Jasper understands the world around him by colours and sounds, he cannot recognise faces and he is doesn’t understand why people talk in confusing double meanings and jokes. When Bee Larkham moves in across the street he LOVES her colour. But, no one else seems to agree. When she disappears no one will listen to Jasper even though he knows what has happened to her.
Author: Sarah J Harris
Title: The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder
Press: Harper Collins
Date of publication:
Rating: 7
There was a lot to like about this book and I was surprised by its originality. Having read approx. 100 murder mysteries I was refreshed by Harris’s approach and found that it kept me guessing throughout. Beyond that it was an interesting insight into the everyday frustrations of being a child with autism as well as the difficulties which even parents can have when trying to communicate with them.
The characters are complex and well developed, no one is perfect and everyone is guilty. As a result the book feels ‘true’. Red herrings abound and right up until the final moments I was changing my mind about what had happened to Bee.
The colour motifs took a while to get used to and Jasper’s way of expressing himself is often difficult to understand. This added rather than detracted from the impact of the book for me. Whether this is a realistic portrayal of synaesthesia and autism or not I honestly don’t know but I found it compelling none the less.
Featured image: Photo by Werlley Meira from Pexels
Photo: Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels
Photo 2: Photo by Art by Lønfeldt from Pexels
Beth's Books (and other bits and bobs) 