing your parent’s bitter divorce to get out of spanking for shoplifting. They’ve been through it, and that honesty is part of what makes it relatable. They weren’t always rah-rah explore your feelings and therapy is great. Karen thought it was too new age-y and for hippies. Georgia started from a young age but still finds new revelations in sessions up to today.

But being a bit more wiser and more mature, they can recognize how their insecurities and own flaws impede them and how meth and alcohol helped to fuel it. They also get real about family, like Karen’s conflicting feelings towards her mother suffering alzheimers whose disease caused her to lash out and be mean to her kids. As Karen says, it’s a dificult disease for the person and their caretakers compounded by the guilt you feel for not always being understanding or saintly. And of course, they discuss their lauded mantra, Fuck Politeness and how they reached that stage after years of conditioning to be polite even at the expense of their gut instinct. See, relatable things.

But it’s not only about their personal lives. They also talk about murder. The murders and the Stephen King’s horror stories that originally piqued their interest into the murder-mania and how it led to their fruitful friendship years later.

They also muse on why people take an interest in true crime so much and finding their community as the podcast rose in popularity as well as connecting with fans and continuing to improve their terminology and language they use in their discussions.

So if you’re looking for a continuation of the podcast, you will probably be disappointed by this book. But if you want more of their sparkling wit, and cursing, you’ll enjoy this additional message from Georgia and Karen.