Speak of the Devil

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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. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. 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.

Finally, there’s Kaysha, the journalist who brought this group together from day one. But what is her place in the fold? Was she merely trying to root out a truly bad man? Or is her involvement actually much deeper than that?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. 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. Wilding takes an axe to toxic masculinity...maneuvering her vivid characters around like a virtuoso puppeteer. It’s a powerful, accomplished and important debut from a writer who has not only found her own voice but given one to others who have previously been silenced.” – Trevor Wood, author of Dead End Street When the women had arrived fifteen minutes earlier, the head was covered by a pillowcase. They’d all taken their usual seats, all frowned at the makeshift altar in the center of the room, all wrinkled their nose at the smell of rot and pennies. There was no small talk, but Josie had asked what was under the pillowcase. When no one answered, Sarah stood and pulled the pillowcase off with a flourish, rolling her eyes, only for them to widen when she revealed what was underneath. Some of the women had screamed.

Nova was a very late addition. When I first started writing, I didn’t really have an interest in who had done it, I just wanted to focus on the stories of all of these women. The seven came from the idea of seven deadly sins. One of them has been undermined at work, one has been raped, one has been cheated on – each woman embodies a sin. I’d written 20,000 words of what I thought would be the book but Jeanette explained how I needed to restructure it and why I needed a detective, so Nova is supposed to be an embodiment of the spirit of Newcastle. She’s called Nova after Novocastrian (a word for a Newcastle native) and she’s got a tattoo of magpies. I wanted her to be the person who is friendly and interested but also not scared to look at things from an unorthodox angle. I was really pleased with her character in the end.’ Baskerville has secured “a literary whodunit" from tutor Rose Wilding for six figures as part of a 24-hour pre-empt. Harrowing and haunting, Rose Wilding’s assured debut is full of nuanced, complex, beautifully flawed characters...completely compelling.” —Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List 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. stars Thank you to St Martins Publishing Group Influencer Program and Minotaur Books for the free gifted book. This ARC publishes June 13, 2023.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.