Review: Dead Head 2021 (Sweetpea #3) by C.J. Skuse

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Since this is the third book in a series, there may be spoilers for the first two books in this review. In any case, you really need to read the first two books to understand the character. Go get Sweetpea an In Bloom...now!

Rhiannon Lewis, AKA Sweetpea, is a serial killer. Her targets are bad people: paedophiles, rapists, and abusers of women. Mostly. This invites a comparison with one of fictions' more famous serial killers, Dexter Morgan. There are similarities between Rhiannon Lewis and Dexter Morgan. They both target bad people, suffered horrible tragedy when young, and both are compelled to kill. The main differences are Rhiannon's anger at what most of us would just call life's everyday irritants and the sexual release she gets from killing.

That Rhiannon is wired different than most of us shouldn't come as a surprise. At a very young age she was the sole survivor when her creche was attacked by a deranged man with a hammer and she herself serious damage to her head. Add to that her ex-boxer/vigilante father who would take her along on his attacks and observing her sister being abused and Rhiannon is seriously messed up, something of which she is very self-aware.

The first two books, Sweetpea and In Bloom, chronicle Rhiannon's life as a serial killer. As with Dexter Morgan, it is difficult not to feel some satisfaction with her dispatching bad people while still feeling uncomfortable with her actions as both judge and executioner. So, yes, I root for her to get away with it the same way I didn't want Dexter caught. I does get a bit difficult because there are innocent victims who unfortunately jeopardized her freedom.

In the second book, Rhiannon found herself pregnant and trying to integrate into the mommy-to-be social scene while adding to her body count. The foetus became her alter ego, trying to get her to stop killing. Unfortunately killing is something Rhiannon has to do and she is ever on the lookout for someone who needs eliminating. The end of the book sees Rhiannon outed by her sister, giving birth to her daughter, Ivy, who's adoption by someone she trusts she arranges, gives her journals (books one and two) to a reporter, and goes on the run.

As Dead Head opens, Rhiannon is on a cruise ship under an assumed name. The title, by the way, cleverly operates on several levels.When her carefully arranged escape plan appears to have collapsed, she is forced to continue the cruise despite hating everything about the cruise and everyone on it (with a couple of exceptions). I don't want to say too much more because that would reveal spoilers. I realize this is a pretty meager synopsis on which to try to promote a book and I've been wracking my brain for something to say that won't spoil the action. Since the book opens with Rhiannon on a cruise ship it isn't a spoiler to say that half the books takes place there with Rhiannon hoping she won't be recognized and finding herself forging some relationship amidst most to the passengers she would happily see thrown overboard. It also reinforces that large cruise ships are not for me. Rhiannon also has to come to terms with the possibility that her daughter, Ivy, might have killed her killer instinct.

While Rhiannon does add to her body count, this book is more about her wondering if a normal life and love are possible for someone like her. I enjoyed the journey—both internal and geographical — on which the author takes Rhiannon. Her desperation to belong somewhere, with someone, has real poignancy. The author also has much to say about the celebrity status afforded some criminals and how criminals can gain a rabid fan base. There is actually a word for it which I didn't know until now, hybristophilia.  It ends with a cracking good set up for book four in the Sweetpea saga.

As with the other books, each chapter opens with a list of things Rhiannon hates that day. Honestly, most of us wouldn't have a problem with items on her list. One in particular directly appealed to me:

2. People who say they genuinely prefer Scandi Noir to normal noir. No you fucking don't.

Perhaps a bit harsh but I'm not a fan of Scandi Noir. None of it, so far for me, is really noir.

Oh, and there is a cute reference to another book the author has written. If, like me, you've read the book, you'll chuckle. If you haven't read it, go get it. it's a good read as well. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

So Skuse is three for three in this series. She has added to Rhiannon's story with each book and, I'd say, gives the reader a greater attachment to the character. Loved it and can't wait for the next one.

Keywords: crime fiction, serial killers