In Servitude by Heleen Kist #BookReview @hkist

About this book…

Do you owe your family your life?

Grace thought her sister led a charmed existence.

She was wrong.

Now she has to pay the price.

When Grace’s beloved sister Glory dies in a car crash, her carefully planned life spirals out of control. She discovers Glory had been manipulated into illegal activities at her trendy vegan café. What’s worse, Grace finds herself an unwitting accomplice now forced to take over her sister’s shady dealings.

Determined to keep her fingers clean and protect those Glory left behind, Grace plots to escape the clutches of Glasgow’s criminal underworld. But her moral certainty is challenged when more family secrets emerge and her sister’s past intentions remain unclear.

Grace grows convinced Glory was murdered. But why won’t anyone listen?

Seeking justice, she finds betrayal…

My review…

I was intrigued by reviews of In Servitude due to the setting plus the biography of the author herself! After checking out the fabulous reviews on Amazon (with an amazing 4.8 average out of 5 stars!) I knew that I just had to add it to my reading pile. And what a brilliant decision that turned out to be! In Servitude is an addictive “just one more chapter” read that I devoured in one evening.

Having a personal knowledge of the setting in a novel always increases my enjoyment of it and the author has cleverly used her knowledge of Glasgow and its surrounding areas to deliver an easily accessible sense of place for her readers. But this book shows a very dark side of that city when Grace takes over her sisters business after her unexpected death. Glory died in a car accident and Grace has now taken the decision to support her sisters husband and children whilst reopening the trendy vegan cafe her sister owned. But when criminal activity comes calling at the cafe, Grace sees a side to her sister that she previously had no idea existed. And if Glory concealed that from Grace what more could she have been hiding? So what if her death wasn’t the accident Grace has been lead to believe?

I found myself swept away on a tide of family secrets as I followed Grace and her search for the truth about her sister. The family dynamics were perfectly crafted here with plenty of recognisable situations that I think we can all relate to. There are always things that we hide from even the closest of family members but Glory seemed to have got herself involved in something much darker than anyone would have expected of her. Heleen Kist has built up a tense storyline as those lies came back to haunt the family. I loved Grace! As I followed her relationships I was able to unravel her character through those interactions which felt authenticity portrayed. There were twists and turns throughout this shocking thriller which brings me to THAT ending! I defy anyone to predict the final few pages that I definitely did NOT see coming!

If you’re after a gripping page turner then I would highly recommend In Servitude! With its intricately plotted storyline and contemporary writing style, it’s hard to believe that it’s a debut novel! I love the promise of things to come from Heleen Kist and awaited her next novel with anticipation!

Meet the author…

Heleen Kist is a Dutch quintilingual Stanford-educated globetrotting career woman who fell in love with a Scotsman and his country, and now writes about its (sometimes scary) people from her garden office in Glasgow.

She was selected as an ‘up and coming new writer’ and awarded a Spotlight at Bloody Scotland 2018, the International crime writing festival.

Her debut psychological suspense novel ‘In Servitude’ was inspired by Heleen’s nationally recognised expertise in small business finance mixed with her friend’s courageous idea to open a vegan cafe in a city renowned for its dubious diet.

She is currently working on her next book, which will also be a suspense novel.

Heleen hopes you enjoy her writing, and would love to hear from you on twitter (@hkist), Faceboook (@heleenkistauthor) or Goodreads. You can also sign up to her newsletter on http://www.heleenkist.com.