The Bad Seeds (Sweetpea #5) by C. J. Skuse

Format: Audio (BorrowBox)
Read: October 2025

I have been surprised and delighted by how much I’ve enjoyed the Sweetpea series. I rarely find a series I enjoy that is consistently good, and happily, this is one of them! My main grumble with the first book (which I read as an eBook) was that I didn’t really get Rhiannon as a character, but that is something well addressed in the next four books, with each one marking a step forward in her growth and self-awareness.

The fifth book does feel like the right time to conclude the series, just before Rhiannon starts to outstay her welcome. It picks up in the immediate dramatic aftermath of Thorn In My Side as she deals with the fallout of Rafael being shot, and with him out of action, she has to put her faith in Billy to get her to the UK to find out whether Seren was being truthful about Ivy’s health.

As with the other books, I had a pretty good sense of whether the series was most likely to end, but the journey to get there was unexpected! I won’t give anything away, but I found it was an interesting tie-up to several threads from Rhiannon’s life and forces her to reflect more than she has in the past on what made her the way she is. The previous book gave her love and a supportive family that threw her old life into sharp relief; this one digs even deeper into that. Was it just the head injury, or was her Dad not quite the vigilante hero she likes to remember him as? Maybe it wasn’t cool for him to take his small child out to watch him beat men to death?

The ending was interesting to me. I don’t think this is a major spoiler, but I’ll hide it under this toggle.

Another flaw is that I still do not understand Rafael; he’s the character that makes the least sense to me, but then I guess people can do strange things for love.

For a book about a serial killer in the end, I think this was about the power of love, kindness and community. Those were the things that healed Rhiannon, and yes, she is still out there serial murdering, but her murder rate decreases, she isn’t as angry as she once was, and she’s not killed someone that wasn’t a predator since the first book – when she had nobody but a cheating boyfriend and fake friends. It is the lack of support for the powerless that leads to damaged people trapped in cycles of violence and fear.

I really recommend these on audio because George Maguire does an excellent job at bringing Rhiannon to life, and it works really well with the diary style of the narrative.

Here are some things I have in common with Rhiannon

• Sylvanian Families were my favourite toy (also, these books are how I learned in North America they were branded called “Calico Critters” which is a much dumber name and doesn’t really make sense).
• Moaoms, and I do have a new found love for Poptarts. (Honestly, somehow that Frosted Netflix movie worked on me as marketing for Poptarts!)
• Gardening for mental health, but especially growing flowers. (These books are also how I learned about the super bloom).
• For the most part, I agreed with all of her “lists” of things/people that have annoyed her. (“Chris Pratt, just fuck off already” really made me laugh every time).
• Not being able to stand the eating sounds of other people, or their body odours.