Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Meet the author: Lies Lies Lies writer Adele Parks

© PAAdele Parks.
Adele Parks.

Like a fine wine, Adele Parks says her writing has matured as she has aged.

The best-selling novelist has published on average a book a year since she began writing 19 years ago, with her work translated into 26 languages. She is also the ambassador for The Reading Agency and a judge for the Costa Book Awards, so she clearly knows her stuff.

Adele says: “As you get older, you are perhaps a little bit less flippant.

“My earlier books were quite humorous and the characters were less concerned about consequences. As I’ve got older, from the beginning the characters are saying, ‘Actually, this is probably going to go wrong’. That brings more depth and darkness to the subjects and the greater level of threat.”

Parks, who turned 50 this year, is excited about the decade ahead.

“I think ageing is way better than the alternative. Getting old is a privilege. Dying young sucks. I’ve never had a problem with ageing,” she smiles.

“In my 30th year I got my first book deal, in my 40th year I changed publishing houses and got a brilliant deal and we moved houses, and now I think, ‘Ooh, what’s going to happen in my 50th year?’ I find it kind of exciting.

“If anything, I’ve upped my game,” she continues. “I’ve joined a gym, which was health-based. There’s a lot of things you can avoid if you exercise more.

“With my clothes, I was determined not to slip into ‘Beige-ville’ and stop caring how I looked.”

Her 19th novel, Lies Lies Lies, which has raced up the book charts with sales 30% up on her previous book, is a domestic noir centred on a couple who are trying for a second child. But with fertility problems, IVF attempts and alcoholism, things spiral out of control in their relationship, and then an accident changes both their lives forever.

Parks, mum to son Conrad, 18, from her first marriage, says she and her second husband, website designer Jim, decided against having a child between them. She explains: “If I’d had another child there would have been such a big age gap.”

Fertility struggles isn’t something she went through herself. But she explains: “I have a number of very close friends who have had infertility issues and I’ve seen the effects of IVF, both when it’s fantastic and exciting and I’ve also seen the heartbreak … some people just don’t get the result they’re hoping for.”

The author already has two further domestic noir books planned, but confesses she still likes happy endings.

“My writing is relatively uplifting, I hope. There’s dark and shade but there’s light as well,” says Parks. “I don’t want my readers to feel worse after the experience.”


Lies, Lies, Lies Adele Parks, HQ, £7.99