A review : Prime Deception by Carys Jones

I received a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. 

I'm a big fan of crime thrillers, especially those with strong story lines and twists and turns that keep me guessing every step of the way. I would never have thought that crime thriller would blend very well with a romantic story line, but Prime Deception manages to mix the two quite nicely. 

We learn that the Deputy Prime Ministers' lover has supposedly committed suicide, but her twin sister and the Minister himself find that difficult to swallow. We follow the characters trying to unravel the truth, which in turn, slowly reveals each characters intimate thoughts as well as their flaws and shortcomings. 

Jones' writing drives the story along and takes us from one situation to another fluidly and with great ease. I love the way Jones' moves smoothly from one character to another, linked by a thought or an idea. To me, it's almost like a stream of thought on the page; the move from one character or setting flows seamlessly, it doesn't feel forced and still allows the reader an omniscient-like view of the situation. 

The characters were pretty well developed: I felt the main characters were multi-faceted and there seemed to be a sinister side to Charles, the Deputy Prime Minister, which was hinted at but not really developed, and I think it could have been unearthed or maybe built upon a little more. I also had a few issues with some of the minor characters: there seemed to be lots of little characters introduced who then just disappeared. A journalist, for example, who seemed poised to be a major and influential character, but who just turned into a dead end. 

The suspense didn't really build until the very end of the book, but honestly I was okay with that. I'm happy to guess the culprit without big flashing, neon signs pointing to the clues. It isn't a traditional thriller book, but an almost 'softer' thriller; there is more development in the characters feelings and emotions, as opposed to unravelling the mystery bit by bit. 

My major gripe with this book is that my copy was very, very poorly edited. I can forgive one or two mistakes, but the book seemed to be littered with typos. I find books with that many mistakes difficult to read as I become fixated on the errors instead and struggle to see past them. 

Overall, it is a fairly solid book. Jones' writing style is interesting, likeable, and for me, the asset to the novel. The story line is good, not as many twists and turns as my favourite crime books and I did predict the killer, but a fine book to dip in and out of when you fancy an easy read.

You can buy Carys Jones' Prime Deception from Amazon.

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