A review by violetturtledove
Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

There's a certain tone that I sometimes pick up on in books, and it seems almost too familiar. 

I can't exactly put my finger on it, I think I recognise some phrases or structures from writing classes, which almost gives it an element of 'well I could do that so it's not great, because I am not great'. I can see the gears and it takes away a little of the magic. 

This book definitely has that feeling, and I've unfairly judged books for this before. It's a hard habit to shake. It could also be that this is the modern style and I just grew up reading more florid stuff.

It's also probably the first time I've seen geordie slang in print without it being humorously translated, so there's another aspect of it that is almost uncomfortably familiar (and another thing writing teachers seemed to hate).

It starts off with an interesting set up, the murder happens straight away and there are several characters/suspects; I was looking forward to digging into all the backstories. But it dragged a bit in the middle as there wasn't much tension for me - each bit clearly shows that everyone had a motive so for a while I really didn't care who did it. The backstories got more interesting though, some with some nicely unnerving details, so by the end I was very eager to see how it all tied together and it was all fairly satisfying. 

It's a first novel too so, judging first novel thrillers I've read in the past, I'd definitely give more books by this author a go.