Speak of the Devil

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At the same time, however, this was anything but a mystery/thriller and more along the lines of women’s lit or general fiction. After all, there was nary a twist and very little suspense. I mean, I surmised the perpetrator nearly from the get-go and not a single red herring even made me second guess that for a second. And, while there was something that possibly could have been considered a climax, it was anything but pulse pounding or steeped in tension, instead offering more of a “here’s what happened” vibe. A group of some of the women he has humiliated arrange a meeting to discuss how they could put a stop to his activities. They meet in the shabby upstairs room of a local pub and, on entry, are faced with the horror of the decapitated head of Jamie on the floor. They know the killer is likely to be one of them, as they are all his victims, so they begin the search, alongside Detective Inspector Nova Stokoe. I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a well-done mystery that was nearly impossible to set aside. I thought that this was a great debut novel and look forward to reading more of this author’s work in the future.

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.

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? Wilding is from Newcastle upon Tyne, works as a tutor, and has an MA in creative writing from The University of Manchester, where her tutors included Jeanette Winterson, who recommended her writing to Evans at PFD. I listened to the audiobook and it was well done. The narrator does a good job of distinguishing between the characters. I nearly threw in the towel up until about 50% into the book because it was quite a slog to care about who offed the slimeball, but once I started getting into the story the second half seemed to flow more easily. With this being said, I found the individual perspectives compelling. As you read how each of the women are connected to the murdered man, Jamie, and you come to understand the different experiences that they each had with him, the true portrait of who Jamie was becomes clear. 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.

Like I said, if you've watched Bad Sisters, this is a similar premise, but without as much humor and heart. The series is infinitely better, so if you haven't watched it you're missing out.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. 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. 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. 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! 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.