This was interesting. It starts with a bang - a man’s severed head in the middle of a room surrounded by a bunch of women who have a history with him. None of those histories are good. The rest of the book jumps around in time and among characters, letting us in to why all of them had a reason to kill him.

I did enjoy the character driven aspect of this and learning how he had harmed each of them. All the jumping around in time and between characters was a little confusing. What I liked the least was the very abrupt ending which left a lot of questions unanswered and plot threads dangling.

Still, I would definitely read more of Wilding’s books and would recommend if you like character driven thrillers.

It takes a little bit of time to get the feel of Speak of the Devil There are a lot of characters to keep track of and a lot of pieces to the story, but, once it's all sorted out, what a story it is. It's the story of wronged women who find not only each other, but their own power. Sometimes revenge stories can be too over the top, too unbelievable, but Speak of the Devil was perfect, and I found myself cheering for each one of Jamie's victims as they find not only each other, but themselves.

Seven women…one man…….all connected. The reader knows that immediately from the opening scene but it takes a while to find out how and why.
    We meet the seven ladies on New Years Eve in a discreet, out of the way room where there’s a table with a cloth over it. When it’s removed, they discover the head of the man they all know and who they were there to discuss.
   Then begins the rollout of the individual stories of how this man affected their lives, never in a good way, but none of them are coming forth to say they were the one to do this! They were all above reproach but as you learn about them you realize it could have been anyone of them who could justifiably have committed this murder.
   There was more flipping back and forth than I, as a reader enjoy, both between characters and their time with him.  Adding to the mix is a relationship between the police investigating the crime and one of the women.
   It’s an interesting thriller with contemporary issues which are the reasons the victim was so despised.

This just didn't work for me on audio. Not sure if this would have worked better in physical format, but I was bored for the most part. Also, a lot of characters, and that always throws me off. Yes, the subject matter was heavy and dark, and the end kind of made up for it. But I could not remember most of the plot after a month, or two.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and the publisher for my review copy.

This is one you need to stick with it. There were a lot of characters introduced right away and it was a bit confusion and unclear what was going on. The backstories of the characters were really good in explaining what was going on in the present tense. Things got very interesting around the half way mark. The end was anticlimactic for me though. It was just sort of presented and then ended. It wasn't very much of a surprise or twist. A 3 star read for me.

This is a revenge story with a lot of characters, so the suspense is high. I loved the way it starts out with just the head of a person being discovered. It slowly builds and you get backstory for each person having a reason for wanting the murdered person dead.

when seven seemingly random women sit in a circle with a severed head in front of them, well, my first thought is “alright what’d he do?” 🧐

I immediately opened my notes app so I could keep track of these characters 😅 thankfully each chapter rotates between each POV so I was able to jot down details about them. I thought they each brought something interesting to the story, and I really liked reading how they were all connected to each other. I felt the story itself had a nice flow to it, and while I didn’t ~love~ how it ended, I still feel like it wraps up and gives the reader closure.

I didn’t love that the characters went in and out of their accents? it was very sporadic and kind of confusing. not sure if it was intentional, but I didn’t get it and I didn’t like it. 🤣 other than that, a unique premise and a fun ride! thank you St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for inviting me to read this debut!

This was honestly a brilliant revenge story. I devoured this book in a day. Once I started reading about the severed head in a seedy hotel room I was hooked! I wanted to...no...I NEEDED to know these womens stories.

I have never been so captivated and yet appalled in my life! Seven women all have the misfortune of being tied to the same horrible, abusive and manipulative man. All of them have more than enough reason for wanting him dead. Do you think you can solve the crime?

As always thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

While this was a super suspenseful story, I kept getting lost in all the characters and the possible "who done its." I'm proud I stuck it out through the entire book ( I did think about quitting) but overall, not one of my favorites.

A dark suspense, murder-mystery with a prologue that immediately grabs the readers attention. Unfortunately, the storyline does get a bit weighed down and overly complex as the author attempts to familiarize the reader with all seven protagonists. Would recommend this book for readers who like high level of detail and intricacy in their murder mysteries. Getting through the slow-burn first half does have its rewards as the second half picks up and proves to have a climatic ending.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #SpeakofTheDevil

Super suspenseful story. I was trying to guess whodunit all the way to the end! It was a little confusing with multiple perspectives. At times I found myself a little lost. I'm glad I was able to stick with it.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for my arc

Very dark and engaging whodunnit. I really enjoyed this book. We start with what appears to be a ritual and suddenly, turns into a murder investigation. I thought the character development was great for most of the characters, telling their backstory, showing us their current situation and wondering if they could have been the one to kill Jamie. He’s a really awful person and sympathy for him dissolves quickly as the story unfolds. Loved this book and will be adding the author to my watch list.

Seven women are gathered in a hotel room at midnight. A man’s head sits in the center of the floor. They all had a reason to kill him. But they all want to protect each other, and none of them seems to know where the rest of him is.
This held the promise of being a dark thriller full of suspense and drama. Between the seven women’s story lines and the too intricate way in which they all wound together, I was a bit distracted and could find myself not following the story line. Overall, this was an okay read for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 6/13/23
Genre: suspense/thriller
Quick summary: Seven women are faced with one dead man they all had motive to kill. But no one's fessing up.

I love a multi-perspective story, and this one came highly recommended by my booksta friends. This one has echoes of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS in that everyone has a motive, and I loved tried to suss out who did it. Sadly I am no Hercule Poirot and my grey cells were not sufficient to guess whodunnit. But I really enjoyed the ride - it takes a little time to get familiar with the 7 protagonists, but once I did, the book was a fast and compelling read! I also liked that the subject matter was dark, but the book itself was not overly graphic.

If you need a thriller for the beach this summer, this is a good choice!

Thank you to Minotaur Books for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a great story! It starts with an incredible image and keeps on going from there. So many great suspects. I would have liked more of a discussion about what causes a man to become a devil -- especially since the woman who raised and abandoned him was one of the suspects -- but perhaps that's asking too much of the genre.

The prologue will suck you in, it makes you think WTF is going and the rest of the story is the same way! This was a debut book by Rose Wilding and it was one that will take you on a wild ride and make you wonder what is going on and what happened.

I will say there are a lot of characters to keep track off and you could get lost or confused when you first start out but as the story goes on you start to get the character straight and the book really picks up in the last half .

A suspenseful and delightful read. Loved the characters and the twists and turns of the plot.. would recommend for fans of thrillers, suspense.

Oh my gosh this book was completely and thoroughly creepy, and I have to admit I was here for all of it!

Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding is the authors debut novel. The book is published by Minotaur Books and is classified as a thriller. I thought it was more a murder mystery as it centers around 7 women who are all scorned because each one has been treated badly by a guy named Jamie Spellman. Jamie is an evil bastard that thinks he can get away with whatever he wants with no concern to how he treats others. I did find it a little difficult at first to keep up with all the different characters and their backstories. However, the farther I got into the story, the easier it became. I was never able to figure out on my own who it was that actually killed Jamie until it was revealed in the story. At that point, it came as quite a surprise because I was feeling totally baffled. I did feel it was a good story and I liked how the storyline wrapped up. It’s a book I’d recommend if you enjoy being in suspense although some readers might find parts of it a bit gruesome. I’d like to thank Victoria Cardoso, Marketing Intern at St. Martin’s Publishing for the invitation and NetGalley for the arc to read and review. I’m giving this a 4 star rating and I apologize for having taken so long to finish but I’ve been having some eye troubles which is slowing me down.

Seven women stand in a hotel room…and one man’s severed head sits in the center of the floor. Each of the women is connected to the man (er, the man whom the head belongs to?), and has a reason to have killed him. To keep what really happened a secret, the women must stick together and stay one step ahead of the police. Each of their pasts comes to light, their connections reveal the real killer.

Though there were a lot of characters to keep track of, I found this to be a quick and easy read. I enjoyed learning how the women were connected to Jamie and why each of them had a potential reason for having killed him. I would have liked a little more at the ending (I found it at it abrupt to be honest), but all in all, an entertaining story about what happens when women just won’t take bad behavior from a man anymore.

Thank you to Minotaur, Netgalley and Rose Wilding for the ARC! “Speak of the Devil” s out now.