The premise of this book definitely intrigued me from the moment I read the synopsis. The severed head of a man, in the middle of a room, with seven women surrounding it. Who is responsible?

I do love a good who and whydunnit. I also enjoy good character building which this book definitely had. I did find myself a little lost at times due to the number of characters involved in the story, but that was likely down to my concentration levels and not the book itself.

There are a lot of dark subjects covered in this book like rape, infidelity, suicide and more, so it is definitely worth checking the trigger warnings before jumping in.

This is definitely a dark book that keeps you thinking all the way through. I would recommend this if you are a fan of complex thrillers with an edge.

Let me start off with a disclaimer; I don't read thrillers! The last one I read was god knows how long ago, and I generally don't have the patience for them. And yet, I had all the patience in the world for Rose Wilding's debut novel, Speak of the Devil.

Speak of the Devil is a tricky novel to write; it's not just that Jamie is despicable; the women are whole people. Each of them is the perfect victim for Jamie because, well, in the eyes of the law, each of them has a reason to be lying. Each of them is not the perfect victim for the legal system, as shown time and time again. She shows us why these women were easy for him to manipulate, and she doesn't inadvertently slut shame as she depicts them as human beings. Doing that is hard, and it takes a solid writer to do that consistently throughout the book. That whole thing with Ana and Olive; very few writers have the guts to play it like that and to play it well!

So with that, I don't want to write more on this book and inadvertently spoil it for you. You should go ahead and read it, even if you don't usually read books in the thriller category. It consistently maintains the voices of these very different women and doesn't confuse you because each is shown to be a very different person.

With that being said, the ending was a bit anti-climatic for me, and I didn't vibe with it.

A wonderfully dark and twisted tale of revenge and psychological warfare. A severed head. Seven women who all have a reason to kill. But who is responsible?

Enter DI Nova Stokoe, a woman disillusioned by the force who has an invested interest in the case.

The suspense builds as we gain an insight into just how evil and manipulative the victim, Jamie Spellman was.

I did have an inkling about who was the killer which did prove to be correct, but it was by no means obvious.

And the ultimate outcome was so satisfying.

A seedy room, seven woman and a severed head. The head belongs to Jamie, a not very nice man who has hurt each of the women in the room in different ways. None of them are admitting to murdering him, but they must work together to find out who did.
When Nova, the detective assigned to the case, enters the field of play, things get interesting. She has to investigate what happened to Jamie, as her case progresses she realises that many people had reason to want him dead. She delves into a complex web of association and lies.
An interesting rstory which gains traction the further into it you read.

For some reasons, reading the blurb I went in thinking this will be a locked room murder mystery, but it's not (which isn't a problem). Basically, a man was murdered brutally and there's at least 7 women affected by his vile acts, each a possible murder suspect with their own motives.

With that you'd expect a heavy crime-mystery-thriller, but upon reading it, this actually also feels very contemporary & filled with a lot of important social issues related to women and relationship; such as abuse, manipulation, power dynamics, rape, even fertility. That was the most unexpected experience of the book, one that I greatly enjoy. Make sure you watch out for trigger warning because this could be heavy read (not for me, may be so for others), but those topics being brought up feels very.. heart wrenching for me.

This has a medium pace and I think almost all characters get respectively good share of their stories, there's a lot of names to keep up with here (slows my reading but that's a me problem). As for plot twist & the final reveal, it wasn't grand in any way, I don't find it surprising though it wasn't exactly expected/predictable, so.. if you're deep into mindblowing plot twist, perhaps there's better ones out there for you.

Overall this book packs crime thriller, contemporary, social and women fiction into a great mix in just around 300 pages. Highly recommended! Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for providing me access to the e-ARC to read this book before its release.

Jamie Spellman was a thoroughly unpleasant man and now his severed head is lying on the floor, surrounded by the women he has wronged. One of them murdered him, but which one and why?

I thoroughly enjoyed this who-and-whydunnit and particularly liked the setting at the very end of the 20th century. The policewoman investigating the case was also a compelling character with believable actions.

A recommended read.

One dead man seven women who could all be suspects rose wilding has created a well plotted mystery with an OMG wow conclusion. This is one of the five books I couldn’t wait to read and I must say the author definitely delivers. The women all seem to come from different walks of life and have served a different purpose for Jamie Spellman. What they all had in common was a reason for killing him and although the reasons may be different which one became deadly. It will be up to detective nova to figure out. They had way too many people to many reasons but the ending is so worth it! I really enjoyed this book and think it is one of the better books I have read this summer it is definitely a five-star read in a book I highly recommend. so many of the characters or likable, The story is interesting in the short chapters moves it along quickly this is truly a book you should read if you love good deathly plotted mysteries. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

... being part of a group of women who had decided to take action against one man, who had in some way harmed them all, felt like all women finally taking a stand. It felt like something big was coming, and coupled with the approach of the new millenium, she couldn't help but feel shook up, overwhelmed by anticipation and joy at what she thought was the beginning of a new era for women. [loc. 2183]
On the evening of 31st December 1999, seven women are summoned to 'the usual place'. There, they discover the decapitated head of a man they all knew; a man they all had reason to wish dead. Jamie has beguiled each of them in different ways: the pregnant teenager who thinks he's going to leave his wife for her, the aunt who raised him, the friend who's stood up for him when she wondered if she should, the woman who loved him despite her daughter's mistrust, the journalist he raped, the mother of his child, his wife ... One of them killed him: one of them delivered his head to this hotel room, with the snake sigil clumsily painted on the wallpaper.

An eighth woman, Nova, is a police detective, in a relationship with one of the suspects (but also with another woman who's less ... complicated). Her investigations, and Jamie's victims' memories and reactions, form the bulk of the novel. Set in and around Newcastle in the 1990s, Speak of the Devil evokes that time and place with a wealth of detail. The eight female protagonists (at least three of whom are queer) are distinctive characters, with idiosyncrasies of speech and behaviour. This was a very readable thriller, and I didn't guess the identity of the murderer until near the end. If there's a flaw, it's that we never get inside Jamie's (decapitated) head: we don't know what made him a narcissist, a psychopath, a monster. But though he's central to the action, it's not really about him at all.

Trigger warnings for violence, suicide, sexual abuse, rape.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK publication date is 22nd June 2023.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or so the saying goes. Speak of the Devil takes this concept and runs wild with it.

This Novocastrian whodunit is a wonderful read. It has a fantastic cast of diverse characters from all walks of life, who will force us to exercise the old grey matter as we figure out how they're all woven into a web of deceit and darkness.

Our story opens with a room of women surrounding the severed head of Jamie Spellman, a renowned scientist. But this is only the very start of the mystery. Who is this man? Who'd want him dead? To these women, he's the devil incarnate, and they all have motive aplenty.

We quickly learn that charming, handsome, misogynist Jamie was a master manipulator who had seduced, tricked, gaslighted, threatened, and betrayed every woman who had this misfortune to cross his path.

But is it nature or nurture that has him this way? His mam died in childbirth, his dad was never revealed, and he was reared by a cold, distant aunt who verged on abusive, escaping at 16 to live with his preacher grandfather of the fire and brimstone type.

At the crux of the story of DI Nova Stokoe, a feisty working class Geordie girl who roots for the underdog and blurs the boundaries a little too much, given her line of work - but that in turn makes us root for her too.

As the story, told in a beautiful dialect that I could hear in my mind's eye as I read, bounds from one woman’s point of view to the next, we learn their innermost secrets, what propels them in their search for justice, vigilante or judicial. It didn't matter that I figured out the question of whodunit fairly early on because this important story was handled so sensitively and realistically. 4⭐

A brilliant debut! A room full of women surrounding a severed male head.... a who dunnit with a kick.... what is not to like? The intricate backstory for each of the women leads you to understand why each could have motive for murder. Their stories include some gritty and hard hitting themes which can't help but evoke some sympathy for their possible motives. Gripping storyline, thoroughly enjoyed the read!

Wilding’s whodunnit is a nice mix of female revenge thriller that keeps the reader truly invested and page turning throughout its run.

The characters are well written and enjoyable and feel three dimensional within the plot that twists and turns giving it an edge that is entertaining. There is some interesting developments within the plot that feel realistic and not forced which sometimes can happen with a whodunnit to make all the pieces work. Wilding masterfully handles her characters and plots with a high professional sheen keeping the reader invested without rolling the eyes.

Her tongue is sometimes firmly in cheek giving it that extra special factor. Any reader who picks this up will find themselves with a great book to start out the summer and enjoyable read whether it is on a rainy day or a lazy summer day. Very enjoyable and highly entertaining.

Loved the pase of this book, and written in such a way I didn't want to put it down until I found out "who dunnit".

Trigger warnings should be cited however thoroughly recommend to fans of crime thrillers / murder mysteries. A debut novel that doesn't feel anywhere near a debut... Woo!

New Year's Eve 1999, the night when everyone gathered to see in another century, hoping for no anticipated glitches. But one man, Jamie Spellman, won't be celebrating, his life was cut short earlier in the day, and now on the cusp of midnight 7 women are staring at his severed head on a table. A brutal death you may think, but all the women present have a reason to want him dead and its the job of DI Nova Scotoe to discover who murdered him.
This is a pretty strong debut novel, yes there are lots of characters introduced ( I made a note of all their names to assist me) but they all play a big part.
It's pretty gritty with possibly lots of triggers (abuse, gaslighting, infertility, suicide) but I found it engrossing and couldn't wait to find out which woman actually killed him. A powerful revenge novel

What a brilliant debut!! Like wow! How is this a debut? Wilding has pulled me in and kept me hooked from the very first page. This is brilliant!

This starts with a severed head which has hooked me from the very beginning.. I was intrigued.

Jamie is a vile character and the more you read about him, the more evident it is that the beheading was a result of karma catching him up.

The stories told in this are heart wrenching. So many women destroyed by the actions of one man. This is dark and captivating from page one. I have loved everything about this book.

I have devoured this book in just one sitting with no regrets. This is a fantastic read and one I’ll be highly recommending. There is nothing to dislike about this gem.

This is the book that has converted me as a fan of this author. I have been transported by this one. I found myself unwilling to put this down and loved every second of reading this one.

A definite for the TBR.

A busy but thoroughly enjoyable read. One awful man and seven women who all have reasons to see the man dead and this is only the beginning. A really good whodunit that kept me reading late into the night, I had to know the truth!!!!. Personally it was too busy and at times it was a little confusing. All in all a good read.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book felt like I was reading a murder mystery just like when I play Cluedo. Seven women, all knowing the one who was killed, and also knowing that one of them has done it. They all had their perfect reasons to be the ones that ended up killing Jamie, but eventually one of them did. And I believe the one that ended up beheading him was the one that deserved it the most.

After reading about all seven women and their connections to Jamie, I began to dislike him even more. I never knew I could have such a strong dislike towards a fictional character...

I personally found the book longer than I would have preferred it. It ended up feeling a little as if the book was forced to keep going.

Speak of the Devil was an intense and extremely compelling read.

I loved this intense and character driven thriller, as each connection was slowly revealed and the truth began to emerge. Wilding has a masterful grasp of all these interweaving narratives and characters. I was quickly pulled into this fast-moving stream of suspects and secrets, with tension you could not cut with a knife.It fractures the whole subgenre of media recently that has been nicknamed the ‘good for her’ genre, dealing with revenge narratives against abysmal, misogynistic and often violent men. This is a heavy read at times for dealing with this subject, particularly around sexual assault, abuse and violence. It narrows into that insidious manipulation of gaslighting and emotional manipulation, making characters doubt their perceptions of everything. I felt the pit in my stomach widen with every new revelation of evil actions. This is a book that devastates every character in its path, shaking their lives to their core and exposing every insecurity.

All of this makes for such a fascinating mystery. Every single character has a deeply believable motive and inciting incident that you keep flitting between people. Wilding exacerbates this through the use of multiple timelines and narratives, giving you an intimate look into everyone’s lives and moments leading up to this encounter. This book works so well because you become deeply invested in these flawed, fractured and three-dimensional women. They are the beating heart of this book and they are relatable in so many ways. Many of us will ache in our memories of moments just like theirs. Yet at the same time, these are the same women that are your suspect pool. Every moment becomes charged with suspicion and laced with tension, making for compulsive reading.

Speak of the Devil is a book you will struggle to get out of your head, with exceptional characters and a plot that is thrilling, twisty and tenacious.

I sooo wanted to love this - the synopsis sounded right up my street but unfortunately I just couldn't keep up with it.
I'm not usually very good with books that have lots of characters, I struggle to differentiate and keep track (there have been a couple of exceptions to this, that I can only assume is down to the writing) Unfortunately this book was one of those books I couldn't keep track of - unless I wanted to make a list. Too complicated. I think this book would have worked with a smaller ensemble of characters.

I would be interesting in reading what Wilding does next, but this book just didn't do it for me.

Jamie Spellman is everything you hate in a human being. Thus giving every reason that he should die.

When a group of women come together to plot retribution, his decapitated head arrives at their meeting place.
Each woman wronged by his hand, seek justice.
The classic whodunnit opens with a room full of suspects.

I struggled with the first 10% of this book, there were too many characters for me to remember at the beginning. However, once you get passed that, and you learn to know the backstory of the characters, and understand their motive - each becomes a suspect you’re page-turning to find out who did it.

Overall I enjoyed this book, the first part was hard going, there were a couple of careless aspects of the murder, and possibly investigative flaws. However, it’s a steady reliable book that’s worth a read

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy of this book, in return for an honest review :-)

It took a while for me to get into this book but once I'd managed to get around who was who it was a brilliant twisted read.
3 stars.