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.

4 stars

This book is another one that wasn’t quite what I expected but was, nevertheless, enjoyable. I expected more of the emphasis to be on the thrill or mystery of the murder itself, but instead, the focus was on the complex backstories of a diverse cast of women and how their lives had been impacted by the horrific actions of the dead man. The ending wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it was still a nice twist. I liked the whole book and appreciated the topics the writer explored throughout the narrative. It was definitely a good one.

I read this in a single day, it was so interesting and full or twists. There are a lot of characters, and some of the names sound familiar, so it can be difficult to remember who's who especially if you listen to it on audiobook. I didn't see the ending coming, so that was a good, suspenseful buildup and surprise. This thriller deals with serious topics and can be eye-opening if read with caution. This debut was very impressive, and I'm already looking forward to the next book by this new voice in literature!

While most people are ringing in the year 2000, seven women stand around the severed head of a man who has harmed them in different ways. Each of these women has a motive for wanting him dead, so they must decide if they will cover for each other when the police start asking questions or start spilling long buried secrets that could harm not only them but each other.

Riveting and Character-driven, but Sad at times, this thriller deals with more than just murder.

This book dealt with some heavy topics, so please look up the trigger warnings. Overall, I enjoyed the idea and thought it was pretty original. The execution, however, was pretty messy. Going back and forth between perspectives made it confusing, and the ending left me unsatisfied.

Seven women meet up in a sketchy hotel room where they come upon the severed head of a man. Even more shocking is that each of the women present has a reason to have been the one behind it. As the murder investigation begins, no one’s secrets are safe.

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL By Rose Wilding was full of unique voices and characters and I really enjoyed the alternating timelines and perspectives that brought out each character’s motive and the trauma they went through to lead them to their present day (with that being said, triggers for rape, infidelity, transphobia, suicide).

Despite enjoying the layout of the story and many of the characters, this book felt drawn out with some details feeling irrelevant and the final resolution feeling abrupt. There were also sooo many characters, with some not receiving much characterization for them to stick, which made it difficult to differentiate them at times.

All in all, an intriguing crime mystery with an original premise.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: June 13

2.5 stars

I’m glad I stuck this one out since I almost gave up several times. The last 20% finally became the book I was anticipating reading since the beginning of the book felt like it was a competition to see how many cliches/hot topics could be shoved into one book: rape, abuse, alcoholism, abandonment, witchcraft, murder, infidelity, gaslighting, suicide, transgender, lesbians, anti police, drugs, adult and minor relationship, infertility, and more. It felt like the author was trying to win a bet to see how many triggers she could fit into one book. It made the book kind of annoying since I was just planning on reading a psychological thriller/mystery.

The other struggle I had was, there are so many characters! Most of the first half of the book I was so lost and confused on who was who and why they are connected to Jamie.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

The story opens with several women meeting in a shabby hotel room. On an alter is the head of a man they all knew. But who killed him?

The story goes back and forth in time as the story of how Jamie impacted each woman's life is told. Heartbreak. Manipulation. Lies .

Who finally stopped him? I did not guess the end and was engaged enough to finish.