Seven women have been called to a hotel room where they find the head of Jamie Spellman, a man who has ruined each of their lives. One of them is a murderer. Each one had a reason to kill him, but no one will admit their guilt. Kaysha, a reporter, had been sexually assaulted by Jamie. She has been following him ever since and initially brought the women together in a support group. Ana worked with Jamie and considered him a friend until he stole her research and passed it off as his own, earning a promotion and prestige. Sadia was the wife that he cheated on and threatened. Sarah was the mother of his daughter and Josie, a teenager, was currently pregnant with his child. Maureen was the aunt who raised him, but saw the type of person he really was. Olive never stopped loving him, even though he was responsible for her daughter’s death. All have motives to murder him, but who picked up an axe and decapitated him?

Kaysha has been in an on again off again relationship with DI Nova Stokoe. By manipulating the evidence at the scene she ties the murder to an investigation that Nova is currently conducting. She rekindles their relationship hoping to monitor Nova’s progress to keep the women safe while she investigates. Rose Wilding takes you through each of the women’s encounters with Jamie, showing how manipulative he was and how he damaged each of their lives. He was handsome and charismatic, but could turn vicious when anyone questioned him or attempted to stand up against him. As Nova discovers their stories she develops a sympathy for these women, but she is an officer of the law and murder is not a justified punishment. Wilding’s narrative is emotional and sometimes infuriating, but she keeps you guessing who committed the murder until the very end. This one is hard to put down. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s - Minotaur for providing this book for my review.

I love it when I get to discover new authors. This book drew me in from the first chapter. There are a lot of suspects so you need to pay attention to not get lost on who is who. The pacing was well done and kept me engaged. I enjoyed learning each characters back story and how slimy the corpse was

The idea behind the book is good – multiple women find themselves in a room with the severed head of a man they all had a negative past with. Any one of them could be the killer. It then proceeds to tell you the back story of all these women and their connection to the deceased. The issue I had was that I feel like there were just too many to keep them all straight the way it was presented to the reader. Granted, if you have time to read it for longer stretches of time than I did, maybe it would be less confusing as to who’s who.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for gifting me with an advanced copy to read and provide an honest review.

Akin to Agatha Christie, you have multiple suspects and one murder. Who is the killer? Between 7 women, there is a dead man in a hotel room where they have been mysteriously summoned. He's lost his head. Each woman has a reason they could be the culprit, but they all want to protect the other, so they must find out who did it.

Warning, there are a lot of triggering events related in the background stories of each women, Dark and sinister is the only way to describe their stories. This is a book that is definitely not for the faint of heart. There are times when the stories get crossed, confusing, and hard to keep up with. However, we find out how they are all connected leading to the ultimate climax, that may have been a little predictable.

It took me a little longer to get through this one, just because the themes were hard to stomach. This is not the typical book I read, but I did finish and will be thinking about it for a while.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

This book is creepy good! What makes it even better…This is Rose Wildings Debut Novel!! New Year’s Eve, 1999 and seven women are stand in a hotel room in Newcastle. They stare in horror at the center of the room where a man’s severed head sits on the table. Each woman knew this man and each had a reason to do this, although no one is admitting to the murder. As the murder investigation begins, alternating in time and place, we get the story of each woman and her connection to the man (and to each other).
But who killed him? And why?

Detective Inspector Nova Stokoe is heading up the murder investigation but she has connections of her own with some of these women, all of which are gradually revealed. The victim, Jamie Spellman, as we find out, is a repulsive human. It was almost impossible for me to feel any sort of compassion for this character, due to his vile actions. I didn’t care that he was dead, but I was intrigued as to who had actually murdered him in such a horrific way and why.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of, which got a little confusing in the beginning at times. Thankfully the descriptions and style of each character helped differentiate them. And with so many characters this is very much a character driven book, they were all riveting and relevant.

This book has plenty of twists and turns and I had no idea who the real killer was until the final pages! Speak of The Devil has a publish date of June 13th. I can’t wait to see what else Rose Wilding will come up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Author Rose Wilding , and St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review an advanced reader's copy of this book.

New Year’s Eve 1999—Seven women gather in a hotel room and stare in shock at a man’s head on the bed. Each woman has been involved with this man and hurt at one point in their life. And each woman denies killing him. To protect each other, they must figure out who in their group killed the man and stay one step ahead of the police. Is it the wife, the pregnant teenager, the ex-girlfriend, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, or the woman who raised him?

Speak of the Devil is a fast-paced, often confusing book. I don’t get confused while reading; I did with this. This book didn’t lag, even with all the jumping from past to present and back again. The author kept the flow going despite the plotline going back and forth in time.

Speak of the Devil takes place in the Northumbria region of Scotland. The author did a great job of painting a picture of the towns portrayed from 1964 through 1999. I also liked that she weaved the local accents into the storyline. She did it so that it didn’t take away from the book. Instead, those accents added to it.

The main storyline in Speak of the Devil revolves around Jamie and the women he has bullied, abused, and treated like poo. I will warn you all that there are numerous POVs, eight in total, and each of these POVs travels back and forth in time. I am not a big fan of multiple POVs, but the author made it work in this book. But, I did have to take notes about the different relationships, which took away from my reading pleasure.

I didn’t like Jamie, but at the same time, I did feel bad for him. He was raised by a woman who couldn’t stand him. Those scenes, towards the end of the book, hurt my heart. He might have turned out differently if he had shown a little love and compassion. Each of the seven relationships showed a different side of Jamie. But, a common theme was running through them: He had an insane desire for control and wasn’t afraid to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. He did get what he deserved in the end.

The female characters, for the most part, were well-written. They weren’t as fleshed out as they should have been. I also felt some were written as cliche (Sarah comes to mind instantly). But overall, I enjoyed reading their stories and liked that the present-day storyline had a girl power theme running through it.

The mystery angle of the book was well written. I thought the killer was someone else and was very surprised when the author made the reveal. It was not who I thought it was, and it did surprise me. Looking back, the author was very clever with her red herrings and secondary storylines pointing at one person.

The book’s thriller angle didn’t jump out and scream at me as much as I wanted it to. It was understated and took some time to build. But, once it got going, it was full force.

There was some great LGBT representation going on in the book. Three of the women were lesbians (with two being in a relationship with each other). There was quite a bit of transphobia displayed in the book. I was beyond mad for this woman for 90% of the book, and I couldn’t understand why her job was acting the way it did. Then I remembered—-it was 1999. Understand people and jobs that didn’t discriminate were few and far between.

The end of Speak of the Devil didn’t gel with me. After the murderer was revealed, the author said nothing about what was done to the killer or what happened to the woman in jail for the murder. The only storyline that the author wrapped up well was the one with Nova. The others were left open with no ending other than Jamie’s death. It irritated me. I wouldn’t say I like it when books do that. I wanted at least an epilogue to explain what happens after.

I recommend Speak of the Devil to anyone over 16. There is language, violence, and very mild sexual situations.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Rose Wilding for allowing me to read and review Speak of the Devil. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

This book was everything I hoped it would be! I love a good revenge story, especially when the characters are done really well. Each woman was their own unique character and they were written so well that I really felt for the them in what all Jamie had done to them. I had a lot of strong emotions while reading this book and that's all due to the fantastic story telling of the author (it's hard to believe this is her debut novel)! I loved Kaysha, wanted to shake some sense into Josie, felt bad for Sadia, wanted to scream at Maureen for how she treated Jamie when he was a little boy, and was thoroughly impressed with Nova and her deduction skills.

Now, on what could have made this book better. There were A LOT of people to keep track of. I didn't start remembering who was who until at least half of the book and that was because I made a cheat sheet of the characters. Seven women could have been paired down to five and it would have still been as successful. I also had a hard time with how some of the native dialogue was written. Maybe that's just because I'm American, but I fumbled over a lot of what some of the small characters were saying. But, if you can get past both of those things, you'll find a really enjoyable read with lots and lots of layers that reveal one amazing story.

I'm giving this one 4/5 stars!

When I received the link for this #arc there was an author’s note attachment. I printed it out but didn’t read it until I was midway through this book. After reading it, I felt a stronger connection to the seven women linked to Jamie’s character and a major sense of empathy for the author as this book was inspired by her personal experience. This book grabbed me immediately from the storyline, to the characters, to the setting, and to the bonds between the women. Jamie is an absolutely despicable character and had me cringing throughout the flashbacks. I was pleasantly surprised when Jamie’s perpetrator was revealed in the end!

Generally, I am not bothered by a lot of characters. But maybe this would have been better with fewer characters to learn about. I feel like the time spent developing those characters impeded the progress of an actual story. I did not find this interesting or thrilling. Additionally, I feel like it took a rather superficial approach to a serious topic.

I am immensely grateful to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

The bit of this book really sucked me in, finding the body and meeting Nova. However, it lost me for a while after that, it was a super slow-burn thriller. The multiple POVs and alternating timelines showing when each woman met Jamie and how he ruined their lives really made it feel like the story wasn't moving forward and it took up a good chunk of this book. But, after we got through of that the story started to pick up for me. I was both surprised and not when the killer was revealed, not surprised because any of the women he wronged had good reason to want to kill him, but until the motive for this woman was revealed she would have been at the bottom of my list.

This book begins with seven women sitting around a severed head. If that doesn't catch your interest, I don't know what will.

Despite the gory beginning, overall this book was not gory.

Jamie Spellman is the man behind the head. He wasn't a good man.

As the book goes on, we get to know each of the seven women, their connection to Jamie and how he treated them. They all had reason to murder him. But who did it?

This one is a bit of a slow burn, but it starts to pick up as you go along. We do find out who the killer is and it wasn't a surprise.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur and MacMillan Audio for both an ARC and ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, what a twisty tale. I never would have guessed who actually killed Jamie. The opening scene introduces you to all the women who this man has harmed in some way or another. The setting is busy but you get to know each woman better as they each get chapters from their POV.
And the more you learn about Jamie the more you detest this horrible man.

Seven women are gathered in a seedy motel room where a man's severed head sits in the middle of the room. Each woman has her own motive for wanting him dead, but each swears they didn't do it.

The woman who brought them all together knows they need to protect each other. So they must try to figure out who is responsible while also trying to stay ahead of the police.

Thank you so much to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC to review.

This was a very interesting mystery and was like piecing a puzzle. Very taut.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book had a similar premise to The Change which I read last fall. A group of jilted women all having a clear motive for the murder of a horrible narcissistic monster of a man. I enjoyed the diversity in this book and found myself more invested in certain women's POV's than others. I listened to this on audio and did have a hard time keeping all the characters and backstories straight so maybe try to have a physical handy until you are comfortable. If you're a fan of revenge stories, unreliable narrators, and can handle some pretty significant trigger warnings then I think you'll enjoy this book. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my ALC and Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my eARC.

The story begins on New Year’s Eve, in 1999 with seven women in a hotel room sitting in a semicircle with a severed head in their midst. The head belongs to Jamie Spellman a man who is no stranger to any of them. Each of these women has been wronged by him in some way and they have been plotting to get their revenge but decapitating him wasn’t quite what they had planned. None of them is aware of who amongst them is responsible for the same but each of them harbors suspicions of who it might be. However, they are not interested in outing the culprit and focus on covering up the crime and protecting one another.
As the narrative progresses we get to know more about each of these women, how their stories intersect with the deceased, the events that led to their being in the hotel room with Jamie’s decapitated head, and what transpires in the two weeks following that fateful night as the women try to maintain their innocence. Complicating matters further is the fact that the investigator in charge of the case has a history with one of the women in question.
Narrated from multiple perspectives (in the third-person), Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding is a well-crafted, immersive read. The narrative moves fast and at no point did I lose interest in the narrative. I enjoyed trying to figure out who the culprit could be (It’s not too hard, but I thoroughly enjoyed the build-up to the end!). What makes this story interesting is that Jamie was truly a despicable character and not only at no point do you feel sorry for what happened to him, you also can’t fault these women for wanting him dead. The novel does venture into dark territory, touching upon themes of rape, police negligence in investigating crimes against women, gaslighting, manipulation, abuse, gender politics and transphobia among others. Not all the characters are explored in equal depth but I did like the diverse cast of characters and how skillfully the author weaves their distinct backstories into the narrative. The ending was a tad abrupt but overall, I enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I paired my reading with audio narration by Colleen Prendergast which certainly elevated my experience with this novel. The narrator does an impressive job of voicing the characters, setting the mood and bringing the story to life. Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. I would not hesitate to recommend the novel, the audiobook or pairing both for an intense immersion reading experience.
Expected Date of Publication: June 13, 2023

Seven women in a room with a dead male body. I didn’t realize it was just his head sitting in the table. Each chapter was told by a different person and it was a bit tedious. I thought it was going to be a good mystery police type drama but it fell rather short for me.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I thought that this was really good! I enjoyed getting to know each of the seven women at the core of this book and it was quite clear that each of them had the motive to kill Jamie. Jamie was not a good man. In fact, he was pretty terrible, and the things that he did to each of these women left me feeling a lot of sympathy for them. I loved that the book kept me guessing until the very end.

The story opens with the discovery of the decapitated head of Jamie by a group of seven women with ties to the victim on New Year’s Eve 1999. We learn about Jamie’s connection to each of the women and the history that they share throughout the book. We do also see the police detective’s perspective as we work our way through the story. It was quite a few characters to juggle but each of them had such unique personalities that I had no trouble keeping things straight. It was obvious that all of the women had the motive but I wasn’t sure who the murderer was until it was revealed in the story.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Colleen Prendergast did a fantastic job with the story. I thought that she had a very pleasant voice and I had no problem listening to this book for hours at a stretch. I thought that the dialog between the characters flowed nicely and I liked that she was able to add just the right amount of emotion to her reading. I thought her narration added to my enjoyment of this book.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a well-done mystery that was nearly impossible to set aside. I thought that this was a great debut novel and look forward to reading more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio.

I’m definitely in the minority with my 2 star rating but this story fell flat for me and I could not connect with any of the characters. DNF at 36%. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my review.

This book was certainly a wild ride! Seven different women who are unknowingly connected to each other meet and find the severed head of a man that they all knew, but in very different ways. I'll say one thing, I knew pretty early on that this dude completely deserved it.

The chapters are each from a different character's perspective, which with seven women I have to admit this was difficult for me. They are all so very different, but by the time I could easily figure out who was who off the top of my head by name alone, it was already getting pretty late in the read.

With that said, I did immensely enjoy this. The different stories were really interesting, and, overall, I thought this was a unique read. Also, I really loved how this book wraps up!

Out June 13, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

I was drawn to this book by the US bird cover. Beautiful and sinister at the same time. That is how we women often are ourselves. Jamie Spellman was an evil man. Some, maybe even you, would say he deserved to die. Did he deserve to lose his head in the process? Seven women in a sort of Jamie Spellman done wrong support group could have done it and rally around each other to protect the killer. That is the premise of the book, but there are also a whole lot of spouses, lovers, parents, and coworkers who could have done it, too. How far would anyone go for revenge or to protect the one they love? Which side are the police on?

This was a slow burn of a thriller for me. Each chapter was a back and forth from a different character perspective. If you have trouble keeping track of multiple characters and backstories, then this might not be the book for you. I found myself kind of wishing each had done him in for the wrong he did to them. Some wrongs seemed worse, more methodically planned out. Some wrongs seemed in the moment. And some were just plain mean. In the end Jamie Spellman needed to die as some people are just plain evil and unredeemable. The birds do have a minor but darkly impressionable role in the story, so I appreciated the cover tie-in. Nature or nurture, one could certainly argue... but evil is undebatable.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.