I thought that this was really good! I enjoyed getting to know each of the seven women at the core of this book and it was quite clear that each of them had the motive to kill Jamie. Jamie was not a good man. In fact, he was pretty terrible, and the things that he did to each of these women left me feeling a lot of sympathy for them. I loved that the book kept me guessing until the very end. I really enjoyed the premise of this one and was really looking forward to reading this, but while primarily listening to this via audiobook format I struggled to keep the numerous characters straight and found myself confused throughout, which was unfortunate because this one had a lot of potential. I felt like something was lost in the execution that could have brought this together a bit more and made it less confusing, but overall it was a good read, especially for a debut. The individual stories were each entertaining so I was fairly intrigued throughout, especially when I get to figure out who was who. Had this one had about three less characters I feel like it could have been so much better, but it is what is is!

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. 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. The blurb reads: “In a seedy Newcastle room on New Year’s Eve, 1999, seven women are gathered around a man’s severed head. Each has a very good reason to have done it, each swears she did not. As we follow the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him and the detective trying to solve the case – we discover how they came to know, love and ultimately despise the man who has wound up dead. But who killed Jamie Spellman?”On the last night of 1999, seven women are gathered together in a rundown hotel. Once assembled in a forgotten suite, the women come face to face with the cold, decapitated head of Jamie Spellman. Each of them have reasons to want him dead—but which one of them actually went through with with the deed? A powerful feminist thriller . . . twisted in the best way' Clémence Michallon, author of The Quiet Tenant 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 killed Jamie Spellman, but each one denies doing it. Seven women gather in a hotel room to find a man's severed head. Each of them had a reason to want him dead, but they all deny involvement. 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.

With this being said, I found the individual perspectives compelling. As you read how each of the women are connected to the murdered man, Jamie, and you come to understand the different experiences that they each had with him, the true portrait of who Jamie was becomes clear. What about Olive? A still grieving widow who has been running from her past, she had long thought she knew exactly what occurred all those years ago, but what if she’s been wrong all along? Wilding delves deep, focusing on a character-driven story in her deliciously tense debut.” – South Florida Sun-Sentinel In fact, this story does begin with a severed head in a dingy hotel room. Seven women, all very different, but all somehow connected to the man to whom the head once belonged, are gathered around it.Brilliant, fast-paced . . . loved the connection of all the women, the strength in their united pain' READER REVIEW As the police investigation inches closer, they must rely upon each other as never before. Do they, however, know the others as well as they think? Or are there secrets kept hidden from even one another? One by one, the detective in charge of the case reveals all that they hide. Who will succeed in keeping the upper hand? The woman hoping to catch the killer? Or the group determined to protect each other no matter the cost?

The way he treated these women. His narcissism, abusive, violent and derogatory behaviors landed him in the spot he ultimately found himself in, headless. 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.Although there is a plethora of characters, Wilding manages to make each woman easy to differentiate, developing their own personalities so that they are distinct from their counterparts and it is not difficult to tell each one from the other. Brilliant, fast-paced . . . loved the connection of all the women, the strength in their united pain’ READER REVIEW For a debut this book is pretty good. It is a puzzle that needs to be solved. Heavy on female characters, you are searching for the culprit of a gruesome murder. The story starts with a decapitated head - can't get more gruesome than that. Seven women connected to the murdered victim have come together to decide the fate of this man - but it looks like one of them has already made a decision. Or what about the youngest? Still just a child, Josie finds herself in an unrecognizable reality after following her teenage hormones towards a forbidden crush. Could she possibly be behind this gruesome crime? This was a really dark and gritty read, it started with such a bang, I don’t read many first scenes involving a decapitated head! And the story flowed effortlessly from there. Detective Inspector Nova Stokoe is heading the murder investigation but she has connections of her own with some of these women, all of which are gradually revealed. The victim, Jamie Spellman, is a hideous person. It’s impossible to feel one shred of sympathy for him, his acts are all despicable. But while I didn’t care that he was dead, I was intrigued as to who had actually murdered him and done so in such a dramatic way.