Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding had all the elements to be a great suspense novel, but it just fell short. There were too many characters,  each with their complex history and background, which caused the reader to drift during this slow burn of a book. I didn't find one character to be likable or someone I would sympathize with. The main antagonist is the most greasy, sleazy, and problematic gas lighter, honestly I could have cared less about his beheading, and after getting lost in the 7 women's complicated lives,  I didn't care who dun it anymore. 
The plot takes place around 7 women and the head of a beheaded man that they all have a complex history with. The storyline is told from multiple perspectives,  but with some of the chapters I found myself skimming their storyline to just get hopefully to the good parts. It took about halfway for Speak of the Devil to get going, just for it to quickly hit the brakes again. I'm not mad I read it, I'm just upset I put in so much time and kept going with the book, in hopes it'll pick up.