C.J. Skuse – författare

Sweetpea TV series starring Ella Purnell now on Sky Atlantic! She’s back and killing for two… Rhiannon Lewis should be happy. Her cheating fiancé is in jail – framed for the depraved killing spree she committed. Her ex-lover is chopped up and buried where no-one will find him. But there’s one small problem. She’s pregnant. And as much as Rhiannon wants to continue working her way through her kill lists, a small voice inside is trying to make her stop. Now Rhiannon has to choose – motherhood or murder. Readers are LOVING In Bloom: ‘Alright, buckle up, folks, because this book is a rollercoaster of dark and twisted hilarity!’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘I would give 10 stars if I could!’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Outrageous, hilarious and smart’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Brilliantly-written characters, original and engaging. It’s so good!’ BA Paris JOANNE HAYNES HAS A SECRET. THAT IS NOT HER REAL NAME. And there’s more. Her flat isn’t hers. Her cats aren't hers. Even her hair isn’t really hers.Nor is she any of the other women she pretends to be. Not the bestselling romance novelist who gets her morning snack from the doughnut van on the seafront. Nor the pregnant woman in the dental surgery. Nor the chemo patient in the supermarket for whom the cashier feels ever so sorry. They're all just alibis.In fact, the only thing that’s real about Joanne is that nobody can know who she really is. But someone has got too close. It looks like her alibis have begun to run out… Your favourite authors are loving The Alibi Girl:‘Heart-wrenching, impossible to predict and completely absorbing’ John Marrs‘The master of dark, sexy psychological suspense’ Suzy K Quinn‘A dark, addictive read’ Phoebe Morgan

Sweetpea TV series starring Ella Purnell now on Sky Atlantic! Victim. Murderer. Serial Killer. What next? Since confessing to her bloody murder spree Rhiannon Lewis, the now-notorious Sweetpea killer, has been feeling out-of-sorts.Having fled the UK on a cruise ship to start her new life, Rhiannon should be feeling happy. But it’s hard to turn over a new leaf when she’s stuck in an oversized floating tin can with the Gammonati and screaming kids. Especially when they remind her of Ivy – the baby she gave up for a life carrying on killing.Rhiannon is all at sea. She’s lost her taste for blood but is it really gone for good? Maybe Rhiannon is realising that there’s more to life than death…Readers are LOVING Dead Head‘I absolutely loved it! Team Rhiannon’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Deliciously dark’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘A truly brilliant comedy thriller series’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sweetpea TV series starring Ella Purnell now on Sky Atlantic! Everyone’s favourite serial killer is back, and she’s more unpredictable than ever… Readers LOVE Thorn in My Side ‘Perfect for fans of a snarky narrative’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘I absolutely loved it’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sometimes, you can be your own worst enemy… Rhiannon Lewis thought she finally had it all: thanks to the pandemic she’s had to keep a much lower profile but has found happiness with her fiancé Rafael and his family. For once, she is surrounded by people who love her for who she is (or who they think she is). After over 800 days without murdering anyone, the woman formerly known as the Sweetpea Killer thinks she might have finally turned over a new leaf. That is until her soon-to-be sister-in-law has a run in with her abusive ex, and Rhiannon rediscovers her taste for revenge. This time, with a loving family in tow, the stakes are much higher. Wedded bliss and life as a normal person are finally within Rhiannon's reach, but you can never keep a good serial killer down. Can you? Praise for CJ Skuse: ‘This darkly comic novel…has the potential to become a cult classic’ Daily Mail‘Dark, depraved and devilishly delicious. A full throttle savage and satirical thriller’ John Marrs

Liked the Sweetpea TV series on Sky Atlantic? You'll love the books… ‘This isn’t a book for the squeamish or the faint-hearted … think Bridget Jones meets American Psycho’ Red🪓 Sweetpea is coming home at last… Newly married, with a loving family surrounding her, everything's coming up roses for ex-serial killer Rhiannon Lewis, right? Wrong. Her husband has just been shot, and the daughter she left behind in the UK is desperately ill. She’s got no choice but to flee the States and return home, back to her roots, where she’s in danger of being recognised and arrested at any moment. Only nothing is quite as it seems… With a series of bad choices in front of her, and the authorities right behind, Rhiannon's in a hell of a hole and she needs to dig herself out of it pronto. But help can come from the most unlikely places. And even more unlikely people…Readers love the Sweetpea series!‘Visceral, chilling and absolutely downright thrilling: I wish I had read it sooner!’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Wickedly funny’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Brilliantly dark and twisted’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Praise for CJ Skuse: ‘This darkly comic novel… has the potential to become a cult classic’ Daily Mail‘Dark, depraved and devilishly delicious. A full throttle savage and satirical thriller’ John Marrs‘Hilarious, refreshing, dark and memorable. It doesn’t disappoint, I loved it’ Phoebe Morgan

TV series starring Ella Purnell now on Sky Atlantic! The last person who called me ‘Sweetpea’ ended up dead… Rhiannon is your average girl next door, settled with her boyfriend and little dog…but she’s got a killer secret. By day her job as an editorial assistant is demeaning and unsatisfying. By evening she dutifully listens to her friend’s plans for marriage and babies whilst secretly making a list. A kill list. From the man on the checkout who always mishandles her apples, to the driver who cuts her off on her way to work, to the people who have got it coming, Rhiannon’s ready to get her revenge. Because the girl everyone overlooks might be able to get away with murder… Readers are LOVING Sweetpea‘Visceral, chilling and absolutely downright thrilling: I wish I had read it sooner!’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Wickedly funny’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Brilliantly dark and twisted’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘This is one of the best books I have ever read’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

PRE-ORDER the brand-new gripping dark comedy thriller from the world of the Sweetpea series – Now a major TV series on Sky Atlantic, starring Ella Purnell!🌷🌷🌷Murder can be a family business …🌷🌷🌷 Even wallflowers have to bloom. Sixteen-year-old Ivy is your average teenager. She’s annoyed by the scratchy labels on her school uniform, old men who wolf-whistle, and her mother the serial killer. But is murder in her roots? Ivy was raised far away from the shadows of Rhiannon Lewis, the Sweetpea killer, but when the local predator – better known as Ivy’s football coach – is found dead, could it be that she has discovered a taste for blood?As suspicion grows deeper, Ivy’s only way out is to get some motherly advice. But when the internet’s unlikeliest vigilantes determine that Ivy must be punished for her mother’s crimes, she must decide whether to control the rage burning inside her. Or to unleash her thorns… READERS LOVE C.J. SKUSE! 'I loved this book … Ivy is just as acerbic (and deadly?) as her mother. Full of CJ Skuse's trademark wit, Darling Bud is a killer addition to the Sweetpea saga’ L.M. Chilton'Bluntness, brilliance and bloodshed. Darling Bud has it all’ Asia Mackay‘This darkly comic novel… has the potential to become a cult classic’ Daily Mail‘Dark, depraved and devilishly delicious. A full throttle savage and satirical thriller’ John Marrs'Hilarious, refreshing, dark and memorable. It doesn’t disappoint, I loved it’ Phoebe Morgan‘Visceral, chilling and absolutely downright thrilling: I wish I had read it sooner!’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Wickedly funny’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Brilliantly dark and twisted’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Think Bridget Jones but really really angry, readable and deeply dark and funny’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘A deliciously dark and twisted read that had me well and truly gripped’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Bridget Jones meets Dexter! Brilliant, original and unputdownable!’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ *****

Every girl at Bathory School has heard stories about The Beast. No one believed they were true. Until Now. 'Grisly, nail-biting fun!' – Lovereading4kids.co.ukAt sixteen Nash thought that the fight to become Head Girl of prestigious boarding school Bathory would be the biggest battle she’d face. Until her brother’s disappearance leads to Nash being trapped at the school over Christmas with Bathory’s assorted misfits.As a blizzard rages outside, strange things are afoot in the school’s hallways, and legends of the mysterious Beast of Bathory – a big cat rumoured to room the moors outside the school – run wild.Yet when the girls’ Matron goes missing it’s clear that something altogether darker is to blame – and that they’ll have to stick together if they hope to survive.Praise for C J Skuse 'Monster is another rollicking adventure … but you might not want to read the final chapter alone in the house . . . or while you're eating . . . as you find out the truth about the Beast of Bathory. Great fun.' – Martin Chilton, Telegraph's Best YA Books 2015'CJ does it again, with a boarding school story packed with tension…Nobody captures the darkness of teenage nightmares quite like CJ Skuse.' – Sophia Bennett, author of The Look'This book is a skillfully crafted rollercoaster of excitement, fear and shocks'Reading Zone'The book has one of the best endings I've read.' – 4.5 starsThe Bookbag'Fiendishly dark, with a sense of humour. CJ Skuse always inspires deep author envy' – Keren David, YA Book Prize Nominee on Monster‘It's an absolute page-turner! I gobbled it up in one sitting, and it kept me guessing right till the end. A deliciously creepy horror story, served up with CJ's trademark humour.’ – Cat Clarke.‘It’s so good, I’d recommend it to people I don’t like’ – Kevin Brooks on Pretty Bad Things‘A rip roaring story’ – Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian on Rockoholic‘sharp, funny and knowing…’ – The Telegraph on Rockoholic‘The tension and the comedy crack along with a heart-warming hilarity that is impossible to resist.’- Amanda Craig, The Times on Dead Romantic