An enjoyable (if trauma-heavy) listen. Well plotted and clever. Didn't guess the ending - although did find it a little unsatisfying ...

A taut story with a gripping plot but what I really liked was the way Wilding managed to give the women their separate identities and aims. A genuinely novel twist on the female led crime story which worked very well as an audio book too

A really gripping and well crafted debut with a strong cast of characters. The way each woman's story gradually brought another piece of the puzzle was skillfully done. Narration was excellent and I raced through the audiobook. Definitely an author to watch!

I enjoyed this book. It follows the different women as we try to find out how they ended up in a back room with Jamie’s head on a table in between them. As the story is told through the points of view of all the different women, I found it hard at first to keep track of who was who, but this may also have been due to me listening to the audiobook in small chunks. Once I got used to all the characters, I enjoyed hearing their stories and how they were linked to Jamie.

The narrator for this audiobook did a really good job. She managed to keep me interested and was able to do different tones and accents as we heard chapters from different characters point of views.

It took a while for me to get into this book and it took some perseverance to keep going but once I found my rhythm with it, I really started to enjoy it.

I liked all the characters and found their stories interesting, I thought the narration was brilliant.

The only thing that I was less bothered about was who did it. It wasn't the solving of the crime that kept me listening but rather my desire to know how things ended for the women.

3.5 Stars - rounded up.

I liked the concept of this one, sounded interesting and I was looking forward to starting it. Safe to say it started off with a bang. I mean 7 women gathering around the severed head of a man they all know? Brilliant!

There’s a lot of characters, switch in POV and times - so it did take me a little while to settle into the rhythm and work out who everybody was. Once I had settled into it, I flew through.

My one gripe with the amount of characters was that I don’t think it gave me long enough to get to know them all properly. And although the terrible things Jamie did were explored, I can’t for the life of me figure out what they’d seen in him in the first place. Maybe less characters or a longer story would have helped the flesh this out more? Maybe I’m just fussy.

All characters had a seemingly solid alibi but also a valid motive for doing it and this added to mystery and need to find out the truth. It was suspenseful and exciting.

As always, the audio was brilliant! Another I don’t think I’d have enjoyed half as much, had I not done the audio.

This audiobook was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the copy. What a gorgeous book! The author has a great gift for characterisation - nuanced, interesting, believable people. This book has so many gigantic twists in every chapter. And once again I just loved listening to it.

What a story! This makes such uncomfortable reading in places and doesn't particularly portray females in a good light. Jamie is manipulative and cruel and takes in many females through his guile and charm. However, there is a price to pay for this and it was delicious to read how his downfall comes about and the book has a totally unexpected ending. Lots of twists and turns and intricate planning to neatly tie everything together.

I listened to it as an audiobook and liked the narrator's voice but did find it hard to keep up with the multiple characters and their storylines. This is definitely a book I will revisit in printed form!

Many issues which readers might find challenging: suicide, murder, gaslighting, trans issues... this book has them all; however, they are handled delicately and with precision to control an unexpected narrative.

Audiobook Version. 7 women, all with a reason to kill. I couldn't finish this book, I lost the plot and the narration grated. Sadly I gave up.

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
This book has amazing premises. And I did really enjoy it. But I had quite a hard time getting into it. I listened to it on audio, so it might have been the narrator, and I just couldn't follow who was who. There were too many POV's and timelines at the start. As I got on with the story it became much clearer and I was able to enjoy it much more. I loved all these strong female characters and getting to know them and their connection along the way. I did feel like the ending wasn't quite the end as it felt a bit unresolved in my opinion. Overal still a quite an enjoyable read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Multiple POVs & Storylines
Strong Female leads
Revenge

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮...

𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮; 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 - 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦.

𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳.

🎧Audiobook review🎧

I was attracted by the ambiguous cover and title, hoping for one of those books that really takes you by surprise.

Seven women meet in a seedy hotel room, a man's severed head sits in the centre of the room. All the women had a motive, who committed the murder?

I've read a few books using similar angles (the lives of the women affected by a male villain), Notes On An Execution, The Quiet Tenant and The Storytellers some of the best.

The women's stories are interesting, the character writing lacks subtlety at times. I'd go as far as to say the villain was rather one dimensional, a charismatic sleazy gasligther with an evil master plan, lucky for him he's good lucking and charming. I enjoyed meeting these women and hearing their stories.

But, it held my interest, kept me entertained and I wanted to know how it ended. Perhaps seven women was too many?

Many of the triggers get pulled, it's a fairly dark book, though sensitive to the victims.

The narration by Colleen Prendergast was very good, a gentle Geordie accent belying tales of some hideous misogynistic crimes. The voices were distinct and clear, though I was confused by one character's voice which sounded Eastern European to me, only to find out she was Brazilian.

Good bad at all, but not great, there's plenty of character and story if you get into it.

Thanks to Netgalley and John Murray Press

3.5⭐️ rounded up to 4.

Every woman in this book has reason to have killed Jamie. He was a horrible human being. I had a feeling it was going to turn into another Murder on the Orient Express, but I was wrong. However, there are a few nice little twists that you won’t see coming even once you have heard each woman’s story.

This book covers an array of sensitive topics, which could be triggering for some readers.
Sexual violence, domestic violence, infidelity, infertility, hidden identity, secret relationships… and they all seem to surround this one man who’s a catalyst for each of the female characters we meet instantly in the first pages of the book.
Mysteriously his head is in the centre of the room, in an alter type scene.. and no one is owning up to have done it.
This book kept me gripped as I wanted to know just how this had happened.. and queue the entanglement of the situation and of how all these women are connected in some way. At first a little difficult to follow as you’re introduced to 7 characters and jumping back and forth between dates.
However, the audiobook had an extra entertaining and interesting detail… that they mostly have a geordie accent, and will change their speech pattern as per the character. This really helped to break up the story and identify the characters

I also really liked the fact that they included services to get in touch with should the book have triggered any sensitive personal issues!

Not my cup of tea this one. The synopsis really had me hooked but I found the narration bland and the story, with a shocking start had too many characters, none of which stood out from the page and confused me. I might have been better to read the book than the audiobook so I could flick back and forth to remind myself of who was who.

Seven women gather on new years eve 1999. In between them: the head of a man they all have a connection to. Those connections make all of them suspects for his murder and decapitation, but none of them are certain; was it one of them? If yes, which one? The wife? The mistress? The best friend? While the police tries to crack the case, the reader also gets more and more information about the women and how their lives intertwined with Jamie Spellman, and what he did to deserve their wrath.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The different ways all of the protagonists feel, and feel about the man that made their lives hell was very intricate and I think described how abuse can sneek its way into a person's life unnoticed very well. I liked the relationships they had with each other and I really enjoy stories that connect a ton of different people so that in the end you can see the web of characters and interactions and it all clicks into place. I listened to this as an audiobook and for me, Colleen Prendergast's voice and the voices she did for the characters really enhanced the story.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4
Seven women meet in a seedy hotel room with the severed head of a man they all knew on the table – the question is, who brought the head? This book was a thriller about female revenge and justice for those who were wronged by one man. I thought this was an absolute romp. There were parts of this book that really tugged on my heartstrings and really made me feel for these women, even if one of them had just killed a man. This book touches on topics such as the shockingly low conviction rate of rape cases and the repercussions of women not being believe. Overall, this book was a gripping read. I did get confused with the characters at first as there are quite a few, but once the book got going, I could not stop listening. Unfortunately the ending fell a little flat for me which bumps this book down to a 3.5 stars instead of 4 but I would definitely still recommend.

This is a brilliantly narrated dark and seedy tale of misogyny. It absolutely made my blood boil in parts and Jamie, the victim of the central crime, is a vile, vile man. He treats each of the female characters deplorably and I didn’t feel a shred of sympathy for him. Although the book has a large and diverse cast of women, each is unique and well written. This is not an easy book to read and it will definitely stir up strong emotions - please check out the trigger warnings before picking it up. However, I thought it was engaging and it definitely held my interest throughout. I look forward to reading more by Rose Wilding.

Thank you @netgalley for my copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Seven women standing in a hotel room standing over the severed head of a man - all knew the man and had motive, but all deny committing the murder. I loved the description of Rose Wilding’s debut book, Speak of the Devil, and desperately wanted to be allocated a copy.

It took me a few sittings to listen to the e-audiobook. I did find myself re-listening to a couple of chapters just making sure that I was across the seven women’s stories and their backstories with Jamie. It became abundantly clear that Jamie was a manipulative monster and had treated the women horribly. I did find myself wondering why he hadn’t been bumped off sooner!

The e-audiobook is brilliantly narrated by Colleen Prendergast, who brought all the characters to life. Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, John Murray Press, for making this e-audiobook available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The story begins with seven women being summoned to a hotel room to find the head of a man on top of a stack of bibles. They all know him in one way or another, and all have a reason to be the one who killed him.

I did like the multiple timelines and the way we saw into each woman’s past with the deceased - however it took a while to get who was who straight in my head, as well as their reason for wanting him dead.

Wasn’t blown away by the big reveal, my reaction was just “oh ok”.

Audio narration was great and I liked the ending though! 3.5 ⭐️

Read as audio ARC for NetGalley - I read the first few hours rather quickly without realising, as someone who sometimes struggles keeping track of multiple characters at the beginning of a story, this book made it easy for me to follow along.

My only criticism would be that all the action was towards the end, the reveal happened so quickly that I didn’t get to fully take it in. There’s a lack of closure, of justice that I wish would have been there.