Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Ice Cream Girls-Dorothy Koomson

The Ice Cream Girls


Dorothy Koomson

Grand Central, Apr 24 2012, $14.99

ISBN: 9781455507139



The 1989 Daily News Chronicle contains an article about The Ice Cream Girls (teenagers Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe) standing trial for the murder of their popular history teacher Marcus Halnsey. Both deny torturing and stabbing to death Halnsey who abused both of his students, warned them to remain silent or else; while also saying he loved them. Poppy was convicted of the homicide and went to prison while Serena was acquitted and set free.



Over two decades later, Poppy is released from prison. All this time behind bars she had one goal: to prove her innocence. Poppy seeks Serena to force her to tell the truth as to what happened in 1989, but the girl, who was never her friend in spite of the media lies to the contrary, vanished.



Serena is married to Dr. Evan Gillmaire. They have two children and though she is happy, Serena lives in fear that her notoriety will surface and cost her family as she has never been able to tell Evan the truth even while she believes Poppy was the killer.



Rotating perspective between the title characters in different time periods, The Ice Cream Girls is an exciting psychological suspense that grips the reader with a need to know what happened in the 1980s and what will occur as obsessed Poppy stalks family woman Serena. Both remains haunted by Marcus as neither fully moved on. The media hangs the two teens as Lolita while ignoring an adult in a mentoring position having sex with both of them and the court follows the news frenzied lead seems wrong but feels hypocritically honest. Fans will enjoy this taut thriller while wondering who killed the popular teacher.



Harriet Klausner



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