Atmospheric and chilling, this cold case investigation is full of suspects and twists. The background to the cold case is poignant and becomes increasingly so as the investigation progresses. The female protagonist Nikki is self-absorbed and driven, which makes her difficult to empathise with, although her flaws make her believable.
The setting is integral to the story and well-written. It's an absorbing and addictive book.

I received a copy of this book from Hodder and Stoughton via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is the 4th book in the series, which I hadn't realised, but it did not detract from the storyline and can be read as a standalone.
The plot was intriguing although there were times when the pace dropped. The author gave the reader a good sense of life in the southern state and the descriptions of the characters really brought them to life. Unfortunately I found the main character, Nikki, to be self centred and reckless which was irritating.

Three sisters missing, two skeletal remains found. What happened to the sisters and where is the one missing from the grave? I loved the story! The nightmare for the family, when three of your children disappear and the remaining big brother is suspect #1. The story is slowly unraveling and till the end it isn’t clear who to trust. I got it wrong, not entirely, and was horrified as to what really had happened and why.
I really liked Reed and felt sorry for everything he has to deal with on top of solving this case. I had my problems with Nikki. Sure I understand that she is a reporter and her job is to get the story. But her constant badgering of her husband made me so angry. She craved his respect to what she was doing men gave nothing back. And I disliked Jade from the start - ruthless, rude and pushy.

I have never read a bad Lisa Jackson book and this one was no exception.
I hadn’t realised that it was part of a series but I don’t think it made any difference. There was nothing that I needed to know from previous books in the series to spoil my enjoyment of this story.
The skeletons of two young girls are found accidentally in a derelict mansion. Detective Reed discovers that they are the remains of two sisters who disappeared over twenty years ago. A mystery remains because there is no trace of the third and younger sister who disappeared at the same time.
Reed’s reporter wife Nikki is ordered to stay out of the investigation by her husband but his words fall on deaf ears. She is determined, as is he, to get to the bottom of who is responsible for the abduction and murder of the two girls and the whereabouts of the missing sister. However, people associated with the case soon start turning up dead.
This book was full of suspense and so many twists and turns. I struggled to put it down and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now feel the need to start this series from the beginning.

This book did not blow me away, it is probably because I did not realise that it was part of a series. I always dislike the feeling that you do not know any of the history of the characters when you start reading a part of a series.
For this reason I am only giving it 3 stars.
I did find the character of Nikki to be extremely irritating and self absorbed. Perhaps it was just me, but I felt the story to be a bit formulaic.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In all honesty, I wasn't over keen on the protagonist in this book, Too self-absorbed for my liking. I did enjoy the book overall. Recommended.

It's a good thriller, full of twists and turns, gripping and entertaining.
I'm not a fan of Nikki as hate MC with a death wish but I think that the author did a good job and the characters are fleshed out.
The plot is slow burning and there's plenty going on. it was not hard to guess the culprit but I was curious to read the solution.
I think I missed something as it's a fourth in a series.
It's not my cup of tea but I think that other will surely love it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book was full of surprises but sometimes felt a little slow. The characters were great and built with every page that passed. The story centres around three sisters who went missing and after 20 years two of the sisters bodies turned up but with no sight of the third sister. The local police force are involved and the wife of one of the policemen is a journalist. The relationships between all the characters were sometimes confusing but all made sense in the end. The story reaches an explosive conclusion and is definitely worth it.

Fast paced addition to the Reed and Gillette series. Loved it! Love everything about this series from the setting to the dynamic between Reed and his wife. This could be read as a stand alone but as a series reader, I don’t recommend it. The background and character development is so important understanding and really getting a feel for the characters.

Thank you #netgalley and #hodder&stoughton for the eARC.

Trouble follows a hurricane that has ravaged Savannah. In the old Beaumont mansion, a scavenger takes advantage of storm damage to search for hidden treasure. Instead he finds two bodies, sealed behind a wall, with a space nearby for a third. It doesn’t take Detective Pierce Reed and his wife, reporter and true crime author Nikki Gillette, to discover that the bodies found are those of the long missing Durant sisters. One sister is still missing. Where is Rose Durant? And how are new murders connected to this long ago case?

Pierce and Nikki do not work well as a team but each discovers new information that helps to solve this complicated case. Pierce is also dealing with his new partner Jade who tries to work independently with mixed results. Before this case, tying the past to the present, is solved, Pierce and Nikki will risk their relationship and their lives.

The Third Grave is fourth in a series but reads like a standalone thriller and thriller it is! Creepy Southern gothic mansions, a psychic stable owner who “feels” crime scenes and entitled heirs are standout characters. Savannah provides a gorgeous setting. I’m sorry I missed the first three in this series and I definitely will be looking for the fifth. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Lisa Jackson for this ARC.

This is the fourth novel in the Savannah series but can equally read as a stand alone.
When two skeletons are discovered in the old and derelict Beaumont mansion the case is given to Detective Pierce Reed. With the help of his reporter wife Nikki they discover that the remains are Poppy and Holly Duval who went missing over twenty years ago but there's a problem next to them is a third grave but no body and as their sister Rose went missing at the same time.
Is Rose responsible for killing her sister's or is she dead and buried elsewhere?
There are some fantastic twists in this book.

This is the first book I’ve read in the series and I’m now eager to revisit the previous three novels. Jackson has an undeniable knack for reeling the reader in- slowly, methodically, almost painstakingly so! (In a ‘I can’t watch, but maybe I’ll just peep because I don’t want to miss out’ -kind of way.)

Many thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. I would definitely recommend!

The Third Grave is the fourth instalment in the Pierce Reed and Nikki Gillette Savannah series in which bestselling author Lisa Jackson at last brings her unique brand of Southern Gothic back to the beautiful, haunted city of Savannah, Georgia in this forebodingly atmospheric novel of suspense. In the wake of a violent hurricane, the city’s left doused and windswept. But as the floodwaters recede, long-buried secrets rise to the surface. Literally. In a secret crypt inside the rotting root cellar of an abandoned pre-Civil War mansion that sits crumbling on the banks of a river, three graves are discovered but only two skeletons. For crime writer Nikki Gillette, who is also a reporter for the Savannah Sentinel newspaper, the discovery is both a muse and a gift – the perfect subject for her next book. Her husband, Detective Pierce Reed, has made her promise not to get involved with the case, but she can’t stay away, even when her investigations put her pregnancy at risk. She simply cannot seem to refrain from asking him a barrage of questions as she believes this could be exactly the break she needs to make a big splash in the publishing world.

Twenty years ago, three sisters, who were part of the Duval family, went to the movies with their older brother, Owen, and seemingly disappeared. Forensics confirms the remains found in two of the graves belonged to the older girls twelve-year-old Holly and ten-year-old Poppy but if the third is empty, what happened to the youngest sister, four-year-old Rose? As Nikki dredges deeper into the mystery, one thing becomes dangerously clear. There is more to the sisters’ disappearance than anyone ever guessed. And far from an isolated act, those deaths were just the beginning. Despite starting quite slowly and it taking a little longer than I'm usually used to for to become immersed and gripped enough to propel me through the pages, I soon was engrossed in the mystery. There is quite a lot of action, some of it unnecessary and inconsequential to the plot, but I still found it compelling and a well-crafted yarn, and although I'm not a fan of Nikki as she's very self-centred and stupidly impulsive, the mystery kept me invested in wanting to know what happened to the Duval girls two decades ago. An entertaining and twisty-turny read.

Two skeletons are found in a dilapidated mansion leading to the reopening of a cold case.
This is the first of the Savannah series that I have read , and I think there is enough back story for it to be read as a stand alone book.
I have to admit I am not fond of the protagonist Nikki Gillette , she comes across as selfish and stubborn . She is a reporter married to a detective who is investigating the cold case of the Duval sisters who disappeared twenty years ago after visiting the cinema . The skeletons are identified as Holly and Poppy but there sister Rosie is still missing ,
The writing is fast paced and kept my attention throughout and I enjoyed the twist at the end . A great thriller. I hope I can grow fond of Nikki in future books
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton .

A fast paced thriller. The setting placed right at the beginning setting the tone of the novel I knew I would enjoy this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

Detective Reed is assigned a case - the skeletons of two young girls have been found in a cellar in a local mansion in Savannah, now uninhabited. They are identified as two girls who went missing 20 years ago - Poppy and Holly, but their younger sister Rose is not there. Reed's wife Nikki is a reporter, keen to be involved as she knew the family who owned the house. However, Reed does not like her interfering in his cases.

As they investigate separately, it becomes clear the killer is still around and trying to tie up loose ends before they discover the truth and find out what has happened to Rose.

Nikki does not come over well - despite insisting she wants nothing more than to be a mother, she takes ridiculous risks which could affect her unborn child, not to mention other professionals and friends. She is single minded, but to little effect - she is only a reporter, writing a story. Its hardly worth the risks she takes. Her husband is quite a shadowy figure, proud of his wife but unhappy with her meddling and risk taking.

Its a good read, pacy and interesting and even though I worked out what was happening in advance, I still wanted to read on to see how it all panned out. It did feel like one of a series, and not having read the others I missed some of the nuances of the characters' behaviour. However, it didn't feel essential to have read books 1-3.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found The Third Grave an ok read. I didn't like the main character which spoilt my enjoyment of the book. I hadn't realised it was part of a series and I feel that if I had read the previous books I may have enjoyed it more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

The Third Grave is book #4 in the Savannah series by Lisa Jackson which can be perfectly read as a stand-alone. Detective Reed with his partner Detective Sylvie is called to an old dilapidated Beaumont mansion after an anonymous phone call alerts them to the discovery of dead bodies in a crypt of the basement in the house. The rotting corpses are identified as the Duval girls who have been missing for the past 20 years. However, 3 girls had gone missing but only two are found so what happened to the 5-year-old Rose Duvall, the youngest of the three sisters. It is a question that fires up reporter Nikki Gillette to countermand her husband Reed’s order to stay away from the case.

The mystery is excellently plotted and keeps the reader engaged. A case that has gone cold and been lying dormant is suddenly revived but Reed and Nikki are battling personal losses along with the inquiries that someone is hell-bent on keeping quiet. As the body count increases, their jobs take a very dangerous turn.

It was interesting to see the twists and turns in the book as past lies tumble out of the closet but the storyline is quite predictable which kind of spoiled the fun for me. There is also Nikki’s character that I absolutely disliked, not sure if it was because I was going in without any background info, probably covered in the previous books of the series, but to have someone recklessly and carelessly endangering herself after repeated warnings felt too infuriating. Her hell-bent nature is acceptable only to a certain extent but I am not sure a woman who has suffered multiple miscarriages would take such unnecessary risks and jeopardize her high-risk pregnancy. It is the come what may to anyone, I would do whatever it takes that gives a very negative vibe for Nikki, at least for me.

Fans of the author would surely love this fast-paced thriller.

Expected a thunderstorm but got a drizzle💦 💦 💦

Many thanks to Net Galley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Medium.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

I’d like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Third Grave’ written by Lisa Jackson in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Savannah is experiencing a hurricane when Bronco Cravens breaks into Beaumont Mansion looking for the treasures he was told were hidden there. Inside he discovers two graves, the first holding the skeletons of two children identified as Holly and Poppy Duval who disappeared twenty years ago, but if the second grave was intended for the youngest sister Rose, where is she? Detectives Pierce Reed and his partner Detective Sylvie Morrisette investigate while Reed’s journalist wife Nikki Gillette gets involved.

It might have been better had I read the three previous books in the Savanna series before reading ‘The Third Grave’ as I found it hard to get into the story without background information. I was unable to empathise with any of the characters but especially Nikki Gillette who I found annoyingly egocentric and interfering. The book was well-written with drama and suspense but even with the twists and turns the plot was so predictable I guessed what was going to happen next. The writing style is good and easy to read and I’m sure this thriller will be popular with Ms Jackson’s many fans but I found it hard to get involved.

Would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

This book had the feel of the southern states and plantations about it

2 skeleton remains are found in the basement of an old plantation house that has been left to decay
The perp who found them who had been Looking for treasure panicked and ran off but did ring in and report the skeletal remains

The remains are soon identified from a very old cold case but one girl is missing

Soon more bodies start turning up murdered ....is there a link with the old case or something more sinister

Really enjoyed the southern feel about this book and as I was near the end of the book it was nice to find out I was correct in my thinking

On the whole a nice read that keeps you reading till the end