When a book begins with 7 women in a hotel room with a severed head on the floor with no knowledge of how it got there....or does someone?
This was one wild mystery that made for quite a gripping read.

😵Book Review:
Title: Speak of The Devil
Author: Rose Wilding
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ stars

A man's severed head sits in the center of a hotel floor surrounded by seven women. Each has their own past with the deceased, but only one of them hated him enough to follow through with murder.
The ex.
The wife.
The widow.
The teenager.
The mother figure.
The friend.
The journalist.

Jamie Spellman was a bad man who deserved to die. This is a whodunit that keeps you guessing! I really enjoyed this book!

Published: June 13th, 2023

Thank you, @netgalley and @minotaurbooks, for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding.

This book starts out STRONG with seven women standing around a man's severed head in a dirty hotel room. A man who all of them knew, and were somehow hurt by. Each of them had a reason for wanting to see him gone, so who is responsible for bringing them his head?

My biggest complaint about stories like these, when you have such a large cast, is just keeping everyone straight. Add in another complicated layer of a jumping timeline, and now my old brain is really working. The times that I was one on board though, I really enjoyed the story. It's dark, it's gritty, it's a statement of what a lot of women have to endure still to this day.

DNF -- I tried this first on audio and then tried the ebook and just couldn't do it. I found it confusing and wasn't really drawn in by the story, despite the intriguing synopsis. There are also tons of trigger warnings that you need to be aware of before reading this one, so take note. I have the physical book too and could see myself coming back to this at some point, but after two tries I'm ready to take a break.

This one was great! I adore a story about strong women who come together to punish someone who hurt them, and the structure of this one made it extra fun. It was a mystery that starts at the end and unravels as it goes along. Each woman was very specifically written, so I never had any trouble keeping the characters straight (if that seems like a stupid criticism, it happens A LOT). It was a really exciting journey to find out exactly whodunnit!

It's New Years 1999 and seven women gather in a hotel room at midnight. A man's head sits on a Bible in the center of the floor. One of them killed Jamie Spellman, but which one? Officer Nova is assigned to the case, but she is in love with one of the suspects. Can she be impartial as she unwinds the mystery, identifies the suspects' motives and solves the case of the dead devil man?
This book unwinds a mystery. It switches back and forth between present and past as it tells the stories of why each woman wants the victim dead. And each woman wants the man dead. He truly becomes a devil from nurture, nature or both.
For the first three-quarters, I was super invested in the book. The plot progresses in a somewhat logical way, and I wanted to find out who did it. But then the plot became slow and more telling than showing. The end was a bit of a letdown and not as dynamic as I had hoped based on the buildup of the rest of the book.
I didn't care for the sexual violence or content or the frequent profanity - lots of F bombs that didn't support the storyline.
Rounded up to three stars from two because the mystery is intricate.

I really didn’t know what to expect going into this thriller. I knew that there would be multiple perspectives as well as multiple suspects. I was a bit worried that the larger cast of characters would be hard to keep track of and I would lose interest.

That didn’t happen at all. I was able to easily follow the changing narrators and keep up with how they each tied to the murder victim. I thought the way the author structured the time jumps and revolving characters was genius. It was almost like reading short stories that were connected by this murder and how the suspects knew the victim.

I think the only thing I would have like to see more of was the aftermath once we knew what happened. I feel like it almost ended too quickly. I was so invested in the characters that I needed just a little more.

If you are looking for an intriguing book full of reveals and shocking turns of events, then I would recommend giving this one a try.

Rose Wilding's Speak of the Devil opens with the severed head of a VERY BAD MAN called Jamie surrounded by seven women he has victimized, traumatized, tricked into doing things that they really don't want...the list goes on in well...at least seven ways. I had a difficult time with the switches in 3rd person POV and timelines amongst the large cast of characters but not every reader may have this experience. Based on other reviews, the narration makes this easier but I don't do audiobooks.
There's a good bit of social commentary, especially about women's roles in their own victimhood. Since there is so much trauma, abuse, gaslighting, and well - murder, it's not the easiest read. The ending was a pretty big surprise although each of the women had their own reasons for wanting revenge, I was surprised by the rushed ending. I applaud the author and editors because I didn't notice any continuity issues despite so many characters. Overall, not a bad novel. Suggested for fans of Jodi Picoult, Alice Feeney, or Freida McFadden.

In a hotel room, seven women confront a gruesome discovery: a severed head of a man. Each of them harbors a motive to wish him dead, yet they all vehemently deny involvement.

This eclectic group comprises an ex with well-guarded secrets, a seemingly content wife, a skeptical widow, a trapped teenager, a mother figure burdened by guilt, a conflicted friend, and an unwittingly connected journalist. Over time, their concealed truths surface, ultimately unmasking a startling killer.
With its gritty ambience and unflinching exploration of taboo subjects, the book boldly challenges readers to confront uncomfortable realities plaguing society. The narrative unfolds through multiple viewpoints, offering insights from a detective and the seven women who each suffered under the tyranny of the same man. While this multifaceted perspective adds depth, it also presents the challenge of keeping track of numerous characters.

The book provides glimpses into each woman’s life, shedding light on their individual reasons for despising Jamie, the central figure in the story.

One tiny grouse I had was the difficulty of maintaining clarity amidst the multitude of characters. With so many personas to follow, distinguishing one from the other was a tad bit challenging.

I would recommend the book as it is a thought-provoking and disquieting novel that shines a spotlight on the trials endured by women.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I could not finish this one. I am all for murder mysteries, but add beheading, rape, spousal abuse, transphobia., etc.... I just had to quit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced e-copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to read and review this ARC.

Seven women find themselves in a hotel room with a dead man. Each woman had a motive to kill him but swears she didn’t. As the murder is investigated, more of each woman’s story is revealed.

Despite opening with the discovery of the head, this book had a bit of a slow start for me. I think it was mostly due to the number of characters I was trying to keep straight. As the author revealed more information about the women and their history with Jamie, I read faster and faster. The book did have an abrupt ending, but I didn’t mind it terribly. Overall, this book was different from others I have read recently, which was nice. I don’t think it was a very believable plot, but it was compelling. I think it’s worth a read if you enjoy thrillers.

Dnf at 29% I couldn't relate to any of the characters, there was so much in this story, and it just fell flat for me. The characters were not relatable.

Ohh this book is dark. There is a warning in the beginning and I think that was a wise move because if you're sensitive to trigger warnings, this one may not be for you.

Admittedly, it took me a while to get invested in this novel and figure out who everyone was. There are a lot of characters and seemingly a lot of plots. Once we learn the core story and realize the novel centers around our bodiless head, the pieces of the plot really come together.

At its core, this book is about a group of women who were all wronged by the same man. We learn of each woman and her story and history, her relationship with the man, and how she was wronged. There are some parts that are very hard to read but this just made me more emotionally invested in the story.

Intertwined with the deep character studies is a plot surrounding magic, murder, and mystery. I loved the police procedural aspect and just how intertwined all the different elements of the story and characters were.

I listened to this book on audio which also took a bit of getting used to. The accents were fairly thick but I enjoyed the narrators and loved the theatrical element the audio gave to the novel.

This was a dark and thrilling read and one I definitely recommend if you can handle some not so nice imagery!

Thank you to Minotaur Books, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for the copy.

Dnf at 10%.

I wanted to like this, it seemed so interesting. A locked room mystery with a body from the beginning. but from the get go there we’re so many characters, i had to mark them in the book and write little notes to remember. This made it hard to enjoy the story and to get immersed in it Which was the reason i dnf:ed. Maybe its the translation took some clarity away? Im sure this would have been better if there weren’t so many characters.

I love a revenge story with a feminist heart, and that is what this book is. It's dark, for sure (as other reviewers have mentioned, check content warnings), but the subject matter was handled well and delivered in a pacey, propulsive way. Will definitely recommend to friends!

I have tried a few times and haven't been able to get into this book. Will DNF for now, and will try again at a later date.

This book was better than I thought it would be. It is a really dark book with murder, rape, transphobia, spousal abuse, gaslighting, suicide and marital affairs. this is not a light read so I would advise adding some trigger warnings, to say the least. It has a lot of strong female characters so if you truly believe in feminist revenge then this is the right one for you. it's not easy finding books about a group of women wanting revenge like in that book, usually, you find it in romcom. the author did a good job.

As a journalist, I had high hopes for this one, given that one of the characters is a journalist. However, I had trouble following the storyline and keeping the characters straight. I ended up not finishing this one, and I do not share my DNF reviews publicly.

This sounded good based on the synopsis, but it just ended up not being for me. I appreciate the opportunity to review it.

The book starts with seven women in the north of England sitting around a decapitated head. They all have a motive but did one of them kill him? As the book goes on we learn what their motives were and I have to be honest I’m not sure I’ve ever felt less sympathy for a victim.

The beauty of the book is that as the story progresses the need to know who the killer is becomes not for redemption but merely curiosity as you cannot help but take the sides of this bunch of wronged women. This is very much a suspense rather than a thriller.

I thoroughly enjoyed it though I did find the ending a little underwhelming, I was hoping for a big twist and there was none. It was however really well executed until the end though and the characters, despite being so many, felt very easy to keep separate and all very defined, well developed characters. I will look forward to more books from this author.