All My Lies Are True (Ice Cream Girls 2) Read online

  Copyright © 2020 Dorothy Koomson

  The right of Dorothy Koomson to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  First published in 2020 by Headline Review

  An imprint of Headline Publishing Group

  First published as an Ebook in 2020 by Headline Review

  An imprint of Headline Publishing Group

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

  Main photograph © Laurie Fletcher, bandstand © pixelklex/Shutterstock

  eISBN: 978 1 4722 6043 7

  HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

  An Hachette UK Company

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  www.headline.co.uk

  www.hachette.co.uk

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About Dorothy Koomson

  Praise for Dorothy Koomson

  Also by Dorothy Koomson

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Credits

  Author Note

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 1: verity

  Chapter 2: verity

  Chapter 3: verity

  Chapter 4: verity

  Chapter 5: poppy

  Chapter 6: verity

  Chapter 7: serena

  Chapter 8: verity

  Chapter 9: poppy

  Chapter 10: verity

  Part 2

  Chapter 11: serena

  Chapter 12: poppy

  Chapter 13: verity

  Part 3

  Chapter 14: serena

  Chapter 15: verity

  Chapter 16: verity

  Chapter 17: verity

  Chapter 18: poppy

  Chapter 19: verity

  Chapter 20: serena

  Chapter 21: poppy

  Chapter 22: serena

  Chapter 23: verity

  Chapter 24: poppy

  Part 4

  Chapter 25: poppy

  Chapter 26: serena

  Chapter 27: poppy

  Chapter 28: serena

  Chapter 29: poppy

  Chapter 30: serena

  Chapter 31: poppy

  Chapter 32: serena

  Part 5

  Chapter 33: verity

  Chapter 34: serena

  Chapter 35: verity

  Chapter 36: serena

  Chapter 37: verity

  Chapter 38: serena

  Part 6

  Chapter 39: poppy

  Chapter 40: serena

  Chapter 41: verity

  Chapter 42: poppy

  Part 7

  Chapter 43: serena

  Chapter 44: poppy

  Chapter 45: serena

  Chapter 46: serena

  Chapter 47: verity

  Chapter 48: poppy

  Chapter 49: verity

  Part 8

  Chapter 50: serena

  Chapter 51: verity

  Chapter 52: serena

  Part 9

  Chapter 53: logan

  Chapter 54: poppy

  Chapter 55: poppy

  Part 10

  Chapter 56: poppy

  Chapter 57: verity

  Part 11

  Chapter 58: logan

  Part 12

  Chapter 59: verity

  Chapter 60: serena

  Chapter 61: serena

  Chapter 62: poppy

  Chapter 63: serena

  Part 13

  Chapter 64: serena

  Chapter 65: poppy

  Chapter 66: verity

  Chapter 67: poppy

  Part 14

  Chapter 68: poppy

  Chapter 69: poppy

  Chapter 70: verity

  Chapter 71: serena

  Chapter 72: poppy

  Chapter 73: logan

  Chapter 74: poppy

  Chapter 75: serena

  Part 15

  Chapter 76: verity

  Chapter 77: verity

  Part 16

  Chapter 78: serena

  Chapter 79: poppy

  Chapter 80: bella

  Chapter 81: poppy

  Part 17

  Chapter 82: serena

  Chapter 83: poppy

  Chapter 84: serena

  Part 18

  Chapter 85: poppy

  Chapter 86: serena

  Chapter 87: verity

  About the Author

  Dorothy Koomson is the award-winning author of sixteen novels, including twelve Sunday Times bestsellers.

  Her third novel, My Best Friend’s Girl, was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club Summer Reads of 2006, and reached number two on the Sunday Times bestseller list. Two of her books, The Ice Cream Girls and The Rose Petal Beach, were shortlisted for the British Book Awards. And in 2013 a TV adaptation loosely based on The Ice Cream Girls was shown on ITV1.

  Dorothy has lived and worked in London, Leeds and Sydney but is currently a full-time Brighton resident.

  To find out more take a look at Dorothy’s website here:

  www.dorothykoomson.co.uk

  You can also keep in touch by following Dorothy on:

  Twitter @DorothyKoomson

  Facebook @DorothyKoomsonWriter

  Instagram @dorothykoomson_author

  Praise for Dorothy Koomson:

  ‘Such a gripping and pacy thriller with a clever, twisty plot. I cared about the two main characters and I couldn’t put it down. The ending was brilliantly shocking’ Claire Douglas

  ‘Kept me pinned to my sofa and turning the pages. A totally addictive, can’t put down, rollercoaster ride of a story’ Araminta Hall

  ‘A stunningly tense, completely compelling thriller that had me gripped from the first page. A taut, twisting drama peopled with living, breathing characters you believe in and a story that has you rushing to turn the pages. This book will mess with your head, steal your breath and scare you senseless. I loved it!’ Miranda Dickinson

  ‘A compelling page turner. It’s thrilling. Honest and raw. Also, Dorothy can write a fire sex scene’ Black Girls Book Club

  ‘I raced through this compelling thriller about families, secrets and, above all, survival . . . a real page-turner’ Catherine Isaac

  ‘Gripping, thought-provoking and ultimately heart-warming’ She

  ‘Absolutely fantastic. From the first page you’ll be desperate to know exactly what happened’ Sun

  ‘This beautifully written novel will hook you from the start’ Closer

  ‘Incredibly gripping’ Now

  ‘Forget everything except devouring this wonderfully crafted thriller that twists and turns with gut-wrenching intrigue from the first chapter until the last’ Daily Record

  ‘Social conflict, deception, the nature of marriage itself are all themes in this multi-tiered and satisfying mystery story’ Daily Express

  ‘Liked The Ice Cream Girls? You’ll love this’ Cosmopolitan

  ‘Pacy and compelling, the twists and turns come thick and fast with a surprise round every corner . . . a must-read’ Heat

  ‘Full of mystery and intrigue, it’s a book that will grip you from the very start’ Take A Break

  ‘Fast-moving, and compelling’ Sunday Mirror

  By Dorothy Koomson

  The Cupid Effect

  The Chocolate Run

  My Best Friend’s Girl

  Marshmallows for Breakfast

  Goodnight, Beautiful

  The Ice Cream Girls

  The Woman He Loved Before

  The Rose Petal Beach

  That Day You Left (previously published as The Flavours of Love)

  That Girl From Nowhere

  When I Was Invisible

  The Friend

  The Beach Wedding

  The Brighton Mermaid

  Tell Me Your Secret

  About the Book

  Verity is telling lies . . .

  And that’s why she’s about to be arrested for attempted murder.

  Serena has been lying for years . . .

  And that may have driven her daughter, Verity, to do something unthinkable . . .

  Poppy’s lies have come back to haunt her . . .

  So will her quest for the truth hurt everyone she loves?

  Everyone lies.

  But whose lies are going to end in tragedy?

  For G & E

  Acknowledgements

  One of the loveliest bits of the book writing process is this bit.

  Thank you to . . .

  My amazing family

  My agents, Ant and James

  My brilliant publishers (who are fully credited at the back)

  Graham Bartlett and Victoria Schroter for the research help

  My wonderful friends

  My incredible MK2

  You, the reader. Thank you for
taking the time to buy my book. I hope you enjoy it.

  And, to splendid E & G always and forever.

  Credits

  Dorothy Koomson would like to thank everyone involved in the production of All My Lies Are True (There are loads of fabulous people as you can see!)

  Editorial

  Jennifer Doyle

  Katie Sunley

  Copy editor

  Gillian Holmes

  Proof reading

  Sarah Coward

  Audio

  Hannah Cawse

  Design

  Yeti Lambregts

  Production

  Tina Paul

  Marketing

  Vicky Abbott

  Jo Liddiard

  Publicity

  Emma Draude

  Annabelle Wright

  Sales

  Becky Bader

  Frances Doyle

  Izzy Smith

  Agents

  Antony Harwood

  James MacDonald Lockhart

  Dear Lovely Readers

  When I finished writing All My Lies Are True, my sixteenth novel, it was November 2019. The world wasn’t in a brilliant state to be honest, but most of us were muddling through and hoping for something better in 2020.

  Who knew that 2020 would turn out to be the year that threw us the biggest curveball in my living memory? Certainly not me, which is why All My Lies Are True unfolds ten years after we said goodbye to Ice Cream Girls Poppy and Serena in 2010. When I was typing those words, I really wasn’t expecting for us to spend a portion of the year confined to our homes, for A-Levels to be cancelled, for spending time together to be considered a highly dangerous activity.

  So, I’m writing you this note to say: when you read about Serena and Poppy, and their friends and families doing ‘normal’ stuff like going to work, revising for exams, living it up at parties or turning up at a hospital, please bear in mind that it was created at a time when the social physicality of the world was as we’d always known it to be. All the situations, emotions and crimes I write about are rooted in reality and are based on real people’s experiences, but they play out on a made-up background. And this book’s background is a little bit more made up than my previous novels.

  I sincerely hope that All My Lies Are True brings a welcome reminder of what our lives were like before a pandemic altered everything; and I really and truly hope you enjoy the book.

  With the best of wishes

  Dorothy Koomson

  April 2020

  Part 1

  The Ice Cream Girls?!

  What happened next?!

  Posted by: Nia Burkinshaw 3 Comments

  Last updated: 12 January

  Does anyone remember the so-called Ice Cream Girls? They were accused of killing their teacher? They were having an affair with him? Does anyone remember that?! My mum has been asking me for ages if I can find out about them on the internet and ask you all on here.

  Most of you would have been too young, like me, but Mum really remembers them and thinks about them all the time. Apparently they treated him really badly and then they killed him at his house. Their names were Serena Gorringe and Poppy Carlisle. They were in London and this was in the eighties. Do you remember this picture of them? The one in the polka-dot bikini is Serena, the one in the blue one-piece is Poppy.

  Mum says the trial seemed to go on for ever but only Poppy went to prison. Serena got away with it. They both kind of ghosted everyone until a few years ago when Poppy came out of prison (I was only six!! then). Mum says she thinks she heard that Poppy might have ended up in Brighton because that’s where the other Carlisles had moved to. Mum also says that everyone at the time thought Serena changed her name? I’ve had a look and I think the Gorringes all still live in London but there’s no mention of Serena anywhere.

  Mum would be really interested to hear if anyone knows what happened to them?? She was really, really fascinated by the story, because they were like the evil superstars of her time and it kind of just ended when Poppy went to prison. Mum also says she thought when Poppy got out again that she might find Serena and they’d go on a murderous hunt together again, but nothing. (BTW – Mum said that, not me!!)

  If you could ask your mums and dads about it on the off-chance that someone might have heard or seen anything, that’d be well cool. DM me, or drop me a line or leave a comment below. Kisses.

  #TheIceCreamGirls #PoppyCarlisle #SerenaGorringe #London #Brighton #murder #teacher

    Share          Like          Repost

    

    Leave a comment

    3 comments

  Kat Allen 14 January at 09.45 a.m.

  I think I’m probably your mum’s age because I remember them! Every now and again I wonder what happened and where they ended up. Be fascinating to find out.

  Lucie Craft 15 January at 11.45 p.m.

  Just read up on this story! I’m in between your age and your mum’s but I think I remember this. It is brilliant. Love to find out more.

  Elenee G 16 January at 10.38 p.m.

  I’m your mum’s age, also. One of them looks so much like a woman whose daughter used to go to my son’s school. The Serena Ice Cream Girl. Her daughter was called something like Variety or Verity, something like that. She had a son, too – I can’t remember his name. Wouldn’t it be a mad coincidence if it was her? I’m sure she was called Serena or something beginning with S. Her surname definitely began with a G because ours does and they were near each other on the register. I’ll ask my son when I speak to him next if he remembers them. Will keep you updated.

  verity

  Now

  ‘Well, look and see who is here,’ he says right beside me.

  Frowning because I’m not sure how it’s possible for him to be here right now, I turn towards the sound of his voice. I can’t believe it! ‘What are you doing here?’ I ask, unable to hide my delight.

  Automatically, I look around to check there’s no one to see us together. Then I glance down at my phone in my hand, check its screen is black and it hasn’t accidentally dialled anyone or isn’t live-streaming this chance meeting. Just to be sure, I press the side button and wait for my phone to ask if I’m sure I want to turn it off. Yes, yes, I’m sure, I think. I don’t want you telling on me.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ I ask him again.

  ‘I’ve come to visit my freaky toys,’ he replies.

  We’re standing in the entrance of the Hove Museum. On the first floor of this historic building in the posh part of Hove, there is a toy museum full of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen. Porcelain dolls with chipped and peeling faces sit in glass cabinets with threadbare, faded teddy bears resting beside them, all of them staring out at us humans as though begging to be released. Along a narrow corridor, which is flanked on each side with cases of other old, spooky toys that I’m still convinced come to life when you’re not looking, is a slightly larger area with dilapidated games and odd books that you’re allowed to touch. As if to add to the creep factor, from a speaker that sounds like it’s attached to an ancient wind-up gramophone, a story is read over and over about someone who doesn’t want to go to school. I love this place. Since I was tiny this and Hove Library were the two places I always begged my mum to bring me to visit.

  ‘Are you really here to visit the freaky toys?’ I ask him.

  ‘Yeah, of course! They’re like my best friends. When I was little, I would go on and on at my mother until she brought me here. What about you?’

  ‘Same. I used to pretend they were actually my toys that were being stored in this attic in a haunted house—’

  ‘—where time’s stood still,’ he finishes with a laugh. ‘I can’t believe there’s another person on Earth who understands the true beauty of this place.’

  ‘Me, too! How come we’ve never talked about this?’

  ‘Yeah, not the sort of thing I tell people, to be honest.’ He glances around, checking again there is no one watching us, no one who would recognise us and tell the wrong person they’ve seen us together. ‘I can honestly say until this moment I’ve never met anyone who has understood it. Until you. And speaking honestly now, I’ve always been a bit dubious about you cos you’re a bit on the dodgy side, but this discovery has shown me that you have real potential, little one, real potential.’

  ‘I can’t believe the amount of cheek that just came out of your mouth. I’m not sure I’ll be able to forgive it.’