Speak of the Devil opens with seven women in a hotel room, staring at the decapitated head of Jamie, a man who has wronged each of them in a different way. Who killed him? Was it justified?

The story is told in multiple perspectives and over multiple timelines. We flashback to the awful things Jamie has done to these women over time, some extending 20 years into the past. Jamie is just plain awful and seems like an arrogant psychopath. The book could come with trigger warnings for everything from rape to murder, and the things Jamie has done to the women are just disgusting.

The women are all complex and damaged characters. It was very hard for me to keep them straight initially, and some of them still faded into the background throughout the story. One woman is dating the cop in charge of the investigation, and her POV is also part of the story.

I’d call this a slow burn mystery more than a thriller. Nothing too startling or eerie happens through the bulk of the story, mor of just a sickened feeling reading about what this awful man did.

If you enjoy stories of revenge, this one could definitely be for you! I was surprised by the ending and look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP/ Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a whodunit around the murder of a man who has connections to 7 different women. They all have good reason to have "offed" him; however, no one is coming clean on who it was and why.

The story unfolds in the voice of each woman, over the span of when they knew him.

I wanted to enjoy this story more but it was a little slow. As I got about 2/3 of the way through, it started to peak my interest more and I finished rather quickly.

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys a twisty story that involves lives that intersect.

This book was better than I thought it would be after reading some of the reviews. It is a really dark book with plenty of subjects discussed; we have a murder (beheading) rape, transphobia, spousal abuse, gaslighting, suicide and marital affairs. This isn’t light reading, to say the least. It has a lot of strong female characters and if feminist revenge is your thing this is the book for you. I love a good book about a bunch of women who have had enough and aren’t gonna take it anymore.

Some reviewers have mentioned that there are a lot of characters to keep track of and it is hard to keep them all straight. I had this problem at first but once I got into the swing of things it became easier. The individual voices eventually become clearly defined as it is told from each character’s point of view and they get their own chapters so the reader gets to know them and learns of their backstory because the timeline goes back and forth as well.

As the story weaves on, we eventually learn that the women are all connected in some way through the male character these women all have in common. His name is Jamie and he is a douche canoe. I did figure out the ending before it was revealed but not much before so I still got my aha moment. This was a pretty strong debut and I look forward to reading what this author comes up with next.

I received a complimentary electronic ARC of this British historical novel (1980s, 1990s) from Netgalley, author Rose Wilding, and publisher St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Speak of the Devil of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend Rose Wilding to friends and family. She keeps you reading way into the night whether you want to or not...

And I did almost quit this book a couple of times. This is perhaps my most reluctant 5*. It is more horror than general fiction and was at times much more graphic than I was prepared for, but it's a story that must be told and a mystery that is very complex to solve. Definitely 5*. The seven women who surround this mystery are personable and well-defined, sympathetic almost to a fault. I only hope there is no devil in the real world to match that of Jamie.

This book does an amazing job looking beyond abuse - to the victims. The scrutiny of victims - but not the rapist. His ruined life valued above justice for the victims. Needed commentary. Lack of support, lack of community support and belief. A charming man who repeatedly abuses women yet no one believes the women.
These characters each have a story about Jamie Spellman. None of them end well. Until his murder. Then they are free - but who killed Jaime?
I loved this group of women - the support their provided each other, recovery, safe spaces to heal and reveal their trauma.

Seven women who might have killed a man. They all had a reason to want him dead but all claim innocence. The police must find the culprit before they get away.

I didn't get pulled into this one like I thought I would. I think it could've done a better job spelling out who each character was early on - maybe like a character list at the beginning. The writing was also not my favorite here.

Girl Power at it's finest! At first I was a bit leery of having 7 perspectives but the author did a great job of jumping between characters and keeping each perspective short so you weren't overloaded with information. It was a Clue type book with all types of women- some who you rooted for and others you disliked. The reader got behind all of them because of the mutual disdain for the man who is found. I won't spoil who it is but you understand the womens motives better and you want them to get away with it because of how he got away. Very poignant read in this MeToo era.

Seven women are seeking revenge for abuse caused by, Jamie, a handsome, manipulative, self-involved and evil man. They were ignored by authorities when, individually through the years, they reported his behavior. They join together believing that if they go to the police as a group, they will get justice. Before a decision is made, Jamie’s severed head appears at one of their meetings. Murder was not their plan though each woman had a good reason to want to see him dead. No one admits to have murdered him.
This novel is the story of each woman’s experiences.

Novel provided by Net Galley, Minotaur Press and Victoria Cardoso @Macmillan Publishers

Seven women, all with a motive to kill one man, Jamie Spellman! So, when the women are summoned to a storage room at a local hotel where Jamie Spellman's decapitated head is found, each must look around the room to who could have finally taken it to that level!

Speak of the Devil depicts each woman's history with Jamie which can get a bit confusing at times keeping up with each character while also jumping from the books current time of January 2020 to 20+ years ago. The story also drug on a bit for my liking focusing more than necessary on topics unrelated to the story. I didn't hate the story but I didn't find myself drawn into it either!.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was not exactly what I was expecting from the description - I think it also suffered for me from having so many POVs that didn't sound all that different from one another. The ending was also rather abrupt.

On New Year’s Eve 1999 a group of seven women meet in an old hotel room, their usual meeting place, after being summoned to an emergency meeting. When they arrive they find the head of a man they all had a reason to kill. All deny knowing anything about it, but someone is guilty? Told in many POV’s this was a cleverly put together and started slowly. It did take a little bit of effort to figure out who was who (especially when listening to the audio), but once the pace picked up it was a good read/listen. Thank you to Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC and an ALC of this book.

Jamie Spellman seemed like a great guy, but there were multiple women who knew better, who had been victimized by him. Kaysha, one of his earlier victims, had been keeping tabs on Jamie, but had been unable to keep him from harming others. She eventually gathered some of the women together, including his wife and his aunt, and had them share their stories and begin to plan what to do about him. However, their planning is upended when, on New Year’s Eve, they are called to an emergency meeting in the abandoned room of the rundown hotel where they usually meet and discover Jamie’s head sans body. All of the women deny killing him. Kaysha's former girlfriend, Nova, is a detective, and so Kaysha arranges for Nova to find the head, believing that she (Kaysha) will be able to keep tabs on the investigation and keep the police from making the connection between these various women and Jamie.

The story alternates between events on New Year’s Eve 1999 and the first twelve days of January 2000, as the investigation progresses and the women try to keep their secrets, and events of the past, explaining how each of the women is connected to Jamie, what he did to them, and the connections between some of the women. Jamie was a master manipulator, and adept at gaslighting, making multiple women doubt themselves and the truth of what he was doing to them. Most of the women have good reason for wanting him dead. However, the circumstances of his death and the identity of the killer are somewhat surprising.

A decent thriller.
It jumps around from various POVs of 8 different women that are somehow linked to a man that is brutally murdered (one of these 8 women being the detective assigned to the case).
I actually liked jumping around between each woman’s POV. You need to pay attention to the dates/years mentioned when these POVs shift because the timelines aren’t all the same. If you don’t like jumping around between past/present or if you don’t like multiple POVs, this probably isn’t a good read for you.

It is a bit of a slow burn as you learn more about each of the 8 women’s perspectives/character development. And so the ending feels like a bit of a whirlwind. I also don’t think the ending was a surprise. I think the reader is kind of lead to expect things to turn out the way that they do.
You also start out not really liking any of the characters in the book and when the book is slow moving it can be hard to push on when you’re not really enjoying any of the characters either. However, I did end up liking some of the women and definitely sympathized with their life experiences that shaped their present self.

I think Maureen should have been more disliked than she was and it felt weird that that she wasn’t. Out of all the women in the group she seemed kind of like she didn’t belong and I feel like the other women wouldn’t have wanted her in their group based on her storyline.

There’s a lot of LGBTQIA+ representation in the book; for those who are looking to read more inclusive novels.

There are plenty of trigger warnings that can apply to this book so if there are topics you need to avoid, please read up on those before deciding if this is the book for you.

Overall I liked the book. A 3.5/5 star read for me (rounded down).

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the copy of this eARC.

7 women stand in shock as they stare at a decapitated head in a hotel room. Each woman had a connection with the victim in one way or another, but with each other. And one of them is a murderer.

First of all,this book should’ve come with some TW for rape, assault, abuse, violence and death.

There were so many characters that at first it was hard to keep track of who was who, and who met Jamie when and how. The premise was very interesting and the book does not drag on unnecessarily, as it is important for the reader to get to know the women and their motivations to some extent. The character of the police officer felt a bit cliché to me, but it was fine.

I think the plot twist was well done, and there were a few clues here and there that indicated who the murderer was. Overall, I have enjoyed this book and would read more works by the author!

This story couldn't be more confusing and slow-moving. After reading a few chapters, I was still thoroughly confused about what was happening. Rather, I understand what's happening but don't know where the story was leading me. The thread that was leading me somewhere is not interesting. I didn't care for what the storyline was. The many characters that were in the group all seem to be the same. There was nothing that was unique that set them away from each other. After a while, I didn't care where the story was leading me, the ending was disappointing. The slow-moving pace didn't help. It was boring, to say the least.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for letting me read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars. It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. A man’s severed head is on a table in the middle of a hotel room and is surrounded by seven women, each of whom knew this man — and had a motive for killing him. What ensues is the back story of how each of these women was connected to this man (Jamie) and the motive each might have had in ending his life.

This was an interesting, readable novel with obviously lots of characters, but I found it a bit hard to get into, perhaps because it is told through multiple points of view, each written in the third-person and present tense. There are plenty of twists and turns in the storyline as the reader tries to discover who killed Jamie, but I would classify this as a character-driven novel instead of a thriller as it is described. Even though I found the ending to be a bit of a hodgepodge, all in all this was a good read.

When I read the 1st sentence of the synopsis (Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man's severed head sits in the centre of the floor), I knew this was the book for me! I love psychological thrillers and this one did not disappoint. Each of the characters in this who done it had plenty good reason to be a suspect so I loved the guessing game of this story. The man who the severed head belonged to was not a good person, but still....did he deserve this? Getting to know the backstory on each character was intriguing and added flavor to the story. The book did start a little slow, but when the pace picked up it was like a whirlwind! We do find out at the end of this story who actually killed Jamie. It wasn’t that much of a shocker because I had figured it out but still, it was a great read for anyone who loves thrillers with lots of suspense. Thanks to NETGALLEY for the ARC!

I loved this book. This was an incredible, unique, and enthralling debut thriller with a wonderfully diverse cast of characters. The plot reminded me so much of Bad Sisters on Apple TV+ – a group of women band together against a man who's seemingly normal on the surface, but has done deeply evil things to each of them, thus giving each of the women a motive to have wanted to kill him.

The "hook" of the decapitated head in a hotel room on New Years' Eve is fun and definitely captivating from the start. After reading this in the blurb, I expected this to be more of a locked-room mystery, where the whole book takes place in the hotel room and the women take turns giving their backstory and alibis. It's not like that at all - the book immediately moves on into the investigation and weeks after New Years' Eve, but you do go back in time and hear why each woman is involved in the story.

I loved the diverse cast of characters and the intersectionality of their identities; Wilding does an excellent job of showing that it's not the same fight for all women – it's different, but they're all related.

My only critiques of the book (actually similar to my critiques of Bad Sisters) are that Jamie is so evil that he almost seems unrealistic, that he would be able to f*ck up so many womens' lives in such unique ways without being found out – and then, knowing what an evil man he is, it's a little disappointing to not get the all-out level of comeuppance that I felt like he deserved. That being said, I still loved the format, characters, and plot of this thriller and was totally engrossed in finding out what happened.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley!

DNF at 25%

I love character studies, which is the basis of this book, but I need to like and care about the characters. Or I need to find them interesting and unique. Unfortunately, this story wasn’t giving me any of those things.

Part of the problem is that we have eight POV characters, which is too many to keep track of, even in the hands of the most skilled writer. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that none of the characters stood out, but instead they all blended into one another. I constantly lost track of who they were and what their roles were in the story.

Ultimately, I didn’t care enough to put in the effort. Reading for pleasure should be, well, pleasurable. When it’s not, I move on.

But these issues are specific to me, and you might love the story.

When 7 people know the truth and are about the share the highlight reel you best be on good behavior.
Poor Jamie is now dead and one of the seven may hold the key to unlocking the insight into the horrible tragedy.
Or, was it a true blessing?
As readers are left to ponder the faith of who did this unspeakable act we're led on a maze that is as shocking as it is unbelievably raw.
The feelings of why each woman took charge and fixed their own brokenness was shining brighter than the diamonds and we all know diamonds are formed from hardened rock.
Now folks, the truth is in the pudding and you best be careful what you hear, see, and believe.
So much activity and not enough time to go through it all here but suffice to say there's another individual who has much to say from the cliff's grave site.
These women who became pregnant by this one person aren't to blame but are not going out like that quietly.
Taking advantage of young women, trying to procreate your nasty self, and then using women to further advance your own agenda for the sake of the white egotistical namesake is why I'm here.
Cast a spell and be gone...Oh, please, YES!
To give a child up isn't an easy task but nor is to behead someone or so I'd assume.
So let's go there shall we....
You can drug someone and think you might've escaped but in the end the good man sees all and rights the wrongs done upon them.
You can use others to get your jollies but in the end the ax does fall.
Justice has been served up in more ways than one and this was one hell of a battle to be won.
Great read and highly recommend as everything came together in epic fashion.
Thank you to Rose Wilding, the publisher St. Martin's Press, Netgalley, and Amazon Kindle for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.