It is New Year’s Eve 1999 and seven women meet in a hotel room to unveil a man’s decapitated head. A bible verse of “an eye for an eye” is written nearby. This man wronged all seven women, but which one dealt the ultimate revenge in SPEAK OF THE DEVIL by Rose Wilding?
Deputy Inspector, Nova Stokoe, is staking out the Towneley Arms Hotel when she spots her friend and lover, journalist Kaysha Jackson acting suspiciously near the building. What is Kaysha’s connection to the dead man? As Nova investigates the crime, Kaysha is busy trying to find out who committed the murder and keeping the other women quiet. Jamie Spellman was a horrible man who used, manipulated, and abused women. His good looks and charm captivated the women before they finally realized the destruction he could cause. Raised by his cool and aloof Aunt Maureen, Jamie is emotionless, and one tends to wonder if this monster was born this way or created by his upbringing. As the stories of the seven women unfold, elaborate lies and secrets are unburied, a murder is revealed, and Nova realizes she may lose her one true love when all is exposed.
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL is a dark gritty thriller with a heinous villain, who brings up the question of nature vs. nurture. Was Jamie always bad? Or was his cold and unloving upbringing to blame? Wilding does an excellent job of laying out the stories of the seven women and how Jamie irrevocably damaged their lives. The women range in age and occupation and are well-constructed with distinct personalities, situations, strengths, and flaws. Serious issues are tackled such as rape, sexual abuse, spousal abuse, murder, etc. The story keeps readers guessing as each new revelation builds suspense, leading to another surprising development. Although the circumstances and settings can be dark and violent, this suspense thriller does an excellent job of keeping readers immersed in the characters’ motivations while heading to an explosive conclusion. One last thought – this would make an excellent movie.
Seven women, inextricably linked by one man, must figure out which of them killed him in order to protect each other in this electrifying debut thriller.
New Year’s Eve, 1999.
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 each other, they have to find out who did.
The ex, who drowns out her darkest secret with 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 led her to be trapped 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 learned 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 Devil explores 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.
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