Speak of the Devil

Product Information

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.

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. Seven women gather in a hotel room to find a man's severed head. Each of them had a reason to want him dead, but they all deny involvement. The blurb reads: “In a seedy Newcastle room on New Year’s Eve, 1999, seven women are gathered around a man’s severed head. Each has a very good reason to have done it, each swears she did not. As we follow the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him and the detective trying to solve the case – we discover how they came to know, love and ultimately despise the man who has wound up dead. But who killed Jamie Spellman?”Join New Writing North and The Bound to celebrate the launch of one of the most anticipated crime debuts of 2023 For a debut this book is pretty good. It is a puzzle that needs to be solved. Heavy on female characters, you are searching for the culprit of a gruesome murder. The story starts with a decapitated head - can't get more gruesome than that. Seven women connected to the murdered victim have come together to decide the fate of this man - but it looks like one of them has already made a decision. 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.

NOT ONLY did I not understand WHO is WHO, or WHERE this story was taking place, but I also didn’t have an understanding of HOW each woman knew the victim or WHY each had a reason to kill him. A decapitated head, a diverse group of women, an odious man - it’s a mystery who killed him, but there’s no doubt that someone did. But who? Seven women had more than enough reason to commit murder, but who finally caved? And who brought them all together? Nova is a detective who, despite knowing more than a couple of the suspects, is determined to put past failures behind her and solve this murder - but is she willing to do it at any cost? Mesmerizing and unflinchingly dark...Wilding is a powerful new talent whose captivating characters will stay with readers long after they’ve finished the book.” – Rachel Kapelke-Dale, author of The IngenueThis detective is sharp and clever and works closely with the women as she watches for any slip they may make to point to the truth. She is horrified by the things which are coming to light regarding the deceased man but the search for the killer is slow. The women are a heady mixture with various sexual proclivities which err on the side of fun, and all are horrified when Spellman’s real personality is exposed. “Unusual slant”

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. As the police investigation inches closer, they must rely upon each other as never before. Do they, however, know the others as well as they think? Or are there secrets kept hidden from even one another? One by one, the detective in charge of the case reveals all that they hide. Who will succeed in keeping the upper hand? The woman hoping to catch the killer? Or the group determined to protect each other no matter the cost? The women’s] stories converge in a way that will appeal to Kate Atkinson’s readers…This debut author is one to watch.” – FirstCLUE 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. 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!

Further info

The women are in a top-floor suite in a cheap hotel on the outskirts of the city, one of the best rooms once but now just a place to store broken things. Boxes of long-lost property disintegrate under the window and a mattress slumps against a wall. 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. Next up were easily the powerful topics central to the book. Between questioning religion, the impact of impossible childhoods, and LGBTQ+ bias/bigotry, the depth of the plot was truly startling. I could easily see how such a manipulative man was able to harm these seven women so profoundly. Described in a way to both elucidate this fact but also draw out my empathy, the writing perfectly walked a line between the two. stars Thank you to St Martins Publishing Group Influencer Program and Minotaur Books for the free gifted book. This ARC publishes June 13, 2023. 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.