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 a terrific read that I could not put down. Great characters and an author whoose next book I cannot wait for. Truly outstanding on every level. Ending was a surprise which is refreshing.

This book had me booked from the beginning.  It starts with seven women surrounded by a severed head but no body. They all know the victim and each of them has a motive for killing the man. Nova is the detective in charge of finding the killer. 

This was kind of a slow build but I still really enjoyed it.  The story is told in multiple perspectives and timelines giving a glimpse into the lives of each of the women and what their motive may have been. It does have some tough themes like SA, gaslighting and suicide but it will keep you guessing until the end. Overall I enjoyed it and look forward to more books by Rose Wilding.

Thank you to St. Martins press and NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this The opening scene is brutal. One of the darkest, most disturbing scenes I can remember reading in a long time. And read a lot of thrillers. If things like the shower scene in psycho bother you, this is not your book. It all worked beautifully for me Rose Wilding grabbed me by the throat with the strength of her writing. Her words held me gently hostage in the jaws of a very dark story. There are seven women to be introduced. Seven back stories to learn and gasp over. To cry over and to shout hooray for. And there's the severed head of the man tying them together. If you like Samantha Downing, give Rose Wilding a try. I m already anticipating her next book.

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!

Speak of the Devil is a gory murder mystery. A man is murdered, and a group of women try to hide the murderer. It took a bit of time to understand all the characters; too many were involved. The novel held suspense until the end.

I had really high hopes for this one but it was a bit of a let down. There were too many characters and it bounced back and forth and had a hard time following. I also didn’t relate to any of the characters and when I got about a third way in I had a hard time following.

⭐️⭐️ Jamie certainly was a snake. No wonder seven women are sitting around his severed head wondering which one of them did it. They all had good reasons to. I had high hopes for this story, but it didn’t come through for me. What could this man have done to have seven women want him dead. Your going to need to take notes to keep all the characters straight. This is never fun. You will probably refer back to the them often. The ending is very rushed and abrupt. I did not like that at all. #bestestbookclubever

3 whodunnit stars

This one starts with a gruesome unveiling of a man’s severed head. Jamie (well, just his head) is surrounded by seven diverse women who knew him, but who killed him?

The book dives into each of the women and their backstory with Jamie. He really was a terrible person, but did he deserve to be killed? The women include his wife, a friend whom he betrayed, a journalist, and the woman who raised him.

As the police try to find the murderer, my suspicions kept changing. The outcome made sense only when I heard the whole backstory. There were a lot of characters to keep track of in this one. The conclusion seemed a bit abrupt to me.

👺 DARK - DISTURBING - TWISTED - HAUNTING 👹 “Speak of the Devil” by Rose Wilding will send you on a thrilling downward spiral like no other!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Jamie Spellman is an awful human being. Never wanted by his mother, he treats women as the scum of the earth. He comes off as handsome and charming at the beginning … and then he sinks his claws in and the sinister acts follow ☠️

7 women all meet in a seedy hotel room after discovering Jamie’s severed head has been served on a platter for them … LITERALLY! All of these women have good reason to seek vengeance of him … but no one will own up to it! Jamie has either wronged, hurt, scarred, tricked or manipulated all of these women. He is literally the devil from their nightmares 👿. As the police investigate the murder, the women are desperate to keep their secrets hidden while trying to find out who actually did it!

Thank you kindly to @minotaur_books @macmillanusa @rose_wldng @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This brilliant debut novel releases on June 13, 2023!

3 stars
First, thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the eARC of Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding. I think of REVENGE when I think of the Devil in this story. I will admit, I took notes on each character (there are many) just to keep everyone straight in my mind. Fast, short chapters with backstories and different POV's were the highlight of this book. The overall book was Meh and I would not recommend. Ending was abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying.

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.

Seven women gathered in a rundown hotel room staring in horror at the severed head of a man they all had reason to hate and want to see dead. They all swear they didn’t kill him. But someone did! It has to be one of them. Someone is lying! What a way to open a book! The premise of the book was very intriguing, but it didn’t really live up to its description. I found it to be too slow moving to really grab and hold my interest. Based on the many positive reviews there are many people who enjoyed it, but it just didn’t work for me.

This appealed to me based on the premise of seven women/one guy.

But I found it confusing to keep track of each woman. It really detracted from the story.

And I was hoping for MORE.

It’s not necessarily a bad book. It’s just harder to get into when it focuses on the sex lives versus more of what Jamie did.

The premise of this book definitely hooked me when I received the NetGalley widget from the publisher. I was excited to dive into this unique tale. But I’m sorry to say it’s just not working for me and I’m going to have to DNF. I think this book will find its readers as I’ve seen many positive reviews so far. Unfortunately, this one just isn’t for me. Thank you to the publisher for an ArC in exchange for my honest review.

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.

This was a well thought out cast of characters. Many woman scorned by 1 absolute shit of a human being. I am.not sure why it was set over 20 years ago...the timeline doesn't have much to do with the plot.
I will be on the lookout for more books by this author.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Yep, not a fan at all. What did I just read?? I almost DNF'd this book so many times but made myself keep going to give it a chance. This book had so many characters and did not give a clear understanding as to who was who, where it took place or an understanding of the motive. I was so interested in the description of it but it fell completely flat to me. The last 40 pages were probably the best part of the book and gave me more of a picture of the whole book.
I know that no book is for every reader and this one does have some positive reviews, but it was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Received an audiobook early copy also via NetGalley - will be listening and reviewing on that NetGalley form. Thank you!

A dead man's head and seven women's stories..making you wonder who killed him but you'll keep wondering. Slow paced that I didn't find myself find myself hurrying to pick up to read. Lackluster ending.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.