Diana Copland - A Reason to Believe

Detective Matthew Bennett doesn't believe in ghosts. So when the spirit of a murdered child leads him to her body, he's shaken to the core--and taken off the case. Unable to explain his vision, or to let go of the investigation, Matthew turns to renowned medium Kiernan Fitzpatrick. Though he has doubts about Kiernan's claims to communicate with the dead, Matt is nevertheless drawn to the handsome psychic, who awakens feelings he thought were long-buried.
Haunted by the lingering spirit of the little girl, Kiernan is compelled to aid in the search for her killer. The chance to get closer to the enigmatic Matt is an unexpected bonus. Although Kiernan's been betrayed by people who turned out to be more interested in his fame than in himself, with Matt he's willing to risk his heart. As the two men grow closer, Kiernan helps Matt rediscover that life offers no guarantees--but love offers a reason to believe...

Comment: This book was recommended for me and I didn't know the author even existed before that. Still, the blurb seemed interesting enough and I was curious about how the story would develop.

This is the story of detective Matt Bennett, a police officer who is still mourning the loss of the man he loved and now is facing an investigation about the murder of a child and he knows how to find her body because her ghost points him in the right direction. Matt is unsure of what to think, he never believed in ghosts, but he can't «unknow» the child's ghost either.

Kiernan Fitzpatrick is a young man who works as a medium and talks to ghost all the time. After a meeting Matt's sister-in-law pushes him to go, Matt and Kiernan start to talk about the child's ghost and how to solve the murder case, but there's also something between them that they can't seem to push aside...

This story started of really well. I was impressed by how Matt was and how realistic he is but by how much he still missed his deceased partner. I think the  author did a good job in shaping up Matt's personality and in making him seem believable.

I think one of the things that strike me as better done was how Matt still thought about his partner, how he still suffered, and how others found out in the funeral just how close they were. This part of the book was done very well, with the right emotional level.

I was really impressed and then the murder investigation started to develop. Again, I think the author sticked with the usual and developed a story based on details, on a simple police investigation which I'll bet won't be too far off the real thing. Sure, with fictional situations in there, but I assume the basics are that. I also think it was a good choice by the author to jeep things simple and straightforward. The whole segment of the murder investigation wasn't full of excessive clues and hints and things but on the opposite, it was basic, simple and enough to sustain the plot moving forward.

By this point, Matt, an obvious sceptical about the existence of ghosts and paranormal stuff met Kiernan and this was supposed to be the thing that would force them to know each other. In fact, it was so in the beginning. But from the moment they started to et involved - all still very superficially still - I've noticed a certain change in the story, like a change of course moved things from a very clear path to one full of clichés and overseen ideas.

I think this happened because of the relationship between them. Matt had more than enough time to mourn his partner but everyone told him it was time to move on. For romance's purposes it was so, enough time had passed, but maybe that wasn't obvious to Matt.

Kiernan seemed mysterious enough to have some fascination but I didn't like him that much. I thought he was too flamboyant for my taste. Not that he was a show of or too gay in everyone's faces, but his attitude and personality was a little too close to twinkland for my personal taste. I didn't really warm up much to him, despite his good moments.

All in all, the story has many positive things. The murder was solved in a satisfying way, not too complicated despite some scenes slightly over the top, but overall, the whole murder parts were done well.

The relationship part wasn't as well done in my opinion, it felt right at some point, but in other times not that well. I think this might be just my own POV speaking, and not the way things actually are on the story but it's the way it is.

Grade: 7/10