This review first appeared on criminolly.wordpress.com. I received a free copy of this book to review.

‘The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder’ might not be a book that’s going to leap off the shelves as a must buy for crime fans, but it’s definitely one that I’d recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery. First and foremost it’s a moving and fascinating novel about autism and synaesthesia (the neurological condition that results in a joining or merging of senses that aren't normally connected), but the whodunnit element is ever present and very skilfully handled.
It tells the story of Jasper, a thirteen year old boy who sees sounds as colours and is unable to distinguish human faces. When one of his neighbours and friends, Bee Larkham, is murdered, Jasper is pulled into the investigation. What follows is a gradual unveiling of what has led up to the crime, as well as a sensitive examination autism and synaesthesia.
Jasper is a great protagonist: sympathetic, fascinating and a convincingly and engagingly unreliable narrator. His unique take on the world means that past events take on different meanings as he replays them, a trait that works perfectly in a mystery novel. On paper his age and condition might make him sound like a victim, but in reality he is anything but. In fact he shares many of the characteristics of great detectives like Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot - an obsession with the collection of evidence, a rigidly logical mind and a relentless drive to uncover the truth. There is even a wonderfully Poirot-like “assembling of the evidence” scene towards the end of the book which I thought worked brilliantly.
The tick tock approach of interspersing chapters of present day narrative with flashbacks is a very common one nowadays, but author Sarah J Harris uses it to good effect here. Jasper’s replaying of past events in the light of Bee’s death works on two levels - it progresses the plot and our understanding of the mystery in an engaging way, and it brings the boy hero’s character to life. As the events of recent weeks are laid out, the tension builds brilliantly as the relationship between Bee, Jasper and another boy at his school, Lucas, comes into focus.
This is a book as much about people as it is about plot. Jasper is definitely its heart, but around him are a cast of other characters who are just as believable. His father, Bee, Lucas, the neighbours on the street and the police investigating the case. All come together to create a convincing community that we meet through Jasper’s eyes. Like many great crime novels, in the end the events of the distant past have as much bearing on things as more recent ones. As the plot develops so does our understanding of the characters and their motivations, making for a rich, mature and satisfying mystery.
This is Sarah J Harris’ debut novel for adults and there is a great deal to like about it. It’s readable without always being easy reading, gripping and complex without being overly complicated, and funny and moving in equal measure. Whilst it isn’t a traditional crime novel, ‘The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder’ is a novel with enough mystery to delight crime fans and enough of everything else to please readers who don’t normally enjoy the genre. I enjoyed every page and am keen to see what Harris does next.
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What a great read! It was, in so many ways, similar to The Woman in the Window and for that reason alone I was prepared not to like it. However, it was also just as riveting with characters just as compelling. I couldn't put it down. ( )

read-alike Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

I’ve long been fascinated by synesthesia, a condition where the brains perceptions of sensory input are blended. Synesthetes may taste sounds, smell colors or see scents.

In The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder, thirteen year old Jasper Wishart hears sounds as colours.

“Lawn mower: shiny silver
Car revving: orange
Aeroplane: light, almost see-through green
Radio: pink....
Dogs barking: yellow or red
Cats meowing: soft violet blue
Dad laughing: a muddy, yellowish brown
Kettle boiling: silver and yellow bubbles”

Unusually, Jasper also suffers from prosopagnosia, known as face blindness, and is probably also somewhere on the autism spectrum, given his literal manner and self soothing behaviours. His father doesn’t understand, and is perpetually frustrated by his son’s ‘weird’ ways.

When Bee Larkham moves into the Wishart’s Street, Jasper is enchanted by the colour of her voice-sky blue, the explosions of colour from the music she plays loudly in her living room, and most particularly, the flock of parakeets that takes up residence in her garden. However not everyone is happy with the disruption Bee causes in the neighbourhood.

“Bee Larkham’s murder was ice blue crystals with glittery edges and jagged silver icicles.”

The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder is essentially a murder mystery, the story of which unfolds through Jasper’s unique perspective. It is not a straightforward narrative, skewed by Jasper’s limited, and sometimes unreliable view, partially reconstructed by his ornithological log, and the paintings he creates to help him order events. I did feel the pace dragged sometimes but I was engrossed by Jasper’s distinctive voice.

A colourful and Interesting novel, Harris paints a vivid picture of an exceptional boy caught up in extraordinary circumstances. ( )

Thirteen-year-old Jasper Wishart is on the autism spectrum, and has synesthesia - what other people hear, he sees in colour. He also cannot see faces and is only able to recognize people by the colour of their voices. When a neighbour dies and her estranged daughter, Bee Larkham, arrives to settle the estate, she feeds the parakeets that have settled in the trees by her house ensuring that they stay. Jasper loves watching the parakeets, the colours of their feathers but especially of their songs and he spends much of his time watching them and the neighbourhood out his window. He also loves the colours of the music that Bee plays loudly. Unfortunately, not everybody in the neighbourhood shares his appreciation of what, to them, is just constant noise. Jasper also keeps detailed notebooks of everything. At first, Jasper wants to befriend Bee because of the parakeets and because of the colour of her voice. But their relationship is not what he had first believed and eventually they have a falling out. Then Bee disappears.

It took me a while to get into The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris. It seemed slow and, when I put it down, I had trouble picking it up again and eventually gave up altogether and moved on to other books. However, after reading a whole lot of positive reviews by people I trust, I decided to give it another go and I am so glad I did. This time I became fully immersed in the story. I was tied to the pages trying to guess what really happened to Bee and what role Jasper played in it. The story is told by Jasper and he a very unreliable narrator for many reasons - his condition, his faulty memory, his inability to decipher speech idiosyncracies like metaphors or common cliches or to recognize people unless they speak, as well as his father's constant admonitions to keep what happened a secret. As a result, he tends to wind back and forth through the story, giving us only little snippets of what really happened revealing only enough at a time to keep the reader guessing and trying to piece it all together. This book may be about a boy who sees vibrant colours all around him but this is a very dark story. However, at least for me, once you get into it, it is a very well-written and compelling one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )