A dark and twisted commentary on the treatment of women that asks the question, are women truly to blame when they take charge of abusive situations after the world refuses to listen to them? I like a good revenge story, but this one's revenge comes about a little too late for my liking. The ending is fairly decent though, so I won't fault the author in that regard, because she doesn't drag it on and on and on. A devilishly immersive read - Rose Wilding is a wonderful new talent' Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire Very localized writing - as a Canadian I was a bit confused with some of the lingo, but I enjoyed trying to figure it out! Lots of characters to keep you interested and I was determined to figure out who the killer was - but nope! I always have time for a whodunit, and I also love the cover so much - the gorgeous blue with the seven birds - love it. This is Wilding’s debut novel, and I’ll be watching for her in the future!

The book plays about with time, and necessitates a regrouping now and again to sort out where the reader is in the timeline of the story. This does seem a popular thing to do at the moment, and I do not like it, but it takes only seconds to arrange your mind and you are on your way again and following the story. It’s 31 December 1999, the eve of the new millennium. Seven women form a semi-circle around the head of a man in a room in a run down hotel with a shady reputation. All of them had received a message from an unknown number earlier that evening: ‘Meet in the usual place, tonight, 7pm. Emergency.’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. While I did have some moments where I had to really search my brain to remember some previous connection, or fact, overall, I did enjoy this one.

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. 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.The women’s] stories converge in a way that will appeal to Kate Atkinson’s readers…This debut author is one to watch.” – FirstCLUE 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?