Spotlight: “Prime Deception” by Carys Jones {releases Monday 7th April!}
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…
Release Day! (Monday)
A note from Carys Jones…
Today sees the release of my third novel, Prime Deception and rather than be giddy with excitement I’m nervous, terrified even.
I keep wondering what people will make of the story. Will they love it or hate it? The most important thing for me is that readers enjoy my books. Ideally, I’d want the reader to love the story and enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I’m also too shy to really promote myself. I’m from a very traditionally British family and we celebrate success with a quick hug and a cup of tea, nothing more.
I am spending today with just my dog, Rollo for company. We’ll go on our usual walk through the woods and to him it’s just a typical day, whilst I nervously fret over how the book will be received. But there’s something comforting about his lack of knowledge. He reminds me that no matter what, life goes on. If everyone hates the book and pull it apart he will still want to sit on my lap in the evening while we watch Being Human.
As a story, Prime Deception is hopefully an exciting read. It was born out of an idea I had some years ago, probably around the time of the last British general election. I don’t follow politics, at all. In fact, I find it all rather boring. So much so that I got thinking about what would make the whole political world more appealing to me and nothing piques my interest more than a delicious scandal! And so out of that, the story was born.
My main wish is that people enjoy reading it. So today, as it gets downloaded to kindles, i-pads and e-readers I hope everyone is able to get lost in the story. And if they care to spare a thought for me, I’ll be either in the woods with Rollo or celebrating with a cup of tea, and if the first reviews are good I might even push the boat out and have a biscuit or two!
Exclusive extract!
Despite dealing in the pain of others, John Quinn knew little of suffering. He had closed
himself off from a great number of emotions to help him deal with his line of work more
efficiently. Mourning and grief were foreign concepts to him. To John, a death was nothing
more than an obituary to write and potentially a story ,depending on the circumstances. But
he knew that it wasn’t healthy for this young, beautiful woman to be dwelling on the demise
of her twin sister.
‘I’m afraid that I don’t have answers for you.’ He picked up his Dictaphone and went to
return it to his bag when Laurie reached across and grabbed his wrist, her eyes pleading.
‘Please,’ she begged. ‘Please, tell me how she was when you met her, that night in the club.’
John sighed and dropped the Dictaphone and reluctantly allowed his mind to wander back to
the night in question.
‘Honestly, she was a mess.’ He saw immediately that it wasn’t the answer which Laurie
wanted but it was the one she needed to hear. ‘She was out with some other interns, blind
drunk by the time we got talking. She was all over the place in more ways than one. Kept
going on about some guy who had broken her heart.’ John hesitated before carrying on,
unsure if Laurie wanted to hear more, but he took her silence as a signal to proceed.
‘I mean, being out, you get used to seeing girls who are a mess like that. I just assumed she
was cut up about a boyfriend, and I won’t lie, I’m the sort of guy who would take advantage
of that. So I talked with her for a bit, asked questions, and then she dropped the bombshell
about who the guy was.’
Laurie’s composure was stoic at this.
‘Can you at least give me that? Can you confirm who the guy was?’ John asked, wanting to
walk away with something, but Laurie merely shook her head in refusal.
‘You want answers, well so do I!’ he said angrily, his desire for the story getting the better of
him.
‘No, you want to write a sordid story. I want to find out why my twin sister died when she
was only twenty two!’ Laurie spat each word out with an angry venom which surprised John
into submission.
‘Fine. Your sister suddenly became a potential story. I gave her my card, told her the paper
would be willing to pay big, that sort of thing. She seemed so drunk I doubted that she’d
taken any of it in. To her credit, she seemed pretty horrified when I told her I was a journalist,
and swore she didn’t want to sell her story. Then a few months later, she called. They always
do.’
It saddened Laurie to imagine her sister selling herself out like that.
‘How did she seem when she called?’
‘Down, really down. Most women, when they do a kiss and tell, have a lot of spite and
resentment, but Lorna just seemed … sad.’
‘And that didn’t strike you as odd?’ Laurie challenged, anger rising in her voice once more.
‘Look, it’s not my job to be a counsellor,’ John reasoned to her. ‘I merely relay events which
have already unfolded. Don’t shoot the messenger.’
Laurie was quiet for a moment, mulling things over. When she spoke, her voice trembled
slightly, as though she were fearful of the truth she was uncovering.
‘Did you tell anyone else, about Lorna?’
‘And have someone try and steal the story?’ John scoffed. ‘No, I did not. Did she tell you?’
‘Yeah, we spoke about it. She said she didn’t want to do it, but that she couldn’t turn the
money down.’
‘One thing I’ve learnt is that everyone has their price,’ John stated nonchalantly as though
he were remarking on the state of the weather. ‘So she didn’t want to do it, but she was going
ahead with it anyway. A story which could potentially destroy a very powerful man and her
own reputation?’
‘Yeah.’ Laurie shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
‘Either, you have all the answers you seek, and your sister did kill herself,’ John paused
before delivering the second part of his conclusion, wanting to ensure that he had Laurie’s
complete undivided attention. ‘Or, she was involved with a very powerful man who found out
what she was going to do.’
‘No, I told him about it and he said he had no idea.’
‘He would say that, wouldn’t he?’
Laurie felt an icy blast whip around her frame and then sweep beneath her clothes, chilling
her to the bone as she processed what the journalist was implying.
‘You seem like a smart girl,’ John continued. ‘I suggest you forget all about this little
investigation you’ve been conducting and go back home. Losing your sister is an awful
tragedy, don’t let things get any worse.’
When she’s not writing, Carys likes to indulge her inner geek by watching science- fiction films or playing video games.
She lists John Green, Jodi Picoult and Virginia Andrews as her favorite authors and draws inspiration for her own work from anything and everything.
To Carys, there is no greater feeling then when you lose yourself in a great story and it is that feeling of ultimate escapism which she tries to bring to her books.
happy reading!
