C.J. Skuse

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! 'I’m not crying, you’re crying!!😭 Oh wait no, I’m definitely not crying because my jaw just dropped with that last paragraph!' ? 'Wickedly funny, totally addictive, wholly original, dark and full of rage!' ? 'Oh my god 10/10 no notes that was everything and more!!!' ? 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 ?

`If you like your thrillers darkly comic and outrageous this ticks all the boxes' The Sun The last person who called me `Sweetpea' ended up dead... I haven't killed anyone for three years and I thought that when it happened again I'd feel bad. Like an alcholic taking a sip of whisky. But no. Nothing. I had a blissful night's sleep. Didn't wake up at all. And for once, no bad dream either. This morning I feel balanced. Almost sane, for once. Rhiannon is your average girl next door, settled with her boyfriend and little dog...but she's got a killer secret. Although her childhood was haunted by a famous crime, Rhinannon's life is normal now that her celebrity has dwindled. 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 Lidl 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...