One severed head of man named Jamie Spellman sits in a vacant hotel room amid a circle of 7 women all of whom have valid reasons to want him dead. Each woman’s secret connection to the dead man is gradually revealed while the police must unravel the truth to solve the mystery of who killed Jamie and why. Speak of the Devil will have you rooting for each one of the seven women to be the murderer of this despicable, manipulative man. May not be everyone’s favorite genre but I found it to be entertaining.

Speak of the Devil tells the story of a group of women who find the head of a man who has hurt them all at their meeting spot on New Years Eve. The story that unfolds tells the horrific things that happened to these women at the hands of Jamie Spellman. Who killed him when all of them had more than enough reason to?

This book was so dark and depressing at times. There were moments that I had to put it down because I felt so bad for the women and knew that there are tons of women that go through this exact same thing. I got really invested in the women's stories and was glad that we did find out what happened on that night. I loved the character of Nova and what she does in the end. I wish I had found out a little more about what happened to the women after Jamie. Just a little epilogue wrapping up their stories in the aftermath would have been good. That is ultimately what kept me from giving 5 stars.

"All of us knew him. One of us killed him..."

This book opens with a bang! Seven women stand in a run-down hotel room looking at Jamie Spellman's severed head. Each woman has been wronged by Jamie in some way, and they each had motive to kill him, but nobody fesses up.

There are a lot of characters in this one, most all of them giving past and present POVs. I had a hard time keeping track of everyone and how they were connected to Jamie until around the halfway mark, but then it was easier to follow.

While I felt like this story dragged at times, I liked how these seven women protected each other, and I really loved the ending. I definitely think Jamie got what he deserved!

I'll be looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future!

Thank you, @netgalley, @minotaur_books, and the author for the gifted e-arc of this book!

3.5 stars

3.5 stars

The first chapter was truly great, it really pulled me into the story. However from there it got a little rough. Normally, I am a huge fan of multiple POVs but in this case it was not my favorite. With seven woman plus a detective there were a few too many characters and POV to keep track of. It got confusing trying to keep them all separate and figure out who was who.

At times the descriptions got a bit graphic and the dialogue was difficult to read in certain parts. However it did turn around at the end, the final twist was a good one even if it did feel a bit abrupt.

I really wanted to like this one more than I did but in the end it was just an average read for me.

.Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding, this was a new author for me, not sure how it happened but posted wrong review with this book to start with and I am going back to edit the review. This book brought together seven different women, if different stages of their lives all have one thig in common. Jamie Spellman he is dead and any of these women could be responsible. Secrets are exposed as we follow along with the twists and turns of this book. I would recommend this book to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, and I am leaving this review vountarily.

Thank you to @macmillian for sending me a copy of SPEAK OF THE DEVIL by Rose Wilding. This one is out now.

I didn't love this book. It's got a lot of POVs and they're all detailing why they hate the victim. I get it, this guy is the worst. We know one of them killed him but I honestly couldn't find it in me to actually care.

Seven women have motive for murder, each denies involvement as they all stand in a room with the man’s severed head.  

Speak of the Devil is a slow burn, character driven story focused on revenge. I felt like it had so much potential and was left a little disappointed. It starts off on a high note, the slow burn was just a bit too slow to keep my interest. There were several parts that redeemed the story for me though. With so many characters, it took a while for me to no longer confuse them / the backstories. Overall, I liked it, it just didn’t work well for me.  

Thank you to Minotaur & St. Martins Press for these ARCs in exchange for a review!

The premise of this book was intriguing and I really thought it would be my type of read. Unfortunately, ~20% in I realized this was going to be a heavily character-based story and slow paced which is hard for me to get into. I also was still very confused on who the characters were and their relationship to the deceased.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately I couldn’t get into it enough to finish it. I gave it up at the 60% mark.

First of all, I did not expect this to be so gay! What a gift to me during Pride Month.

Second, dang!! What a twisty, interesting thriller. While it could be slightly difficult to set this down and pick it up and remember who each character was, I still enjoyed the aspect of so many women telling their stories in tandem. The content itself was not enjoyable, as they were all treated badly by the same murdered man (tws for rape, sexual assault, transphobia, outing, suicide and gaslighting), but I found the way the story unraveled to be really successful. I saw a review from someone saying they DNFed because they didn’t know by 30% in how some of the characters related to Jamie, but that seemed intentional by the author. It kept some mystery surrounding the characters and who may have committed the murder.

There was also the whole POV with the lead detective, who was becoming jaded and fed up with the law enforcement system. I found that to be a refreshing take, because lots of thrillers paint the police in a pretty good light, or at least none of the police mc’s ever want to quit by the end!

Most of the characters were complex, and they all had flaws, which was also great to read. I found myself cringing at some of their choices, but I never wasn’t rooting for them, because no matter what they did, none of them deserved what Jamie did to them.

The book opens with seven women, each with a motive for murder, sitting around a man’s severed head. The man was a terrible human being, and while it seems each of them could have killed him, one of them truly did.

This book definitely opens with a really powerful moment that draws the reader right in. The women are fascinating figures in their own right, let alone their complicated and heartbreaking connections with the murdered man. (I must admit that there were so many characters I had a hard time keeping them straight at first.) Wilding deftly explores the horrors that can be perpetrated against women, and what recourse women actually have.

This was a gripping read that really made me want to find out what truly happened. Even if you start a little confused, stick with it, it’s a good book.

Speak of the Devil, by Rose Wilding, is a murder mystery unlike many others. A man’s severed head is found on New Years eve, 1999 by the seven women whom this story is centered around. All seven women are in different stages of their life, but all have a link to the man who the head belonged to.
These women are strong in their own way, but their mutual weakness is Jamie. He is a charismatic and irresistibly handsome man that in one way or another has drawn these women to him like a magnet. It does take a moment to figure out these seven women’s personalities and who they are in relationship to Jamie. The story jumps back and forth to their individual stories as well as to the murder investigation by Nova the police officer.
I really enjoyed this book once I got to know each character and what their motive might have been to kill Jamie. It is an unusual mystery and hopefully you won’t guess who the culprit was until it is revealed! Thank you to St Martin's Press Minotaur Books for the advanced copy of this book.

Do you like closed door mysteries? Multiple POV? Complicated women? A murdered dude who, frankly, probably deserved it? Multiple characters with a strong motive to do it? Then I highly suggest you check out this book.

NYE, 1999. Seven women sit around the decapitated head of Jamie Spellman (ah, yeah). They all have reason to want him dead - but who killed him? Such a fun and complicated (in a good way!) read. I loved all the intertwining backstories - whew, these ladies had a lot going on. And Jamie is a jerk - you will want him dead, too! I wouldn’t call this a summer beach read - it’s a little too complicated - but the storyline will suck you in.

A gorgeous, power hungry, narcissistic, gas-lighting, psychopathic manipulator gets his comeuppance, but which of the women he’s done the most damage to killed him? Wilding takes you on a journey through this man’s life, hitting all of the women's’ stories like stops on a bus until the end when the ultimate truth is revealed. If you’re a murder mystery lover, definitely pick this one up!

A digital copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books. The opinions are my own and freely given.

Cast of Characters -

Sarah - the alcoholic ex
Kaysha - the journalist
Sadie - the wife
Olive - the widow
Ana - the friend
Josie - the pregnant teenager
Maureen - the aunt

These seven women all had a reason to kill Jamie, but to protect each other they have to find out who did.

Told from each of the women's POV. This was a good mystery trying to figure out what really happened to Jamie, how the women all had a connection to him, and how they all came together. The DI investigating the crime is the ex of the journalist. Kaysha is trying to protect the women, so she goes back to the DI to see what has been found out and to keep the investigation away from them all. However, there was a little too much of them "together". I feel like I can infer that they spent the night together. But overall, it was a good story.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books.

This is a character driven whodunit told from the perspective of the seven women who all had reason to murder the victim and the Detective Inspector investigating the case. As the story unfolds, all of the women deny knowing who did the killing although they had been secretly meeting to discuss his demise. There are multiple flashbacks, and intertwined relationships between all of the women, including the Detective Inspector, and a plot that is sometimes hard to follow. Overall, I enjoyed the book but felt the characters lacked depth. Recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced reader copy.

Seven women, one dead man...who's to blame?

This book starts off with seven women in a room surrounding the decapitated head of a man. We initially don't know much, but as the story goes on we get the perspective of each of these women and what brought them to that room that night.

I was initially concerned that with so many characters, things would become confusing, but the author did a great job of developing these characters so wildly different that there was no way that they could be confused for each other.

This is definitely a slow burn but done so well, that I was still on the edge of my seat as this all unfolded. I definitely enjoyed this murder mystery.

And let me just say...Jamie had it coming.

Speak of the Devil was an unexpected gem for me, a dark thriller that keeps looping around the different perspectives of women who were all linked to a murdered man whose head has the police chasing all the leads ... there's his wife of course, but also a colleague, the aunt who raised him, the journalist he raped many years ago, the religious woman who believed to have discovered love again after loosing her husband and there are two mothers of his children one born one unborn and there is the female police officer investigating his murder ... they each have the proverbial axe to grind but who actually wielded it ?
This book has all the voices - dark, intricate, and entangling - sort of like a spider web being built, there are intersections were perspectives merge!
All seven women fell victims to this man and his manipulations at one time or another even if they are in different stages of denial they all have a motive for murder.
This book quickly builds in intensity and suspense as it unravels all the personalities, relationships, and the deception suffered.
This book definitely kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

"He's dead because he was an evil prick."

The opening to Speak Of The Devil by remarkable debut author Rose Wilding is wild, clever and a definite attention grabber for this immersive dark psychological thriller.

Seven women are directed to a seedy hotel room. They sit around the decapitated head of the misogynistic, abusive, rapist Jamie Spellman. One is his wife, his colleague, his ex, his friend, a teenager caught in his manipulation, a journalist wanting the truth, and the woman who raised him. They all know him...and one of them killed him.

The writer says she wrote this intense revenge story because she was always feeling furious. At first I laughed but as Jamie's cruelty, male entitlement, and toxic masculinity toward each woman becomes his daily routine I felt my own anger. I remembered all the times I was dismissed, or worse, embarrassed, abused, made smaller. There's an infuriating scene where a woman tells the police Jamie raped and drugged her,

"Didn't your mother ever teach you never to leave your drink unattended?"

"No, she was too busy teaching my brother not to put drugs into a girl's drink "

Yes! It shouldn't be our responsibility to feel safe from men. Men should make themselves safe. Some made excuses for Jamie because his gaslighting skills were honed from years of practice and society making us feel less; we are the "little lady," "ball and chain," and always when angry, "that bitch!"

I read and listened to narrator Colleen Prendergast be perfection as seven distinct personalities. It's only a drop in the number of women who are physically, emotionally and mentally abused by men who claim to love them. Speak of the Devil is what we need to do so he never has power.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book started out strong! With 7 women around the severed head of a man.. you know it is going to be good!! This was an addicting book about lies, deception, secrets, betrayal, manipulation, and murder. I could not put it down!!