Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding
Published: June 13, 2023
Minotaur Books
Genre: Thrillers
KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.
Rose Wilding is a queer, working-class writer from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. She has an MA in creative writing from The University of Manchester, where she was mentored by Jeanette Winterson. Speak of the Devil is her first novel.
Seven women are gathered in a hotel room at midnight; a man’s head sits in the center of the floor. They all had a motive to kill Jamie Spellman. They all swear they didn’t. But in order to protect one another, they have to find out who did.
The ex, who drowns her darkest secret in a hip flask as the woman she loves drifts further away.
The wife, living out her fairytale marriage in a house tucked into woods so thick no one can hear a scream.
The widow, praying to a past she no longer knows whether she can trust.
The teenager, whose wide-eyed crush has trapped her in an unrecognizable future.
The mother figure, battling nature versus nurture under the weight of her own guilt.
The friend, forced to choose sides over and over, until she learns the price of choosing wrong.
And the journalist, who brought them all together―but underestimated how far one of them would go to keep believing the story they’d been told.
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. Marking the debut of an extraordinary new talent, Speak of the Devilexplores the roles into which women are cast in the lives of terrible men…and the fallout when they refuse to play pretend for one moment longer.
“Revenge.”
A friendship built on trauma can lead to deadly ends. Being a master manipulator and a cruel human can make you feel powerful. Secrets, a mystery, and a willingness to ignore the truth could lead to freedom.
This was an interesting book. The way it was told through multiple points of view at various points in time was well done.
There were a lot of characters in this book, but how they were written and connected was intense. The dark truth that not everyone is who we think they are lurked beneath the surface throughout the book.
Some of the book felt like it dragged on, but all details were necessary to the story. The way this plot collapsed was well done. The ending was unexpected and intense, with a twist you won’t see coming.