Customer Reviews

Sex And The Serial Killer

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Roberta Jones Spivey's life was going down the drain. Warren, her husband of fifteen years, suddenly announced that he was divorcing her, and moving to Cottonmouth to be with his married sweetheart, Cookie. It was just too much for even timid little Roberta to handle. It was time for a change. It was time for some revenge!

Roberta shortens her name to Bobbie, dyes and whacks off her hair (TO THE EARS), quits her accounting job, sells her home, trades her expensive car for a "bug", get rid of her conservative clothes for a wardrobe totally opposite, and moves to Cottonmouth to show Warren what he has given up. To top things off, Bobbie gets a job as a waitress at the local café and moves into a little home directly across from an alleged serial killer, Nick Angel. But why stop there? The NEW Bobbie would not! So Bobbie sets her sites on getting the serial killer into her bed.

In small town Cottonmouth, everyone thinks they know everything about each other. So all eyes are watching to see whether Bobbie will date the serial killer or the local policeman. And which of the (not quite divorced) Spiveys will kill their spouse.

***** Unlike most romances, this one takes a different twist by having the leading lady already married to someone else and the leading man has a dangerous looking past. To make matters more interesting, the author introduces Cookie, a villainess that you cannot help but love to hate...and soap operas would dearly love to have in their shows! A witty novel that will keep you engrossed until the very end! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Though it has an off-putting title, make no mistake, this is one hilarious and sensuous novel. Roberta Jones Spivey decided that the best way to help her depressed husband move on was to get closure from the loss of his first love. So she helped him track down Cookie Beaumont. Unfortunately, she got a call that he did not plan to come home. So what's a girl to do? Well, if you are mousy Roberta, you go get a makeover, quit your job, shorten your hemlines, transform yourself into Bobbie Jones, and move to the same northern California town he now calls home to show your ex what he is missing out on.

She moves into a bungalow across the street from Nick Angel, the local bad boy that everyone has nicknamed the Serial Killer since he has a propensity to dig holes and bury dead animals all over his property. There is also a little incident with a local gal fleeing town supposedly pregnant with his child.

Bobbie thinks Nick would be the perfect man to transform her into a bad girl. She chooses wisely, and the two embark on a scorching affair that rocks the town. They all want her to settle down with the local sheriff, but once Nick gets his hooks into her, she can't get her mind off him. Nick of course shares a sordid past with Cookie.

Her ex Warren is afraid she is going to make waves - his lover Cookie has not left her husband yet and he is afraid Bobbie will spoil everything. Cookie has been feeding Warren a cockamamie story about her much older husband Jimbo being abusive, but one look at Cookie and it is clear she is not all she claims to be. When Jimbo turns up dead, Warren takes the heat since he feels he has failed Cookie. Bobbie is convinced that Warren is too wimpy to do the deed, and when she tries to prove it, the killer targets her. Will Nick be able to help her solve the mystery without getting himself a ticket to the slammer?

You can tell Skully had a great time writing this book - it is apparent in her delivery and never fails to keep the reader glued. Sheriff Tyler Braxton gets his own romance in the follow up, "Fools Gold."

This was a book I had picked up as a quick, fun read! It turned out to be alot more than that! I really enjoyed Bobby's character, she had me laughing out loud at some points! Great little funny book with a mystery thrown in to keep your attention! You will love this. I cannot wait for the Oct. 2005 release of Brax's story!

Roberta Jones Spivey, who now calls herself Bobbie, has decided to make herself over after her spineless husband of 15 years, Warren, leaves her for an old flame. She can't completely forget him, however, and follows him from Silicon Valley to the small Northern California town of Cottonmouth where she takes on a new life.

Bobbie Jones is now 10 pounds thinner, sporting a sassy red hairdo, and an adventurous new attitude. Just what a 40-year old former Silicon Valley accountant needs, or is it? She soon finds herself the subject of gossip in the small town when she moves next door to the sexy, rumored serial killer Nick Angel. She finds him frightening and irresistible at the same time. But she's also attracted to the town sheriff. The suspense and intrigue of the novel operates on two levels: which man will find his way to her heart (and her bed) first; and who killed the her ex-husband's lover's husband (yes there are a lot of characters in this book!)

The characters are all colorful, and for the most part, believable, but I sometimes thought the book was set in small town East Texas, not the more urbane, sophisticated California. Bobbie takes a waitress job at the local café, where she is befriended by the owner Mavis, and comes into contact with all the town locals, including the likes of Jimbo, Cookie and Brax. She finds herself in amusing, sometimes precarious situations.

The steamy sex scenes do not dominate the plot, but definitely add some sizzle. Did Bobbie end up with Nick or the Sheriff? I'm not telling. Read the book and find out how Bobbie comes out on top (no pun intended), and whether there's life after divorce for a 40'ish former accountant in Cottonmouth, California. Sex and the Serial Killer is a fun, fast-paced page-turner, and I'm looking forward to more from this author.

I am a Forensic Psychologist and I read everything about serial killers real and imagined.
Skully's Sex and the Serial Killer is a delightful charming escape from the real world into the world of romance and fantasy. I enjoyed her story telling and it was great to enter her captivating world of Bobbie and Nick.
Escape to Cottonmouth for a delicious romp into another realm.
5 stars!!!!

If you look at my other reviews, you'll see that I almost always read historicals, but I'm also a big Evonovich fan, and this book was recommended to me by the same friend who first introduced me to Janet E. I wasn't mislead. If you like sassy, won't-take-no-for-an-answer heroines, then you'll love Bobbie. And if you like hunky bad-boys (and I do!) then you'll like Nick even more.

I simply like the heroine's pluck. She's not gonna let her ex dump her and make her miserable, she's gonna reinvent herself and make him drool! I can't wait to track down the author's ebooks. I've never bought an ebook, but for this author, I'm willing to go where I've never gone before . . .

The book was a TOP PICK in last month's Romantic Times Magazine (which I'm also addicted to), and now I know why.

In San Francisco, Warren Spivey heeds the advice of his psychologist to obtain closure with his former girlfriend Cookie; she vanished without a word when they were seeing each other in high school. Warren's wife of fifteen years forty year old Roberta helps him find Cookie and encourages him to go visit her in Cottonmouth, California. Not long after Warren leaves he notifies Roberta that he is not coming back as Cookie needs him because she is in an unhappy marriage.

Roberta decides to redo herself before going to Cottonmouth to show off what Warren lost. She changes her name to Bobbie to symbolize her new "bad" girl image and moves to Cottonmouth. Next door is hunky artist Nick who most locals believe is a serial killer, but Bobbie thinks he is the perfect bad boy to introduce her into a new world of steamy pleasure.

With a catchy weird title, SEX AND THE SERIAL KILLER lives up to it wild name as readers will receive a torrid humorous romance that will keep the audience wondering if Nick is a killer and who will Bobbie end up with. The tale is satirical and wacky, but contains several intriguing characters, especially the anchor, the converted Roberta now Bobbie. Jennifer Skully delivers a fun entertaining second chance tale that heats and amuses at the same time.

Harriet Klausner

After her husband of fifteen years leaves her for his high school sweetheart, Roberta Jones Spivey decides it time to make some changes. She dyes her hair, changes her name, her wardrobe, her job and her living arrangements.

She leaves Silicon Valley behind and heads to a small town called Cottonmouth, CA, and the same place where her almost ex husband is now residing with the love of his life. She rents a furnished cottage across the street from notorious Nick Angel, suspected serial killer. Not all is what it seems in this picturesque little town and Bobbie finds that out while she rediscovers herself.

I am new to Jennifer Skully, I picked up this book and another on the recommendation of a friend. So far I am enjoying her writing immensely. With this book and the one I read before it, I laughed out loud and finished both books in one sitting. She doesn't write about the 20 something picture perfect heroes and heroines that usually grace the pages of romance novels. Her characters have physical and emotional flaws, like real people, making them all the more attractive.

This book is sometimes silly, a little funny and even touching. The murder mystery keeps it exciting and the characters color the pages with all their idiosyncrasies. The romance is warm and the sex is hot. Jennifer Skully wrote a wonderfully amusing book that was next to impossible to set down. A terrific read for any fan of the romance genre!

Cherise Everhard, January 2008

Jennifer Skully is one of those authors I just happened to come upon browsing throught the book section of a goodwill store, and I'm hooked. I've loved every book I've read of her's so far. Her characters come alive and they're quick, witty and funny. I read this book in one day. Started it and couln't put it down. There were a few parts in the book that were lagging, but overall I loved it. Bobbie, the heroine is in her prime at 40. Which was interesting. Most of the characters I have read have been in their late 20's early 30's. So this was new and refreshing. Nick the hero in the story is pegged as a bad boy, but he is just misunderstood and these two have some intense sexual energy, and those scenes are worth reading!

This book won the 2006 Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence.

Note that the identical novel was republished by Silhouette as Volume One in their new "Sex in the Suburbs" series, so don't buy this book if you already have that one, or vice versa.

It was the first of five quirky comedy romances which this author has so far published under the name Jennifer Skully. These are -

Sex and the Serial Killer
Fool's Gold
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Sheer Dynamite
It must be magic.

The sixth, "Your Heart or Mine," was due out in April 2008 but at the time of updating this review in March 09 there was no sign of it.


These five books are independent and stand on their own with one partial exception. One of the main supporting characters of "Sex and the Serial Killer" is the hero of "Fool's Gold," which is set shortly afterwards. Some of the retrospective comments in that book could be mild spoilers for this one, so if you are minded to read both, tackle "Sex and the Serial Killer" first.

The heroine of "Sex and the Serial Killer," Roberta Jones Spivey, has just been dumped by her husband of 15 years. She foolishly helped him to find his former High School sweetheart, (supposedly so he could find "closure" by seeing her once more.) Surprise, surprise, when the search is successful the rat tells Roberta he is divorcing her and moving to Cottonmouth where his former sweetheart lives - even though the latter has not got round to leaving or divorcing her own husband.

Roberta decides to shorten her name to Bobbie Jones, and change her look - so far so good. But instead of saying "goodbye and good riddance" to her idiot of a husband, she resigns her job as head of accounting at a Silicon Valley company, follows her husband to Cottonmouth, and gets a job as a waitress paying a tenth of what she used to earn.

Moving into her newly rented house in Cottonmouth, the other neighbours warn her that the handsome man opposite is suspected of being a serial killer. Bobbie thinks they're talking nonsense - but flirting with an alleged serial killer to shock everyone, and especially her about-to-be-ex husband, sounds exciting.

One of the good things about Jennifer Skully's books is that you often can't tell what's going to happen. In two of her first four books, the heroine is warned not to date a man who her friends think may be a lunatic or a killer. In both books she thinks they're talking nonsense and goes ahead. In one novel the heroine is right and the man turns out to be a misunderstood good guy; in the other novel her friends are right and the man she's dating turns out to be a dangerous lunatic. In neither case can you tell until near the end of the book which way it will turn out. (And of course I'm not going to spoil either story by telling you which is which.)

In case you have read either of Jennifer Skully's most recent two books, I should mention that this first one, and the second and third, are slightly different from numbers four and five. "Sex and the Serial Killer", "Fool's Gold", and "Drop Dead Gorgeous" are straight romantic comedies with no supernatural or paranormal element whatsoever. By comparison "Sheer Dynamite" and "It must be magic" do have a supernatural/paranormal element. If you've seen either of them and this bothered you, don't let it put you off "Sex and the Serial Killer."

If you like a quirky,funny, madcap romance novel, you will very probably like "Sex and the Serial Killer."


N.B. Jennifer Skully also writes under two other pen names; as J.B. Skully she has written the "Max" series of dark romances which begins with "Dead to the Max"; as Jasmine Hayes she writes adult fantasy books such as "Resolutions."