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.

This is a slow burn in the first half while we get to know everyone, but by the second half it really had my attention and I could not stop listening. I was curious with how it would end and was trying to guess who killed Jamie Spellman myself. The more we learn about Jamie the more it seems a given he would end up dead, the question is more around who did it. Each of the seven women have a story, and the more you learn about them the more you empathize with what they went through by having Jamie in their life. The ending was not at all what I expected, it served up quite the twist I did not see coming. I really enjoyed this overall and if you can get through the slow start it is definitely worth it.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the copies to review.

I enjoyed this book well enough. A group of women are gathered, trying to sort out their motives and who killed a man who made them all suffer. It's dark and will keep you turning the pages, but I struggled to keep the characters straight which is always frustrating. Good book, I'll read the author's next.

I DNF'd this one sadly. I really wanted to love it, but there were so many characters I couldn't keep up. I will probably come back to this and just write down who is who as I go. This is probably amazing, and probably a me problem.

I ended up DNF this book. I gave it two stars because it might appeal to others it just wasn’t something I personally could get through. It was too graphic for me and too dark for me. Which might appeal to others.

This book is about a group of women who had suffered abuse at the hands of one man and how that man ended up beheaded.
Its a bit dark and it is a page turner that was hard to put down. I will say I found it difficult to keep up at times given the number of characters and perspectives involved, just keep up with the time line and the characters.
I enjoyed the story and felt the characters were well developed and relatable. I felt the women grew and learned more about themselves and each other which was nice.

I REALLY wanted to enjoy this book. I gave the old college try. I honestly almost gave up at the 50% mark. There are so many POVs, which I don't usually have a hard time keeping track of, but I did in this book. I had hoped this was going to be an edge-of-your-seat kind of book, trying to figure out who killed Jamie. While it did dig into most of the women's stories and their own connections to him, it definitely wasn't something that kept me turning the pages.

However, I will say, the last 10-15% redeemed the book some for me. It was a good ending and was surprising. Also, I didn't expect the killer, or the connection, at all. Looking back though, I suppose I should have.

Before the ending, I would say this was probably a 2.5, but with the ending, I'll say it was a 3.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars

Rose Wilding spins an easy to read mystery about seven women tied to one man’s recent murder in her latest book Speak of the Devil. While there are certainly elements of the thriller genre, this read is all mystery. There is a gruesome murder to solve, seven women with reasons to kill the victim, an officer set on solving the crime and you, the reader, trying to figure it all out as you turn the pages. I liked quite a few things about this book including how easy it is to read, the diverse cast of characters, the dark tone and the unlikely bond between the women. There’s also a certain level of women power/feminism to this that I very much enjoyed. I do think there could’ve been a bit more development to some of our character backstories and I wish there were a few red herrings. Everyone had a motive, so it was less navigating twists and more a matter of making the right guess on “whodunnit.” The ending, while not terribly shocking, was rather abrupt. Overall though, Speak of the Devil is an enjoyable mystery that will keep you engaged and invested in not only the mystery but also the characters. This is a great option to pick up if you are looking for an easy to read murder mystery with a splash of a feminist lens.

A very intriguing plot with lots of suspects, each with motives to get revenge on a man that treated each of them terribly. I enjoyed this one but felt like it dragged a bit in the middle. The ending was unexpected but overall this one didn't really stick with me.

Thank you to Rose Wilding, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ebook copy of Speak of the Devil for me to read and review. This novel drew me in from the start and kept me wondering all the way through. There were lots of characters each with their own connection to the 'victim' and that made it challenging at first to be able to keep track of who was who. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense of the story however it was a bit slow moving and the reveal at the end wasn't surprising. So I would have to say in my opinion this story was good but not great.

Free e-ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher for reviewing purposes.

This was so good! We open on New Year's Eve 1999 to the severed head of Jamie Spellman- who absolutely deserved what he got- and seven women, all of whom had motive to kill him and are now working to cover up the crime. There are many POV switches and we get to hear everyone's side of the story. You might be able to see the ending coming, but the narrative holds on to you all the way to the end.
Recommend for fans of: thriller/mysteries, Gone Girl, and similar.

Book Summary:

A man is dead. There's no denying that – his head is sitting right there on the table. There are seven potential suspects, all of whom would have an excellent reason to want this man dead. Naturally, they all claim it wasn't them.

Delving into the murder will out their secrets, and his along with them. Rather than making the case clearer, it merely adds more motives to the pile. Who didn't want this man dead?

My Review:

Whodunnit mysteries are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. Speak of the Devil certainly fits that bill, with one man dead and half a dozen people who could have wanted him that way. It's the perfect fit for this craving.

Speak of the Devil has multiple perspectives, as you might have guessed from the description. I was pleasantly surprised by how much we got to know each character/perspective. That always makes the world feel more alive and real. Plus, all the bouncing around helped to keep the pacing stable and fast.

This novel does deal with the heavier subject matter. Consider the type of person that multiple people might want to kill, and you'll probably know what might have happened. Just in case, Speak of the Devil touches on subjects like rape, police negligence, suicide, etc. Be sure to check a full content warning list before diving in.

Highlights:
Complex Murder Mystery
Multiple Suspects
Contemporary Thriller

Trigger Warnings:
Cheating
Sexual Assault/Abuse
Suicide
Infertility

Amazing book ! I recommend 10000% . The characters are well develop and plot of the book is unique . You will never guess . Keep you reading all day