scorned women. One evil, manipulative man who happens to be missing his head. Which one of these women could have done it? And why?!

While I did have some moments where I had to really search my brain to remember some previous connection, or fact, overall, I did enjoy this one. My other question is why did the author choose to set this between 1964-2000? Other than briefly alluding to Magdalene Laundries and the use of landlines there were no important events of this time period mentioned in the book, soooo ??? This could've been a modern day mystery tbh. I would've liked more historical significance given the time period.This book started out with a bang, with 7 women gathering around the severed head of a man they all knew. After that, though, I felt there were too many characters and too little detail to get to really get to know them. The rest of the store gives you glimpses into each of the women and their reasons for hating Jamie while the reader, along with the detective, tries to figure out what happened. It’s 31 December 1999, the eve of the new millennium. Seven women form a semi-circle around the head of a man in a room in a run down hotel with a shady reputation. All of them had received a message from an unknown number earlier that evening: ‘Meet in the usual place, tonight, 7pm. Emergency.’ When the women had arrived fifteen minutes earlier, the head was covered by a pillowcase. They’d all taken their usual seats, all frowned at the makeshift altar in the center of the room, all wrinkled their nose at the smell of rot and pennies. There was no small talk, but Josie had asked what was under the pillowcase. When no one answered, Sarah stood and pulled the pillowcase off with a flourish, rolling her eyes, only for them to widen when she revealed what was underneath. Some of the women had screamed. Harrowing and haunting, Rose Wilding’s assured debut is full of nuanced, complex, beautifully flawed characters...completely compelling.” —Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List

The mystery was sound and everyone had a valid motive. The thing I struggled with the most was that, while we saw all the awful things Jamie did, I didn’t think the author gave us enough of a glimpse into what actually made these ladies LIKE him so much. Obviously there were some reason everyone fell in love with him but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Overall, I wish I could’ve gotten to know all the characters better, but the sheer number of them and the constant jumps between timeframes made it somewhat hard for me to fully engage. That being said, the 2nd half of the book gelled for me better than the first half. I liked the ending- it was abrupt but it worked. Wilding delves into a lot of dark, difficult subjects in Speak of the Devil, including infidelity, rape, suicide, homophobia and transphobia, police discrimination, narcissistic manipulation and gaslighting, and physical and emotional abuse. It's heavy, and it's a lot -- but somehow it all works, and adds depth and texture that you don't always find in contemporary mysteries. I would recommend this one to Readers who enjoy a lot of deep character work and social commentary in their Crime Fiction. Additionally, I would recommend the audiobook. I enjoyed the narration style quite a bit. This was a really dark and gritty read, it started with such a bang, I don’t read many first scenes involving a decapitated head! And the story flowed effortlessly from there. Detective Inspector Nova Stokoe is heading the murder investigation but she has connections of her own with some of these women, all of which are gradually revealed. The victim, Jamie Spellman, is a hideous person. It’s impossible to feel one shred of sympathy for him, his acts are all despicable. But while I didn’t care that he was dead, I was intrigued as to who had actually murdered him and done so in such a dramatic way.Jamie Spellman did a lot of bad things to the seven women who sit around his severed head on New Years Eve 1999. Each of these women had a motive to murder this monster. Nova is the detective on the murder case and has to unravel each woman’s story to find who is responsible. One complication is that one of the women is her ex girlfriend. Wilding delves deep, focusing on a character-driven story in her deliciously tense debut.” – South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The theme of the story is unusual and bold, and it is seen purely from the side of the injured women. It is an unusual slant on the everlasting male/female debate which comes down clearly on the female side. There are not many male characters, but this is definitely a story concerning women to the almost total exclusion of men, as the horrors that Jamie inflicted on these people seem to make every other man a suspect – even though we all know this to be unfair.Hmmm… Going in, I was incredibly intrigued by the premise of Speak of the Devil . A story of women taking revenge against a vile man? Count me in. Unfortunately, the reality just didn’t match the idea, and it ultimately left me wanting and unimpressed by this promising debut. A powerful feminist thriller . . . twisted in the best way' Clémence Michallon, author of The Quiet Tenant 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 killed Jamie Spellman, but each one denies doing it. I thought that this was really good! I enjoyed getting to know each of the seven women at the core of this book and it was quite clear that each of them had the motive to kill Jamie. Jamie was not a good man. In fact, he was pretty terrible, and the things that he did to each of these women left me feeling a lot of sympathy for them. I loved that the book kept me guessing until the very end. A devilishly immersive read – Rose Wilding is a wonderful new talent’ Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire

Or, perhaps, Sadia? A brand-spanking-new widow who had a picture perfect marriage. At least, that is, from the outside looking in. What stands out is the police’s atrocious treatment of Kaysha when she reports her rape. This scene is the epitome of victim blaming. It happened because she was inebriated; she sent mixed signals by accepting a drink and the policeman suggests that she should consider the impact on Jamie’s life if she pursues her charge. There was a lot of great social commentary of the treatment of women who have been victimized; whether they are believed, or painted as somehow responsible for the evil things that have happened to them. A powerful feminist thriller . . . twisted in the best way’ Clémence Michallon, author of The Quiet Tenant Jade Chandler, publishing director at the newly launched John Murray imprint, pre-empted world rights in two books including debut Speak of the Devil from Kate Evans at PFD in a major six-figure deal. One of the first debuts acquired for Baskerville, it will be a lead title in 2023.As the story weaves on, we eventually learn that the women are all connected in some way through the male character these women all have in common. His name is Jamie and he is a douche canoe. I did figure out the ending before it was revealed but not much before so I still got my aha moment. This was a pretty strong debut and I look forward to reading what this author comes up with next. Baskerville has secured “a literary whodunit" from tutor Rose Wilding for six figures as part of a 24-hour pre-empt. PDF / EPUB File Name: Speak_of_the_devil_-_Rose_Wilding.pdf, Speak_of_the_devil_-_Rose_Wilding.epub