Murder! But which of the seven women did the deed? I found there were too many suspects to keep their stories straight. Reading was a bit bogged down at time. Kept at it just to find out who did it. Perhaps with less quirky characters it would have been easier to digest.

Be ready - this novel will have you guessing until the end. The plot centers on seven women who find themselves in a hotel room at midnight on New Year’s Eve, in the presence of a severed head. Jamie, the deceased, had ties with each woman, in the room but did one of them commit the murder?

As the story unfolds, each woman will be found to have her own motive. Some of their stories are devastating; Jamie did each of them wrong and paid the ultimate price.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

Seven women receive a text message to meet at their usual location, at a specific time, and that this is an emergency. In their meeting room, they uncover a severed head; the head of someone they all have motive to kill. With this opener, how could I not request this book? Impossible to overlook such an amazing concept.

With chapters bouncing between each of the seven women, and the lead detective, the reader is deeply entrenched in the “whys” each of these women have for committing murder. At times a difficult read (cw: sexual assault, gaslighting, suicide), Wilding takes us through a journey of trust and betrayal, revenge and absolution. Speak of the Devil is the ideal popcorn read; it’s very easy to see this as a miniseries or even as a movie. It’s entertaining and does not require the reader to solve any mystery or analyze any deeper meaning.

Wilding does a great job of establishing toxic relationships bringing together very real horror to this fiction story. Speak of the Devil is one of those books where you wind up hoping the detective does not find out who the murderer is. It is absolutely correct to say that Wilding writes about (rightfully) angry women and their revenge, as well as their anguish.

I did enjoy this book and think a wide readership will appreciate it as well.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Publishing: June 13, 2023
Series: N/A
Pages: 336

This is a first time read by Rose Wilding, new author to this reader. “Speak of the Devil” is one of those stories that leaves your mind wondering who committed the murder. The story starts off with a murder, and a group of women amid a decapitated head belonging to the devil himself…Jamie. There were some parts of the book where I had a hard time adapting to the story…i.e., keeping the women characters straight in my head. I think it could have been written a bit better for me in those areas of the book. Unfortunately, this did not keep my attention as much and I wanted and at times, I found myself skimming through c the story to build up my interest and wanting to know who did it. I wished by the description that it would have provided enough of a spark for me to really put mysel

A brilliant whodunnit that leaves the reader baffled most of the way through.

There were things I can’t get behind in this book that I feel need mention before I go on to why I ended up liking it so much.

The portrayal of female characters in mystery thrillers irks the living sh** out of me. I’m sorry but the crazy woman, the daft woman, the pretty no brained woman… so on and so forth. I’m over it. Cunning does not have to come with psychosis.

This book kept me turning the page even if just for unlikable characters (which there were only 2 for me). I needed to know what the ending would be. I would definitely recommend this to my book club this summer for a read.

The premise hooked me: a hotel room with 7 women surrounding a decapitated head. How do they hide the murder of this man that wronged them all? I found the first half of the book slow going. The second half got a little more interesting but I still wasn’t enthralled. Too many characters and backstories to keep track of. The ending wasn’t a surprise and felt too quick. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

A horrible man is killed and there are plenty of suspects, as he has hurt a lot of women. We get to hear the story through the women sharing what he did to them. It’s intense and a really good read!

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

New to me author and won’t be my last book by them! Such a great book! I loved it and the cover is so good too! I highly recommend it!

This book is kind of like Ocean’s 8 — if instead of a Met Gala heist it was a murder.

We open on a gory scene — a group of women surrounding a decapitated head. The more we learn about who the head belongs to and his relation to each of the women in the room, it’s apparent justice has been served. The question is — who is the one that delivered it? This haphazardly formed band of wronged women doesn’t even know which one of them is a murderer.

I felt thrown right into this one but once I started to learn more about each of the players I was utterly hooked. There were so many pieces that slotted together brilliantly in the end.

The devil in this book, Jamie, is revealed in the first scene as a decapitated head, in a room of women who all had a reason to want him dead. The stories of each of the women and their interactions with Jamie are given in turn throughout the book.

I’ll admit I had a hard time keeping all of the women characters straight, but that’s just me. I always find it a challenge to keep track of too many characters. This was an interesting murder mystery and I appreciate the opportunity to read and review it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Seven woman sitting in a room with a severed head of Jamie Spellman and all had reasons to kill him. The question is which one finally did it and why?

It was very interesting to see how he had wronged all seven of these woman and what a master manipulator he was. I liked that you had seven different points of view and at first I had to keep notes to keep all the woman straight. Then you see how they all connect and are trying to be free of this monster.

It was hard to read about him being accused of rape and yet no one would listen or believe the victim.

This book made me angry, sad, and wished for vigilante justice for all these women. The way everything was described by the author was so gripping and in such vivid detail that you could feel each one of these women and the torment they went through and wished you could ease their pain and suffering.

When I was blessed with the eARC I was excited. The description was right up my alley. However, for me it missed the mark. I am not sure why, but I just couldn’t get into it.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the eACR for an honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised when I was offered a copy of this book from Minotaur Books via Netgalley because I review dark thrillers quite frequently, which was perfect timing because I was running out of books to read! This isn’t one I had heard of before, but I love a good murder mystery.

I don’t know if the stakes weren’t high enough or what, but I had trouble connecting with this one. I skimmed the first half because the interest just wasn’t there. There also were so many characters, and it was too much to keep up with for someone who wasn’t invested in the plot in the first place. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I actually read it normally rather than skimming it, but the interest just wasn’t there. I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough. The book never grabbed me from the first chapter. It was just, ok.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Seven women are sitting around a table on the top, unused, floor of a somewhat decrepit hotel. On the center of the table is a Bible, on top of the Bible, a man’s severed head. His body is nowhere to be found. Nova is the Detective Inspector assigned to the case. She gets to know the women (some of whom she is already familiar with) and works at solving the murder. Each chapter tells one woman’s story both past and present. I found this to be a bit convoluted for my taste. At points I had to go back to previous chapters to relearn who the women were. The fact that the victim was a horrible person merely added to this because it went into detail about what he had done and was doing to each woman. Thanks to Net Galley and Minotaur Books for an ARC for an honest review.

This book is creepy good! Seven women gather for a seance of sorts and we see a severed head on the table. Now we need to figure out who the killer is and why someone would go to such lengths to kill him! Alternating in time and place, we get the story of each woman and her connection to the man (and to each other). It's got plenty of twists and turns and I had no idea who the real killer was until the final pages!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Dang. I had no idea how much of a thrilling read this one would be! I am so glad it was because it was such a great read the whole way through! Great writing style and the ending was fantastic!!

Speak of the Devil is not a light or happy book. The seven women this story is based around have all experienced tragedy at the hands of the now deceased and decapitated Jamie. We hear each of their stories as the book progresses and all have motive to have killed him.

I liked this book despite its solemn tone. It did take me a few chapters to get into the story but once I got going I felt for the characters and needed to find out who was actually the killer. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of Speak of the Devil.

I requested to read and review this book for from Minotaur Books an Imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Company. This book had drama, mystery and romance. This book is for a mature audience. This book had many twists and turns from different angles. Do you believe in karma? Who can you trust? What happens when no one believes you what do you do ? What is justice? In this this story line you will meet a group of women that will think of these questions and more!

As soon as I saw the invite I was like oh a new to my author and it sounds right up my alley , which it was so much so that the first page caught me attention right away and made it impossible to put down , which is what I needed at this time since I've been in a some what reading slumb and that's not good for a bookworm like me to be in . The story had everything I liked : murder , secrets , friends , and the who done type of vibe and why would someone want this person dead , as well as well oh there's no way I would trust any of this people .But like I said it did make me want to read and that's what I liked mostly about it . So I would say give it a try and see what you think .