Bad Blood by Lily Hayden #BlogTour

 

"...looking at the family that you gave me, I know that there's no such thing as bad blood. Some people are meant to be parents, but some people just aren't that good at it. That's not our fault; it's just your loss".

Bad Blood by Lily Hayden is an unsettling mystery full of family secrets and twisting turns.

Synopsis:

Tim, Rose, Will and Belle led a charmed childhood growing up together on idyllic Bluebell Farm, but everything changed when their mother died. Sixteen years on, they're practically strangers.

An unexpected invitation from their estranged father brings them back together giving them an opportunity to heal past wounds and start afresh.

But when Frank is found dead on the morning of his wedding, suspicion turns to the four siblings' motivations, and the bad blood of the past resurfaces.

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The blurb is a bit misleading, as it's not a crime story, but a social study of a dysfunctional family. The four siblings are all emotionally messed-up to a certain extent. None of them seem to be able to hold a meaningful relationship. 

One may wonder, is this the fault of their aloof father, who didn't care much for them when they were children, and totally ignored them as grown-ups?! Their late mother was a wonderful, loving parent, but it's the messed-up relationship with their father that all the siblings seem to believe has had the most profound effect on their own lives. Can we really blame our parents for all the mistakes we make ourselves?

The reader is introduced to the drama from the very beginning, then they are taken back in time to unravel the family secrets. We watch the main characters, each of them receiving a wedding invitation, and the torrent of emotions it releases, from deep resentment to a glimmer of hope. They all have problems, financial, emotional, social. 

Tim, the eldest son, is the most onbnoxious. He's well off, but it doesn't even cross his mind that he could help any of his poor relatives financially. He is a narcissictic buffoon, who also happens to be a cheat. In fact, he has none of the redeeming qualities, and it's not clear why his wife would tolerate his appalling behaviour.

Rose has given up on her dreams in order to be a stay at home mother for her two sons, but is unappreciated and taken for granted by her offspring. Her husband has left her for a younger woman, and she is unable to find a good job. Trying to earn money in a job which makes her miserable, she is drowning her sorrows in a bottle of cheap gin. "Somehow, she'd gone from wearing her "middle-class stay-at-home Mum" badge with pride to feeling like a lonely, washed-up forty-year-old with no social life, no family and a job she hated." (From the four siblings it's Rose I can relate to, having made a conscious choice to stay at home to look after my sons. If I could go back in time and be presented with the same choice, I would opt for it again, but in a way you see that in the eyes of many this removes your own identity, you become X and Z's Mum, not a person in your own right).

Then there's Will, a freelance photographer who lives with his partner Craig, and who hasn't seen his father in many years. "He'd genuinely believed that his siblings had some semblance of a relationship with their father, and that he was the family outcast. From what he'd heard over the past week though, it seems like they were all islands in the stream".While in his 30s, he still behaves like a teenager. There is nothing wrong in having dreams of travelling round the world, but you need to be honest with yourself and those who you claim to love. 

Belle is a single mother, with a night-time job in a seedy bar. She lives in a shabby flat with her unscruplous thug of a boyfriend, who is a parasite and sponger. Belle is bitter and resentful that none of her family show much interest in her life. She loves her son Toby dearly, but she struggles to get a job that works around her child's needs; she is desperate to keep the job to pay the bills, and tries to suppress her niggles about the sleazy boyfriend. "She knew there was no magic solution to her problems, and no amount of pining for her family would make them any closer. That ship had sailed long ago. The only person she could rely on was herself".

It is truly sad that the father still yields the power to upset them. In his 70s, he is playing power games, by sending out the invitations to his wedding with a woman none of the children have ever even heard of. "He held the power, disrupting their lives when he summoned them back here, snatching their safe place". The four siblings are invited to the wedding, but they are treated as unwanted visitors in their childhood home. "The Bluebell farm was more than just a portfolio or an investment"; it was their home, "and it was all they had left of their mother". 

The new wife-to-be Linda is a gold-digger who prays on the old vulnerable man. Though the Bluebell Farm had been in their mother's family for over a century, now there is bound to be an impact on the will which will disadvantage the children.

When four of them meet again, there is a lot of tension and bad feelings between them. They are suspicious of Linda's motives, and are worried about their father's frailty. His sudden death is a catalyst for feelings that have been buried deep. 

Will "recognised how much he had craved the collective sense of belonging that had died with their mother. She had been their anchor, and without her they had been cast adrift. the hardest part, he thought as he regarded his siblings, had been knowing that Frank could have been the tie that they needed, but he had chosen to turn his back on the role".

Frank's death draws suspicions on the family, when the accusations of murder are launched against them.

What has happened to Frank? Was it truly an accident, or is one of the siblings hiding a dark secret?

Bad Blood has a vividly drawn cast of characters, each of whom has motives to get back at their father. The tension is high, as the truth is slowly revealed. You sympathise with them (to some extent), you judge them (quite a lot), you hope that they succeed in their plans. 

It is written so convincingly, I can easily imagine heated debates on Mumsnet's AIBU which could happen in real life - AIBU to expect our mother's inheritance to go to us and not to be given to the second wife? AIBU to expect help from my rich brother when I am totally broke? AIBU not to settle down and move to the sticks from London, if my partner pressures me to, as I feel we are at different stages in our lives? AIBU to feel peeved that I am unappreciated by my sons? The list of questions could be endless. 

Bad Blood is a gripping story, hard to put down, and it will keep you guessing - just who's done it?

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08SL9KD5K/   

US -  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SL9KD5K/

 

Author Bio

Lily Hayden writes chick lit with a kick.

Modern day women want modern day heroines and Lily's characters want sizzling romance, rewarding careers and equal partnerships, but like all of us, they face many challenges and it isn't always easy.

A mother to four children, Lily graduated with a degree in Business in her hometown in South Wales and enjoyed a successful career in Financial Services before fulfilling a lifelong ambition to write books.

Her debut novel Butterflies, a heartwarming alternative to the traditional boy-meets-girl story, was released in 2018, reaching readers all over the world and she is the author of seven books, including a Young Adult Dystopian novel Project Terra under the alias SJ Woods (because who doesn't love a bit of action and defeating bad guys every now and again).

Follow Lily on social media for the latest releases, promotions and occasional photos of her dogs.

Social Media Links –

Lily Hayden (facebook.com)

Hayden Woods Creative (@hwoods_creative) / Twitter

Lily Hayden (@hwoods_creative) • Instagram photos and videos

Lily Hayden (Author of Butterflies) (goodreads.com)

This post is part of the blog tour, you might want to check out the other stops along the tour.

Many thanks to Lily Hayden and Rachel's Random Resources for an e-copy of the book!