Adele Parks - Lies Lies Lies

ADELE PARKSwas born in Teesside, North-East England. Her first novel, Playing Away , was published in 2000 and since then she’s had eighteen international bestsellers, translated into twenty six languages. She’s an Ambassador for The National Literary Trust and The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa. She’s lived in Italy, Botswana and London, and is now settled in Guildford, Surrey, with her husband, son and cat.

Playing Away

Game Over

Larger Than Life

The Other Woman’s Shoes

Still Thinking Of You

Husbands

Young Wives’ Tales

Happy Families (Quick Read)

Tell Me Something

Love Lies

Men I’ve Loved Before

About Last Night

Whatever It Takes

The State We’re In

Spare Brides

If You Go Away

The Stranger In My Home

The Image Of You

I Invited Her In

Short story collections

Love Is A Journey

Lies Lies Lies

Adele Parks

ONE PLACE MANY STORIES

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2019

Copyright © Adele Parks 2019

Adele Parks asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © September 2019 ISBN: 9780008284671

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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008318413

For my dear friends Marguerite Weatherseed and Louise Gibbons. Two of the kindest people I have the privilege of knowing.

You are both simply lovely.

‘Gripping, moving and elegantly written’ Marian Keyes

‘Brilliant, moving and deeply satisfying, Parks is the queen of the domestic dark side’ Veronica Henry

‘Completely addictive… superbly drawn. Fabulous’ Ruth Jones

‘Compelling and suspenseful’ Catherine Isaac

‘I devoured Lies, Lies, Lies … so engaging, well written. It is one of those rare books that earns the title, unputdownable’ Sally Hepworth

‘Brilliantly twisty and makes for a thrilling, unputdownable read but is also so insightful about human nature: her characters, with all their flaws and secrets, are utterly real. A triumph’ Lucy Foley

‘BOOM! What a book! Layers and layers of intrigue and characters I want to spend a lifetime with. Loved it’ Suzy K Quinn

‘Utterly brilliant, twisting and twisting again, but also shocking and sad and triumphant and beautiful’ Rachel Edwards

‘Engrossing and emotional, Lies Lies Lies had me gripped from the very first page to the final shocking finale. Adele Parks just gets better and better’ Lisa Hall

Praise for Adele Parks’ I Invited Her In

‘Really, REALLY good… absolutely brilliant’ Marian Keyes

‘Packed with secrets, scandal and suspense, this is Adele Parks at her absolute best’ Heat

‘Wow! What a read. Intense, clever and masterful’ Lisa Jewell

‘Original and compelling. I read it in one sitting’ Jane Fallon

‘Fabulously gripping. Superb’ Ruth Jones

‘A beautifully written tale of revenge and retribution, full of unexpected plot twists’ The Daily Mail

‘Weaving together the emotions and ties that bind female friends with a cracking paced twist of a tale’ Stylist

‘This chilling domestic noir tale is full of revenge, betrayal and gasp-out-loud moments’ Fabulous Magazine

‘A tale of revenge and retribution that I read in a single, mesmerised sitting’ Woman & Home

‘A gripping read from the brilliant Adele Parks’ HELLO

Cover

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

Praise

Prologue

2016

1. Daisy

2. Simon

3. Daisy

4. Simon

5. Daisy

6. Simon

7. Daisy

8. Simon

9. Daisy

10. Simon

11. Daisy

12. Simon

13. Daisy

14. Simon

15. Daisy

16. Simon

17. Daisy

18. Simon

19. Daisy

20. Simon

21. Daisy

22. Simon

23. Daisy

24. Simon

2019

25. Daisy

26. Simon

27. Daisy

28. Simon

29. Daisy

30. Simon

31. Daisy

32. Simon

33. Daisy

34. Daisy

35. Simon

36. Daisy

37. Simon

38. Daisy

39. Simon

40. Daisy

41. Simon

42. Daisy

43. Daisy

44. Simon

45. Daisy

46. Simon

47. Daisy

48. Simon

49. Daisy

50. Simon

51. Daisy

52. Simon

53. Simon

54. Daisy

55. Simon

56. Daisy

57. Simon

58. Daisy

59. Simon

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Questions for Discussion

About the Publisher

May 1976

Simon was six years old when he first tasted beer.

He was bathed and ready for bed wearing soft pyjamas, even though it was light outside; still early. Other kids were in the street, playing on their bikes, kicking a football. He could hear them through the open window, although he couldn’t see them because the blinds were closed. His daddy didn’t like the evening light glaring on the TV screen, his mummy didn’t like the neighbours looking in; keeping the room dark was something they agreed on.

His mummy didn’t like a lot of things: wasted food, messy bedrooms, Daddy driving too fast, his sister throwing a tantrum in public. Mummy liked ‘having standards’. He didn’t know what that meant, exactly. There was a standard-bearer at Cubs; he was a big boy and got to wave the flag at the front of the parade, but his mummy didn’t have a flag, so it was unclear. What was clear was that she didn’t like him to be in the street after six o’clock. She thought it was common. He wasn’t sure what common was either, something to do with having fun. She bathed him straight after tea and made him put on pyjamas, so that he couldn’t sneak outside.

He didn’t know what his daddy didn’t like, just what he did like. His daddy was always thirsty and liked a drink. When he was thirsty he was grumpy and when he had a drink, he laughed a lot. His daddy was an accountant and like to count in lots of different ways: ‘a swift one’, ‘a cold one’, and ‘one more for the road’. Sometimes Simon though his daddy was lying when he said he was an accountant; most likely, he was a pirate or a wizard. He said to people, ‘Pick your poison’, which sounded like something pirates might say, and he liked to drink, ‘the hair of a dog’ in the morning at the weekends, which was definitely a spell. Simon asked his mummy about it once and she told him to stop being silly and never to say those silly things outside the house.