A gorgeous, power hungry, narcissistic, gas-lighting, psychopathic manipulator gets his comeuppance, but which of the women he’s done the most damage to killed him? Wilding takes you on a journey through this man’s life, hitting all of the women's’ stories like stops on a bus until the end when the ultimate truth is revealed. If you’re a murder mystery lover, definitely pick this one up!

A digital copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books. The opinions are my own and freely given.

Cast of Characters -

Sarah - the alcoholic ex
Kaysha - the journalist
Sadie - the wife
Olive - the widow
Ana - the friend
Josie - the pregnant teenager
Maureen - the aunt

These seven women all had a reason to kill Jamie, but to protect each other they have to find out who did.

Told from each of the women's POV. This was a good mystery trying to figure out what really happened to Jamie, how the women all had a connection to him, and how they all came together. The DI investigating the crime is the ex of the journalist. Kaysha is trying to protect the women, so she goes back to the DI to see what has been found out and to keep the investigation away from them all. However, there was a little too much of them "together". I feel like I can infer that they spent the night together. But overall, it was a good story.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books.

This is a character driven whodunit told from the perspective of the seven women who all had reason to murder the victim and the Detective Inspector investigating the case. As the story unfolds, all of the women deny knowing who did the killing although they had been secretly meeting to discuss his demise. There are multiple flashbacks, and intertwined relationships between all of the women, including the Detective Inspector, and a plot that is sometimes hard to follow. Overall, I enjoyed the book but felt the characters lacked depth. Recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced reader copy.

Seven women, one dead man...who's to blame?

This book starts off with seven women in a room surrounding the decapitated head of a man. We initially don't know much, but as the story goes on we get the perspective of each of these women and what brought them to that room that night.

I was initially concerned that with so many characters, things would become confusing, but the author did a great job of developing these characters so wildly different that there was no way that they could be confused for each other.

This is definitely a slow burn but done so well, that I was still on the edge of my seat as this all unfolded. I definitely enjoyed this murder mystery.

And let me just say...Jamie had it coming.

Speak of the Devil was an unexpected gem for me, a dark thriller that keeps looping around the different perspectives of women who were all linked to a murdered man whose head has the police chasing all the leads ... there's his wife of course, but also a colleague, the aunt who raised him, the journalist he raped many years ago, the religious woman who believed to have discovered love again after loosing her husband and there are two mothers of his children one born one unborn and there is the female police officer investigating his murder ... they each have the proverbial axe to grind but who actually wielded it ?
This book has all the voices - dark, intricate, and entangling - sort of like a spider web being built, there are intersections were perspectives merge!
All seven women fell victims to this man and his manipulations at one time or another even if they are in different stages of denial they all have a motive for murder.
This book quickly builds in intensity and suspense as it unravels all the personalities, relationships, and the deception suffered.
This book definitely kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

"He's dead because he was an evil prick."

The opening to Speak Of The Devil by remarkable debut author Rose Wilding is wild, clever and a definite attention grabber for this immersive dark psychological thriller.

Seven women are directed to a seedy hotel room. They sit around the decapitated head of the misogynistic, abusive, rapist Jamie Spellman. One is his wife, his colleague, his ex, his friend, a teenager caught in his manipulation, a journalist wanting the truth, and the woman who raised him. They all know him...and one of them killed him.

The writer says she wrote this intense revenge story because she was always feeling furious. At first I laughed but as Jamie's cruelty, male entitlement, and toxic masculinity toward each woman becomes his daily routine I felt my own anger. I remembered all the times I was dismissed, or worse, embarrassed, abused, made smaller. There's an infuriating scene where a woman tells the police Jamie raped and drugged her,

"Didn't your mother ever teach you never to leave your drink unattended?"

"No, she was too busy teaching my brother not to put drugs into a girl's drink "

Yes! It shouldn't be our responsibility to feel safe from men. Men should make themselves safe. Some made excuses for Jamie because his gaslighting skills were honed from years of practice and society making us feel less; we are the "little lady," "ball and chain," and always when angry, "that bitch!"

I read and listened to narrator Colleen Prendergast be perfection as seven distinct personalities. It's only a drop in the number of women who are physically, emotionally and mentally abused by men who claim to love them. Speak of the Devil is what we need to do so he never has power.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book started out strong! With 7 women around the severed head of a man.. you know it is going to be good!! This was an addicting book about lies, deception, secrets, betrayal, manipulation, and murder. I could not put it down!!

Seven women sit in a hotel room with the head of a man that they all have motive to kill. They each swear they did not kill him, but in order to save themselves and each other, they need to figure out who actually killed him. As they try to solve the murder, each of their secrets comes to the forefront. Will they solve the murder, or will they all go down?

Speak of the Devil creeped me the heck out in the best ways. A unique who-done-it that will live rent free in your brain for days after you finish...

A well-done story about seven women who were all treated badly by the same man. As the story begins, they have gathered together and are staring at his decapitated head. Each woman suspects someone else in the group of committing the murder but no one is admitting it.

Over the course of the book, we are given the back story of each woman and their relationship/interaction with Jamie. He was truly a complete jerk with no conscience and I instantly believed that whoever had done the deed and murdered him had a good reason. It was easy to see how he would pull people in and then turn on them when he had used them up.

The character study of each of these women was quite interesting and sometimes a bit heartbreaking. Jamie targeted women with weakness and then seemed to know how to capitalize on it. As much as you know revenge isn't a proper answer, it still felt awfully satisfying in this book when he got what was coming to him.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I also listened to the audiobook and the narration was top notch. It made the story even more enjoyable for me because I felt like I was truly listening to a "production" of some type. Well done! 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for both the early copies of the audiobook and the ebook. I voluntarily chose to listen/read and review them both and the opinions contained within are my own.

When I first heard the premise of this one, I was intrigued. I love a story where a bad man gets what's coming to him, and this definitely promised that. A group of women who have all been wronged by Jamie Spellman in one way or another are summoned by an anonymous phone number to a seedy motel attic on New Year's Eve 1999, to the unveiling of his severed head. One of them is the murderer, and all of them have strong motive, but no one knows for certain who did it and no one will admit to it. They work together to dispose of the head, and each goes their separate ways, waiting for their lives to unravel. This was a case of too many POVs, with each woman involved getting chapters, as well as the Detective on the case, who is having an affair with one of the women involved. The weaving together of the story was messy, and the pace was slow. The culprit was obvious to me from the start, but I did appreciate that she just snapped in the end and finally faced the reality of her situation. The story had potential for me, but ultimately fell short of what I was expecting it to be.

great book and I enjoyed the characters growth. Loved the friends and how this all worked out. I enjoyed the characters journey to finding oneself and others. I hope to read more by this author again.

This book just was not for me, I could not get into the story line or characters. Trying to keep up with each one was confusing in the beginning to even want to continue. This story starts off strong with gory details and may deter some readers not prepared or interested in this type of thriller.

After reading the synopsis I was really excited to read to this one, but I struggled to get into it so I applied for the audiobook and got it. I'm at 20% and I still feel lost. I've gone back and relistened a few times but the multi-layers of characters are just too much for me. It's probably a case of right book, wrong time, but this is a DNF for me. Thank you, I won't be sharing this feedback until I can give it a second go.

This book is one that I had to sit with for awhile after reading to fully understand all of my feelings about it. It is a deeply impactful work that covers the stories of abused women, the nuances of human relationships, and the aftermath of tragedy. The author included realistic portrayals of sociopathic abuse and the spectrum of ways that PTSD can manifest after the fact. Even though such heavy topics were in the book, I still found it extremely enjoyable. It is a page turner that I could not put down once I started it.

A dark and twisted story about a group of women who have all been hurt by the same man and how is head ended up detached from his body.

It took me a little longer to get into this one and I think that’s because there were so many different perspectives. It takes longer to get to know the characters and there isn’t one viewpoint that is more dominant than the others.

This was a decent read. It was an interesting story about how one man can ruin the lives of many women and what those women are capable of when they join forces. The pace was a little slow for me but overall I enjoyed the originality of the story and watching these vulnerable women discover their strength.

Speak of the Devil is an interesting mystery that takes on an uncomfortable topic of women who are assaulted, abused or manipulated. Too often they are ignored and the perpetrator, usually a good looking, charming or wealthy man, goes unpunished. This is a story of what happens when it doesn't necessarily go that way ..

This one can be a bit hard to follow. In the beginning you are thrown into the present, where women are meeting in a room on New Year's Eve. Little by little you are introduced to them and their relationship history with Jamie. It's slow going but I really enjoyed it.

You get to know the characters better as the story goes while following the mystery. This may not be for everyone as some heavy topics are touched upon but I would recommend this one for those who enjoy a mystery and don't mind a slow pace.

I sincerely appreciate St. Martin's Press for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sadly, I wasn't able to connect with this story or the characters, so I stopped reading it about one-third of the way through. While the prose is strong in and of itself, I was unable to connect with the characters emotionally or get invested in the action of the plot.

Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding

Published: June 13, 2023
Minotaur Books
Genre: Thrillers
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Rose Wilding is a queer, working-class writer from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. She has an MA in creative writing from The University of Manchester, where she was mentored by Jeanette Winterson. Speak of the Devil is her first novel.

“Revenge.”

A friendship built on trauma can lead to deadly ends. Being a master manipulator and a cruel human can make you feel powerful. Secrets, a mystery, and a willingness to ignore the truth could lead to freedom.

This was an interesting book. The way it was told through multiple points of view at various points in time was well done.

There were a lot of characters in this book, but how they were written and connected was intense. The dark truth that not everyone is who we think they are lurked beneath the surface throughout the book.

Some of the book felt like it dragged on, but all details were necessary to the story. The way this plot collapsed was well done. The ending was unexpected and intense, with a twist you won’t see coming.

This one was so difficult to enjoy. I tried so hard, but I just couldn’t wrap my mind around all the characters, 9 POVs was just way too much for me. Someone with a better attention span would probably enjoy it, it has a good premise. I DNF at 25%. I’ll blame it on my ADHD.