Review: 'Prime Deception' by Carys Jones (2014)

When Lorna Thomas is found dead in her car everyone believes she killed herself. But the day after her death Lorna was set to sell a scandalous story to one of Britain’s biggest tabloid papers. For six months she had been the Deputy Prime Minister’s mistress.

Will Lorna’s secret die with her? While her family try to move on and come to terms with her death one person refuses to believe that Lorna killed herself. Her twin sister, Laurie is convinced that Lorna was murdered and she’ll stop at nothing to prove it, even if that means teaming up the very man her sister had been having an affair with…
During the summer I was contacted by author Carys Jones about possibly reviewing her novel 'Prime Deception.' Carina has released quite some exciting and interesting titles over the past few months and 'Prime Deception' is definitely one of them. The blurb of the book promises a captivating story that appears to be a mix of both romance and thriller/mystery; a mix I was immediately curious to check out. I can really enjoy a good detective story every now and again and I looked forward to be introduced to Carys Jones' writing!
Charles Lloyd is the Deputy Prime Minister of England and quite unhappy with his life. His job doesn't give him much pleasure anymore and he's stuck in a loveless marriage to his wife Elaine. The only thing that still managed to make him smile was his Downing Street intern Lorna, who was his mistress for six blissful months until she was found dead in her car. Everyone suspects it to have been suicide, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding Lorna's death. Both Charles and Lorna's family try to pick up their lives again without Lorna, except for one person: Lorna's twin sister Laurie, who is convinced her sister would never have committed suicide. To prove Lorna was actually murdered, she decides she needs to follow in her sister's footsteps, which means becoming the Deputy Prime Minister's intern while trying to find the missing pieces of the puzzle.
I thought the plotline of this novel was really promising. The blurb and the first few chapters managed to attract my attention quite easily and I was really curious to find out more about the characters and, most importantly, Lorna's death. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, because with books like this one it can be quite easy to ruin the story for others, which is something I definitely don't want to do with this review. There was a fascinating mix of well-rounded characters and intriguing relationships, and Carys Jones' writing is easy to read and enjoyable. 
Yet, I wouldn't describe this as a real suspenseful read; I missed that touch of excitement while I was reading the book. The beginning and the ending were really intriguing and especially the ending had me on the edge of my seat, but the middle part of the story was a bit slow-paced and focused more on the emotions of the characters than the actual murder case. Of course, readers have different tastes; some might really enjoy the specific focus on the characters and their feelings and thoughts, but in this case I personally wished there had been more suspense. Having said that, I did really enjoy Carys Jones' writing and will definitely pick up some of her other work in the future. 'Prime Deception' is an interesting and quite enjoyable mix of romance and thriller, but it didn't turn out to be the addictive read I was hoping it would be. Rating:

7,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.