A whodunit of the "Good For Her" variety, this story serves as a chilling reminder of the fact that despite innumerable differences, women can often find common ground when it comes to their treatment by men. The underlying premise of the novel deals with the age-old question: Can it be considered justice when a woman turns to violence in response to abuse?

The story begins with the feeling of a murder mystery dinner party, with the presumed suspects all gathered around the victim's severed head in an upper room. I half expected the book to play out in that same melodramatic sense, with the main story remaining in that room until the killer was revealed, but I was glad to find that the plot played out in a more pragmatic fashion across several weeks of police investigation.

The ensemble cast of characters is a bit difficult to sort out at first, but some light perseverance rewards the reader with a great depth of emotional nuance and heartbreakingly relatable character arcs. I highly recommend the audiobook for the full experience with various Northumbrian accents.

Special thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I totally loved this book! What a great idea! I had so much fun reading this book and all the women that James Spellman ruined the lives of.. I especially liked all the back stories of the women.

What a manipulative man Jamey was I loved this book. Bravo. Just read it or better, listen to it!

I'd recommend this, especially in audio. I give it 4 stars!

Dear Speak of the Devil,
You swept me up in your intrigue and mystery. Each of the women that was hurt by Jamie Spellman was so good at keeping her own secrets. The fact that they met with each other to contemplate revenge on the man who had torn apart each of their lives was so interesting to me. I loved getting to peek into each of their lives and discover how Jamie wrecked havoc on them, repeating his abusive, manipulative and controlling ways with each of them. I was in for every one of your twists and turns. The fact that you started with a content warning was also a pleasant surprise. It was good, with the difficult matter of abusive relationships at your core to let the reader know what they are in for.

Are you a fan of unreliable narrators! Try 7 of them! This suspense was a wild ride that keeps you guessing until the end! Premise: a man is dead and there are PLENTY of motives and suspects, the question is who/ why. How it all unfolds is the well crafted with elements of Agatha Christie alongside the more modern Gillian Flynn.

I did thing there was some narrative gaps/ some things that were a little unclear with all of the shifting narrators. I wasn’t sure what the significance of setting this in 1999/2000 and didn’t see much subtext that gave this any meaning for the setting. I also found some of the ties between the characters/ the characters to Jamie were a little loose and could have been better developed. I also thought the ending was a bit flat/ abrupt.

All in all, the story concept is fascinating and it was an enjoyable read!


TW: sexual assault, gender discrimination, suicide, infertility

This was absolutely fantastic!
I loved all the characters, the story and the mystery was very well done.
I highly enjoyed the flash backs to reveal bits and pieces of each characters background and connections to the current timeline.
Very well done!
Much love to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books & Macmillan Audio!

This was perfect. It was so inclusive. We have trans women and infertile women, rape victims, and teenagers, and people from all walks of life who are united for one special cause. It is a beautiful thing. I love that each character has their own distinct backstory and I love that Maureen is so flawed and spend time wondering how she could have done things differently. I love Olive's issues. I love the teen's crush and how that plays out.
Anna's growth was beautiful as well.
It was all fantastic.
You get all the lovely perspectives for everyone.
I hated Jamie and I had fun trying to figure out who was the murderer.
I love it all so much!

It was pretty alright, although a bit too predictable for me. I liked the audiobook production, the narrator did a solid job.

Hmmmm. The synopsis seemed to mislead me a bit on how I thought the book would go. The first couple of chapters were interesting but it fell flat for me after that.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audio book.

Seven women in a room with a severed head?? YES!!

Jamie is not a nice guy.... so OFF WITH HIS HEAD!
Who did it???? They all had reason to hate him......

I liked it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again, Goodreads, I'm begging you to allow us half stars. Speak of the Devil, an audio arc from newbie author Rose Wilding, sits somewhere in between a 3 and a 4. So, let's call it a solid 3 1/2 stars.

A great first novel, a troubling plot and a very large cast of characters. For me, a nearing 60 American woman, my struggle may have been more with the narration than the plot. There were a ton of female characters (7), each voiced in a very heavy brogue. As a listener, Speak of the Devil requires complete attention to keep the plot straight. I read several other reviews where the listeners actually kept notes. I'll be honest, that sounds like too much work for a hobby which is for pleasure.

With shades of Ruth Ware and Agatha Christie, this is a novel where anyone could have killed (beheaded, yikes) a terrible man and the story reveals past hurts and justifications. Here is my applause to the writer, and me questioning if this period in real life America makes revenge murder a very plausible and acceptable idea, but Wilding managed to make each of the women sympathetic and the murder justified.

I'll be watching Wilding to see where she goes as she continues to write.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for allowing me to listen in advance of the June 13, 2023 release.

oof, this one was a doozy.

A man was murdered on New Year's Eve in 1999, and there were seven different women who all wanted him dead but didn't have the guts to chop his head off, which is how he was discovered.

Skeevy Jamie has played a role in many people's lives, whether through strengthened relationships or as a perpetrating r*pist. His origin story didn't start off well, and due to some sociopathic tendencies or perhaps even just mommy issues, he sought to destroy the lives of so many, and thanks to the archaic justice system, his acts of violence weren't handled properly, and he got away with one too many crimes.

Speak of the Devil is a "Good For Her" tale of how women fight back and take the justice they deserve since we seem to live in a world where that's so difficult to receive in the usual route.

I am really thankful to Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and Rose Wilding for granting me both advanced audiobook and physical copies of this book before it's set to publish on June 13, 2023.

This was a great book. The victim is a horrible human being, and the book looks at the various women in his life who all hate him for different reasons and want stop him…but which one killed him? The way in which the author creates empathy for the women, even knowing one is the killer, is rare. I really enjoyed the book. A great mystery!

When this book started I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through. There were so many characters to keep up with. I started taking notes on who was who and that helped. I really enjoyed the story and there was plenty of suspense that pointed to each woman as the person who dun it. The story comes together nicely at the end. The narrator was fabulous for this audiobook as well.

Jamie Spellman did a lot of bad things to the seven women who sit around his severed head on New Years Eve 1999. Each of these women had a motive to murder this monster. Nova is the detective on the murder case and has to unravel each woman’s story to find who is responsible. One complication is that one of the women is her ex girlfriend.

This is a strong debut with some snarky, dark humor thrown in which I always appreciate. I listened to the audio and had to take notes at the beginning to keep everyone straight. I nearly had to build my own evidence board (which would be a great bookclub activity)! The narration is so good on this audio that I recommend reading it that way. Once I got the characters sorted out, I really enjoyed this novel and how the stories all intertwined. I also like the time period it was set in because people often forget how much has improved in a mere 20 years for women. Particularly with an increasing acceptance of LBGQTIA, women being believed and improved treatment of sexual assault victims. We have a long way to go, but looking back 20 years is disturbing and the author portrayed it accurately in my opinion. Read this if you like a great feminist revenge story. The novel is ambitious, but it delivered on all counts for me.

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio @rose_wldng for an early audiobook copy. @colleen_prendergast was a perfect narrator for the story and did a brilliant job performing such a large cast of characters. I look forward to the author’s next novel.

Having previously read the standard electronic galley I was delighted to see just how well this story translates to the audio form.
Speak of the Devil is the story of one dead man and seven women who all hold ample reason to be glad he is deceased.
What I Loved so much
-This story opens with a severed head in the center of a hotel room which is a beyond wild and brave opening
- through seven points of view the reader is treated to the answers of how Jamie ended up dead .
-The author masterfully utilizes accents and slang to build the characters’ voices and help the reader fully empathize with each person who just might be the killer .

A wonderfully twisting tale this title is a perfect read for fans of thrillers and mysteries such as the 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn hard castle .

Have to DNF this one. I tried reading and listening and just cannot get into this book. Maybe another time, but it was hard to relate, and all over the place. I got through 50 pages.

I really loved this debut. The empowerment resonated with me. And this narration from the wonderful Colleen Prendergast was superb!

When a man is found dead, DI Nova Stokoe is the one to catch the case. It’s gruesome and some aspects are similar to other cases she has worked… but it ultimately brings her to a group of women who all had potential reason to want Jamie dead.

I loved that this book showcases the bonds between women in the face of pain and betrayal. This one takes the idea of the man’s world and flips it on its head. The relationships they all had with this man, the rolls he played in their lives, proved to determine his fate. And it was so good!

This is a revenge type plot, but when so many women could be responsible for his death, it makes it that much more satisfying. I enjoyed this so much and am absolutely looking forward to more from this author.