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Speak of the Devil

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Although this wasn’t a book I was planning on requesting, I received an electronic copy with an invitation from the Publisher to read it, and the PREMISE definitely intrigued me! As the narrative progresses we get to know more about each of these women, how their stories intersect with the deceased, the events that led to their being in the hotel room with Jamie’s decapitated head, and what transpires in the two weeks following that fateful night as the women try to maintain their innocence. Complicating matters further is the fact that the investigator in charge of the case has a history with one of the women in question. Wilding revealed she was “absolutely buzzing”, adding: “This twisted story has lived in my head for so long and I am so happy it’s found the perfect home at Baskerville.” Baskerville has secured “a literary whodunit" from tutor Rose Wilding for six figures as part of a 24-hour pre-empt. It would, personally, have worked better if the only POV we had was the detective’s, if we didn’t know anything about any of the other characters or their movements. Then, perhaps, there would have been some tension in it all. Because they all have motives, that’s kind of the point. But a more conventional framing of seven suspects and they’re all lying would have probably been a lot more thrilling.

In fact, this story does begin with a severed head in a dingy hotel room. Seven women, all very different, but all somehow connected to the man to whom the head once belonged, are gathered around it. Jamie (the murder victim) is an absolute monster with no redeeming qualities at all. This makes it exceptionally easy to cheer for the woman who killed him, even when we don’t yet know who it is. I loved how Wilding adds accents and slang to the conversations, bringing the Scottish brogues out in the supporting characters without making the language hard to understand. Seven women stand in a hotel room, the severed head of a man they all knew (and hated) lies between them. Every one of the women had a reason to kill him- his wife, the teenager he had an affair with, the journalist he raped, the woman who raised him, his best friend and business partner who got screwed over and his ex-lover, and until the truth comes out, the women must band together to protect the unknown murderer. 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.’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. 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 A powerful feminist thriller . . . twisted in the best way' Clémence Michallon, author of The Quiet Tenant On the last night of 1999, seven women are gathered together in a rundown hotel. Once assembled in a forgotten suite, the women come face to face with the cold, decapitated head of Jamie Spellman. Each of them have reasons to want him dead—but which one of them actually went through with with the deed? Seven women. A man’s head. Who swung the axe that killed Jamie Spellman? Rose Wilding’s debut novel is about the anger of women who are not heard and what happens when they take justice into their own hands.

A devilishly immersive read - Rose Wilding is a wonderful new talent' Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire 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. This captivating debut literary thriller entwines the searing stories of several women who suffered at the hands of the same man. This cautionary tale satisfies in its culmination of long-overdue justice for spurned women.” – Library Journal (starred)

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Chandler said: “It’s rare to find a book where the plot is as compelling as the writing is dazzling and which has important things to say about women’s lives, across age, race and sexuality without ever forgetting that totally believable characters are what drives a novel. It is also a novel suffused with moments of joy, connection and empathy; a love letter to Newcastle and to ordinary people finding ways to navigate vibrant, messy lives.”

A beautifully written debut thriller about love, loyalty, and manipulation, Speak of the Devil explores the roles in which women are cast in the lives of terrible men . . . and the fallout when they refuse to stay silent for one moment longer. The story begins on New Year’s Eve,1999 with seven women in a hotel room sitting in a semicircle with a severed head in their midst. The head belongs to Jamie Spellman a man who is no stranger to any of them. Each of these women has been wronged by him in some way and they have been plotting to get their revenge but decapitating him wasn’t quite what they had planned. None of them is aware of who amongst them is responsible for the same but each of them harbors suspicions of who it might be. However, they are not interested in outing the culprit and focus on covering up the crime and protecting one another. The narrative keeps alternating between the seven women, and in addition to their name being listed at the start of a chapter-it would have been VERY HELPFUL to list their connection to Jamie as well. Examples: Kaysha, the journalist, Ana, the colleague, etc. 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. I listened to the audiobook and thought that Colleen Prendergast did a fantastic job with the story. I thought that she had a very pleasant voice and I had no problem listening to this book for hours at a stretch. I thought that the dialog between the characters flowed nicely and I liked that she was able to add just the right amount of emotion to her reading. I thought her narration added to my enjoyment of this book.I really enjoyed the premise of this one and was really looking forward to reading this, but while primarily listening to this via audiobook format I struggled to keep the numerous characters straight and found myself confused throughout, which was unfortunate because this one had a lot of potential. I felt like something was lost in the execution that could have brought this together a bit more and made it less confusing, but overall it was a good read, especially for a debut. The individual stories were each entertaining so I was fairly intrigued throughout, especially when I get to figure out who was who. Had this one had about three less characters I feel like it could have been so much better, but it is what is is! The story opens with the discovery of the decapitated head of Jamie by a group of seven women with ties to the victim on New Year’s Eve 1999. We learn about Jamie’s connection to each of the women and the history that they share throughout the book. We do also see the police detective’s perspective as we work our way through the story. It was quite a few characters to juggle but each of them had such unique personalities that I had no trouble keeping things straight. It was obvious that all of the women had the motive but I wasn’t sure who the murderer was until it was revealed in the story. The women’s] stories converge in a way that will appeal to Kate Atkinson’s readers…This debut author is one to watch.” – FirstCLUE The way he treated these women. His narcissism, abusive, violent and derogatory behaviors landed him in the spot he ultimately found himself in, headless. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

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