Review: The Third Sister by Sara Blaedel — with link to #BookGiveaway!!!

Title: The Third Sister

Author: Sara Blaedel

Series: Ilka/Family Secrets series, #3

Published: April 2020, Grand Central Publishing

Format: Hardcover, 304 pages

Source: Publisher

 

Summary: 

Family drama, deadly secrets, and deception come to a head in the explosive conclusion of #1
internationally bestselling author Sara Blaedel’s Family Secrets trilogy.

Ilka Jensen’s life is in chaos following the tumultuous events of Her Father’s Secret. The funeral home she inherited after her estranged father’s death is bankrupt. Her new business partner, Artie, lies unconscious in the hospital after a savage attack by mysterious assailants, and her father’s second wife is in prison.

Then, just as Ilka learns a shocking revelation about her father, two menacing strangers turn up at the funeral home — dangerous men who mean to draw her further into a world of secrets, betrayal, and murder.

In order to protect herself and those around her, Ilka sets off on a twisting journey to confront the truth about the man who abandoned her as a child. But the long-buried secrets of her father’s past are more tangled and perilous
than Ilka could ever imagine . . .

My thoughts: 

Sara Blaedel is without a doubt one of my favorite authors. She is not called Denmark’s “Queen of Crime” for nothing and I cannot seem to read her books fast enough. She has two books series out, both of which I have now read in their entirety and, while both are different, I cannot recommend them enough! One is more a crime-fiction series – the Louise Rick series, which is set primarily in Denmark. The other series, of which this book is the final installment, is more focused on the characters and their secrets, and that is set here in the US.

This is the type of series where I feel it is crucial to read it in order. So many threads are continued from one book to the next and while Sara does give some recap, it’s quite brief, and having the whole picture would make this much more meaningful and enjoyable.

Once again, this book picks up right where the second book left off. And, if you read that one, you know we were left with quite a major revelation. This really jump-starts things and has Ilka reeling with the news. As she tries to adjust to this, she realizes she still has quite a lot of questions she needs answers to but before she can get those answers she realizes she has more problems on her hands.

I love the way this book is crafted. Just as we find answers to one problem, more issues arise so that you never feel that sense of peace, just more unrest and tension and the suspense is constantly there. I also love the continued character development. The main characters all continue to play a crucial role and there is the additional of some new characters that adds intrigue to the storyline. Learning more about some of these characters was quite eye-opening. I had been a little suspicious of one or two of them from the beginning so it was a relief to finally find out what was going on with them.

This was a fitting end to a fantastic trilogy. While I’m bummed to see this trilogy end, I feel that this final book really kept me engaged all the way through. Now I cannot wait to see what comes next from this author…I sure hope it’s more books in the Louise Rick series!!!

 

Books in this series:

1. The Undertaker’s Daughter
2. Her Father’s Secret
3. The Third Sister

***Want a chance to win this entire trilogy? Head over to my Instagram page and look for this post…#Giveaway ends Thursday, April 9th. US only.