I first found the second book ‘Sweet Pea’ in a charity shop. I was really intrigued by the description “Bridget Jones meets phyco” and I am yet to be disappointed.

It was like someone had crawled into my subconscious or my brain; the language, the pop culture (that I actually understood without needing google), the idioms, the dark humour. I loved it all, it was a laugh, making me giggle out loud the whole way through.

I love how C.J Skuse approaches the issues of our killer leaving her baby behind and finding the will/ability to live on. I think this is a suburb analyse of ‘life goes on’. Not what I was expecting at all. Rihanna or Hillary or whoever, really impressed me in her self-searching in this book. The emphasis on being ones true self and who we want to be. Building ourselves up means tearing our old self down.

The cartel bit a little farfetched even for our serial killer world and I am glad she step away from it all in the end, leaving us in a more realistic place.

What a tantalizing ending indeed, not quite as sharp as a traditional cliff hanger as we are aware really of our protagonists next steps *new book incoming*.
4/5

Another really enjoyable read from CJ Skuse! I really like her Rhiannon novels, but was a little disappointed with the second book in the series. This one was much better (although still nowhere near as amazing as Sweetpea!) and I thought the ending was great. Fingers crossed for another installment!

The protagonist in this book is Rhiannon, a woman who has the urge to kill, and she enjoys it. I like her a lot because her thoughts are so unfiltered that it is sometimes scary. :) She loves animals and children, but can’t stand paedophiles and rapists. Rhiannon is messed up in so many ways, but at the same time, she is funny and extremely entertaining. I really enjoyed all the characters in this novel, the funny ones as well as the stupid and evil ones, they all have a role to play in this story. ;)
The narrative is told from a single - Rhiannon’s perspective. The plot is kind of divided into parts, depending on where she was and what challenges she had to endure. I really could she how Rhiannon’s character grew and matured, she learned a lot not only about killing but generally in life as well. The topics discussed in this book were the urge to kill, motherly love, many many psychological issues, growth, friendships, and many many more.
The writing style of this book was brilliant, like always. It was easy flowing, entertaining and scary, of how close it gets to my inner psycho. :D :D :D :D The setting of this novel is constantly changing depending on the place Rhiannon is at, and I really enjoyed all the exotic countries she has visited. This book is a part of the series, and there are a lot of references to previous books, so it can not be read as a standalone. The chapters just flew by for me, because I was extremely engrossed in this story. I really loved the ending of this book, it rounded the story brilliantly, but at the same time left me guessing. :)

The third novel in the series that began with Sweet pea which I enjoyed. However, However, although the story of Rhiannon still has a way to go, I was disappointed with this third outing. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I have a confession to make; I haven’t actually read the other books in this series.
Did I enjoy this book less? Definitely not!
This is a thoroughly enjoyable gruesome story about a serial killer. Regardless of not having read the first two books, it is written so well you can easily pick this book up and follow the story. There is gore and death, but also humour and compassion. If you have read the first two books then this is a must read, and if like me you haven’t, then you must read the first two books.

So Rhiannon is back in another instalment. We quickly recap where we left off in In Bloom and the situation we find her in now. The kill list is back and more epic than before.

It is a turbulent time for our favourite serial killer, she is now on the run giving up everything and everyone she knows. Going on a cruise, we see her trying to adapt to life, with some hilarious outcomes.

After escaping the cruise, we are on a plane outta there and we meet a potential kindred spirit before being whisked off and locked away in a castle. I loved the story on the cruise because mainly it was fascinating to see how she would cope with being cooped up with all these people and people she does not like. I did feel bad for her because of one family, but generally, it was hilarious watching her trying to fit in and through the amazing audiobook hear all the crazy accents she tried to put on to throw people off the scent. Please Rhiannon don’t ever change!

It is a typical Rhiannon book, but things just got hotter and she got more sarcastic with the hilarious dark humour. The heat is on for the police to find her, sightings have been seen, but are they her? Plus there are dangers in her current situation, Paco anyone!! What an awful human being and I did wonder how long it would take to see our leading lady in action. I mean he is vile, and the things he says and does, god I wanted to stab him already!

I did enjoy catching up with Rhiannon again and I felt like this time she had grown up a bit, but still feisty as ever. We see her growing into what is basically deemed as “normal”, as her “urges” wane. But with that final chapter, well let us just say, it is going to hit that proverbial fan big time in the 4th book that I really hope gets written!! There is still so much to be said, and I hope the story is not over yet.

Rhiannon is back with a new face and a new attitude!

If you’ve read any of the sweet pea series you’ll be aware of our friendly neighbourhood serial killer, her witty dark sense of humour and of course her lists!

Dead Head (after a brief time lapse and prologue) starts where In Bloom left off - her boarding a cruise ship after giving birth to her daughter.

We follow Rhiannon (or Hilary as she calls herself for most of the book) on a journey - we’ll cruise- of her rediscovering her blood lust (or lack of it) and goes full circle back to where the book begins.

This book isn’t for the faint hearted. There’s lots of swearing and gore and murder but you can’t help but love her. She’s a serial killer with a heart.

If you’ve now read any of these before I’d highly recommend. They really appeal to my sense of humour.

How have I not heard of this author or read any of her books before? However, have I just downloaded her other Sweetpea books? ✅

THE BEST BOOK I’ve read for ages; I’ve told so many people about it. It’s described as Bridget Jones meets American Psycho and there couldn’t be a more accurate description.

Rhiannon Lewis is a serial killer, but she’s actually lovely and funny, kind and witty. She’s really just trying to make the world a better place and rid it of paedophiles, child molesters and the like. With the odd innocent person thrown in for good measure! That’s how I saw her anyway.

One day though, her misdeeds are all set to catch up with her and she needs to run...quickly! Cue the Mediterranean cruise.

She ends up in Mexico, in the home of drug cartel hitman, Tenoch. He is no ordinary hitman, he too is a gentle, sensitive and caring man who treats her as he would his own daughter.

This book is laced with so much humour, I found myself laughing, especially at the opening chapter descriptions and Rhiannon’s no mucking about style. But you still remember that it’s a book about a serial killer. There’s a perfect balance.

I LOVED this book, I really did. I’d recommend it to anyone and would rate it 5 stars. I can’t wait to go back now and read Sweetpea and In Bloom, the first two in the series. Well done to CJ Skuse, you should be so proud of yourself for writing such a fabulous book!

This got messy and bloody in all the ways I wanted it to. As the third in the series, spoilers beware.

In the third installment of the Sweetpea series, we find everyone's favourite serial killer Rhiannon on the run after confessing to her murderous ways. Hotfooting it around the Mediterranean on a luxury cruiser surrounded by idiots, it's taking everything she's got to suppress the urge to kill.

As always, the star of the series is Rhiannon and she's just as charismatic as before - and just as sadistic. CJ Skuse has an uncanny ability to make the reader root for her, no matter what she does. Her rather fatal flaws are just that - flaws in an otherwise deeply complicated woman. She's hot headed, impulsive and mean. She has no strong emotions other than rage, and she's incredibly self absorbed. And she's not above dressing up dead men and posing them like Sylvanian families. But she's also desperately loyal to those she loves, a defender of the weak and forgotten and she will go to any means to protect as well as kill. As I said - she's complicated.

The plot is fast paced and easy to read. Defined by two major parts, we first see Rhiannon's personality ooze from every page, as she flits from trying to fit in with a family of holiday makers to letting her inner demon out on murderous rampages. All through the early plot we also see her trying to deal with grief - an unusual emotion for Rhiannon, and one she struggles with. Later, after the cruise, she finds herself in a very dangerous and unsettling environment in a make shift family of sorts. One that is unstable, unreliable and utterly unRhiannon. Again, we find her in situations that leave her vulnerable and open to trumoil and the ending is brutal and violent, but in a messy way that is far detached from Rhiannon's usual clinical way of killing.

There were a few things that stopped this being perfect. The timeline at the beginning is very messy, flitting back to before the end of the second book, then back to the cruise, then into the future when Rhiannon is reciting her story. I struggled to piece everything together at first, although this does settle down as you move further into the story. Also, some events towards the end aren't really explained properly, such as where Tenoch goes and why, and felt a bit rushed into setting up a future novel. Not that I'm complaining too much, but I do wonder how long Rhiannon can stay free for.

A beautifully brutal, thrill ride of a novel with a serial killer to fall in love with. Long live Rhiannon. We stan.

“Dead Head" is a book 3 from the Sweetpea series and hands down - it's the best of all three!

I loved it from the start! Rhiannon is on the run, after giving up her daughter Ivy for adoption she flew the country to find a new life and identity. Also, she doesn't get her kicks from her usual activity. Do you think she will stop killing? Who are you kidding?

I think one of the factors that made me love this book is a holiday feel. I'm sure I'm not the only travel-deprived person right now. It was so good to visit all the wonderful places, even though my tour guide was a serial killer. I could almost taste those piña coladas on the diamond deck. I don't want to spoil the joy of reading for you but it gets even better and more exotic than the posh drinks on the VIP deck.

After reading "In Bloom", I've mentioned in my review that I was disappointed with our Sweetpea for not executing her kill list. Well, this story was bloody marvelous and I mean really bloody. I enjoyed every page and didn't want it to end.

It's so fast-paced and gripping, it's easy to lose a track of time - I did, reading day and night. I'll mention it once again, I absolutely love Rhiannon's sense of humor and I have a feeling we would get on well. At least for some time.

The ending was something I wasn't expecting AT ALL! And the "ending ending" made my jaw literally drop. Not to the floor though.

I really hope there will be a continuation and just imagine, how wonderful it would be if Sweetpea story was made into Netflix series! I'm sure she would ecstatic!

Thank you for an ARC in exchange for a review. @netgalley @hqstories

Finished this about 3.30 this morning. Really enjoyed it. Here is my review. I gave it 5 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

This is the follow on Book from sweet pea and in bloom... Both great books individually and as a set. This 3rd instalment did not disappoint! It's dark, it's funny, it's not in any way girly, it's full of detail about goings on and in depth murder scenes but at the same time it is funny from start to finish, I love the main characters attitude and sense of humour. My only small criticism is that because some of the story was set in foreign countries there was some different languages in there and not all of which was interpreted so some bits you have to guess but didn't ruin the story at all! Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers and the author for the privilege to read this book for my honest opinion

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

It was fantastic to be back in the mind and world of Rhiannon, who is one of my absolute favourite serial killer characters. The way she is written is so immersive and vivid. You almost feel like you are with her along every step of the way.

The character development was brilliant, and I loved how we were introduced to new characters a long the way on the cruise ship who we instantly were able to get to know and they became massive focal points of the story. Rhiannon was hilarious as ever, and coming back into the story felt like coming home, C J Skuse does a great job of making characters feel like friends.

I liked how the book was split up into the three main parts, and how vivid the descriptions were, you practically felt like you were there. I was hooked from the beginning.

I love anything C J Skuse, so can't wait for what she writes next.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and C.J.Skuse.
The third book in the series and it did not disappoint.
Could not put it down like the first two, Sweet Pea and In Bloom.
Highly recommend

I bloody loved this book, it's by far my favourite of the Sweetpea Series I absolutely adore Rhiannon for the sadistic, hysterical, shocking serial killer she is! I loved seeing her character develop even more and the dark humour that it brought with it. I cannot praise this book highly enough, if you haven't read Sweetpea or In Bloom what are you waiting for?

Okay, this has to be the best audiobook I've ever listened to. I was approved for it before I realised it was the third in the series, but it didn't matter. Well, it did, in that I now want to read the previous books, and most definitely listen to the audiobooks of them!
I have never listened to an audiobook so quickly, and I found myself looking for activities round the house just so I could continue. Georgia Maguire came on to my radar with 'Behind Closed Doors' and I cite her as the reason I now have an audiobook constantly on the go! The character of Rhiannon Lewis has to be my favourite character in a long time, and Maguire is PERFECT for it. I have never laughed so hard and so often at a book, definitely not a thriller and certainly not one from the perspective of a serial killer. WAY too many quotes to list here, but Daniel Radcliffe, morning TV presenters (where I laughed out loud in the middle of a supermarket) have to be my highlights. I have thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.
Hopefully there will be another book in the series, Rhiannon is way too good a character to stop at 3.
Skuse and Maguire are geniuses.

This is the third outing in the “Sweetpea” series for serial killer Rhiannon Lewis. She’s on the run, fleeing from her horrific crimes, leaving everything – including her new-born baby, Ivy, behind. The first part of her journey to a new life sees her on a European cruise posing as the quiet, demure Australian named Hilary. In order to fit her new persona, “Hilary” needs to make dramatic and often hilarious changes to her appearance and behaviour. When she finally gets word that the next stage of her escape plan is in place, she abandons the cruise to travel to Mexico. Whilst in Mexico she begins to realise that perhaps the old Rhiannon has gone and she can actually begin a peaceful life with her new identity.

This was a unique read and whilst it's in the thriller genre, it wasn’t as fast-paced as others. I did find myself struggling with some very dark text but this was well balanced with some utterly hilarious escapades. The ending was left open for the possibility of a further title and I’d be interested to see where this would lead the storyline.

Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for the review copy.

When I requested Dead Head I hadn’t yet read the other books in the series. I caught up and within 3 weeks I’d finished all three books. Dead Head picks up where In Bloom left off and these books just keep getting better. Rhiannon is strangely likeable despite being a serial killer and I found myself rooting for her to succeed in life. Such an easy, compelling read with strong character development and a gripping plot. A darkly comic story with just the right amount of gore!

Dead Head is the third instalment in S J Skuse’s Sweet Pea series and it picks up just where the second book In Bloom left off. As it’s been a while since I’ve read the first two books, I struggled to recall all the characters and details of their murders, which frustrated me a great deal. However, Rhiannon was still outrageous, hilarious and super entertaining; the lists were back and the writing was amusing, with plenty of action and witty observations, so I enjoyed it. I simultaneously read and listened to the story, and enjoyed the reading more as I didn’t like the narrator’s voice (it sounded too old for Rhiannon) and how she read the story (I often couldn’t tell which character was speaking and the accents were terrible).
Judging by the ending, we can expect another Sweet Pea book and even though I didn’t like Dead Head as much as the first two books, I can’t wait for more hilarious adventures of Rhiannon.

I have been a massive Rhiannon Lewis fan since the release of Sweetpea and I was so excited when I was accepted for the latest instalment in this dark, comic crime series.

Rhiannon has confessed to her crimes and fled from the law. She finds herself on a cruise ship sailing around the Med amidst retirees and families of hyperactive children. But an ache in her heart continues to throb for Ivy, the baby girl she left behind in the UK to continue her killing spree and she’s now wondering if her heart is really in it anymore…

This is the third book in the Sweetpea series, so it’s definitely best that you read both Sweetpea and In Bloom first. However, you should be aware that there is a very sharp, dark humour in these books. Rhiannon (usually) only kills guilty people. She kills the lowest of the low and this is what makes her so easy to back.

On the cruise, Rhiannon meets a woman in her eighties called Caro. Caro lives on the ship and despite having been married five times, the great love affair of her life was with a waitress decades before. Rhiannon takes it upon herself to reunite them. This kindness that Rhiannon really doesn’t gain anything from herself shows that she isn’t quite the cold-hearted, ruthless murderess that she can sometimes appear to be. But Caro’s gushing about her lover reminds Rhiannon of how killing makes her feel and I knew then that Rhiannon will never stop.

It appears that giving birth to Ivy, despite the fact that Rhiannon has given her up, has changed something within her. Although her baby isn’t with her, something inside Rhiannon is still a mother and with that comes a new perspective and set of instincts. This renewed softness and feeling of dissatisfaction throws Rhiannon and it’s almost like she needs to re-learn herself. I have no doubt that many mothers (even those who aren’t serial killers!) will fully relate to this sudden feeling of something fundamentally different within themselves, soon after giving birth.

Rhiannon realises that she needs other humans. Unlike many killers, she has always had people around her, who love and support her. Although she is very smart and independent, she relies on people to help her hide and escape what she has done. She blends into society very well and makes friends easily. Of course, this means that she can escape capture and build a new life completely free of suspicion. It also makes you wonder how many real life Rhiannons there are. How many of the most dangerous people on the planet are seamlessly living normal lives next door to us?

One of the saddest parts about Rhiannon’s story is the fact that she is very self-aware. She knows that she can be dangerous and this prevents her from wanting to get too close to people. It feels strange to say it about such a violent person but her heart is huge. She dedicates her life to protecting innocent people and ridding the world of evil. How could you not get behind a cause like that?

Naturally, since Rhiannon confessed to the murders, the world has exploded with Rhiannon mania. There appears to be a rapidly growing fandom for her and of course, with this being the third Sweetpea novel, there is a real life Rhiannon Lewis fandom too. I loved the commentary on this and the fact that it all felt so real. Humans, particularly those who inhabit the internet, become obsessed with cases and figures like her all the time and these parts of the book were so cleverly and vividly written. I am, unashamedly, a huge Rhiannon stan.

Dead Head is a bloody and dark novel but it’s also full of sunlight and warmth. Rhiannon makes some very meaningful connections with some unlikely characters and she learns so much about herself. Essentially, it is the story of a woman coming to terms with life-changing events and re-inventing herself while still staying true to who she is. It’s about straddling and harnessing both the angel and demon that reside in all of us, recognising that they are both integral versions of ourselves and embracing them both.

I can’t recommend these hilarious, relateable, horrific thrillers enough. The moment Rhiannon says something that resonates with you (which she will, repeatedly), you’ll realise that you too have the power to inflict unbridled horror on to the world, given the right circumstances.

All 3 books in the series follow Rhiannon through different stages of her life as she can’t help but kill people in a vigilante manner.

I loved the kill lists at the start of each chapter of these books! They are SO relatable and some of them had me laughing out loud! Rhiannons dark witty humour definitely keeps this series going. Her character has so much strength and is written so incredibly well I feel like I know her as a friend! I also loved that it was written in a diary format as it gives you a real insight into Rhiannon’s mind. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the amount of swearing in the books and unfortunately I felt it detracted from the story quite a bit. However, each book in the series got better and better in my opinion.