Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding

Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man’s severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him – has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she didn’t. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who did.

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.

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.

One of the novels I picked up at this year’s Hay Festival was Speak of the Devil, the debut novel from Rose Wilding. It’s one that I wasn’t aware of prior to reviewing this year’s festival program in March, but I was immediately intrigued, and after attending the event in which Wilding was interviewed by her mentor, Jeanette Winterson, I couldn’t resist picking up a copy.

The novel opens in a rather seedy sounding hotel room where seven women have gathered. Their names are quickly revealed, but we don’t know much else about them at first – they’re of varying ages and backgrounds, although how they know each other and what has brought them together becomes clearer as the author reveals that these women share the hotel room space with a man’s severed head. The reason for his demise, who’s responsible, and why these women have gathered around the grisly remains in an almost ritualistic fashion is gradually revealed as we follow these seven women and the detective investigating the case in the days following that meeting.

Telling a novel from the perspective of multiple characters is quite common, although I have to admit that the prospect of eight separate points of view is a little daunting at first, but Wilding makes it work. It helps that some characters are more prominent that others, and each chapter is signposted as to whose perspective it’s told from. And the reader soon begins to understand what brought these women together and their respective experiences which again helps to clarify who’s who and their involvement in the man’s downfall.

Wilding does character brilliantly, and these women are all brilliantly realised. They come from a broad range of backgrounds, and are of different ages and at different stages in their lives. All are flawed in their own way and are relatable as a result. The reader gets to know some characters better than others as some have a bigger part to play in these events, and while they aren’t all likeable at times, they do evoke sympathy as you understand more about what unites them and what they’ve endured in their lives. Detective Nova Stokoe in particular is a great character, and while I don’t believe that Speak of the Devil is intended to kick off a new series, I’d happily read another novel featuring her. She ticks the box for the kind of rogue detective that I love to see – someone who does things their own way and not necessarily by the book if she thinks it’s the right thing to do.

I think that Wilding may have found some catharsis in the writing of this novel, and perhaps used it to voice the fury that so many women feel at some point in their lives as a result of their treatment and experiences at the hands of others. While I don’t want to spoil the novel for anyone, it looks at the way in which women may not be believed in certain scenarios as well as those who may be blamed for the actions of others when they are the victim. Manipulation, gaslighting, abuse, assault, narcissism – it’s all here, and tied up in the remains of the man who, unintentionally, unites these women. Is it feasible that one man caused so much harm? I think it’s entirely possible if uncommon, but I think that this individual (I’m deliberately not naming him as it’s not about him) is symbolic in his representation of the harm that some men are both capable and guilty of (yes, I know – not all men).

Speak of the Devil is a fantastic novel that highlights the things that some women are, unfortunately, subjected at times, and I think that most women will be able to relate to some aspect of these women’s experiences. With great characters and a fast pace, it’s one that I raced through. It’s a fantastic revenge thriller from a promising new voice, and one that I highly recommend it.