In Bloom. C.J. Skuse
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CJ SKUSE is the author of the Young Adult novels Pretty Bad Things, Rockoholic, Dead Romantic, Monster and The Deviants and the bestselling adult novel Sweetpea. She was born in 1980 in Weston-super-Mare, England. She has first class degrees in Creative Writing and Writing for Children, and, aside from writing novels, works as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © CJ Skuse 2018
CJ Skuse asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © August 2018 ISBN: 9780008216740
‘If you like your thrillers darkly comic and outrageous this ticks all the boxes.’ The Sun
‘This isn’t a book for the squeamish or the faint-hearted … think Bridget Jones meets American Psycho.’ Red
‘This darkly comic novel…has the potential to become a cult classic.’ Daily Mail
‘Sweetpea hits all the right buttons. A dark, twisted read about a female serial killer with dollops of humour, sarcasm and a lightweight approach…keeping you gripped and on the hook, both smiling and squirming.’ Maxim Jakubowski, Lovereading.co.uk
‘You MUST read this book especially if you like your (anti) heroes dirty-mouthed, deadly and dark, dark dark. ADORED IT.’ Fiona Cummins, author of Rattle
‘This book is OUTRAGEOUS.’ Compulsive Readers
‘This anti-hero is psychotic without doubt, sexually voracious and incredibly funny.’ Shots magazine
For Matthew Snead. From a distance,
you’ve been an excellent cousin.
‘The odour of the sweet pea is so offensive to flies that it will drive them out of a sick-room, though not in the slightest degree disagreeable to the patient.’
– A TIP FROM The 1899 Old Farmer’s Almanac
Contents
Sunday, 24th June – 7 weeks pregnant
Monday, 25th June – 7 weeks, 1 day
Thursday, 28th June – 7 weeks, 4 day
Sunday, 1st July – 8 week exactly
Monday, 2nd July – 8 weeks, 1 day
Wednesday, 4th July – 8 weeks, 3 days
Friday, 6th July – 8 weeks, 5 days
Monday, 9th July – 9 weeks, 1 day
Friday, 13th July – 9 weeks, 5 days
Monday, 16th July – 10 weeks, 1 day
Friday, 20th July – 10 weeks, 5 days
Monday, 23rd July – 11 weeks, 1 day
Wednesday, 25th July – 11 weeks, 3 days
Saturday, 28th July – 11 weeks, 6 days
Tuesday, 31st July – 12 weeks, 2 days
Wednesday, 1st August – 12 weeks, 3 days
Saturday, 4th August – 12 weeks, 6 days
Tuesday, 7th August – 13 weeks, 2 days
Wednesday, 8th August – 13 weeks, 3 days
Thursday, 9th August – 13 weeks, 4 days
Friday, 10th August – 13 weeks, 5 days