This may be the most unusual and interesting subject for a Mystery & Suspense book that I have ever encountered in my entire reading lifetime. From the book description: A teenager with autism becomes embroiled in the murder of a neighbor but is he the culprit or the witness? We have thirteen-year-old Jasper Wishart, who was in another of Sarah Harris's previous novels. He has synesthesia...which I then spent another half a day reading about after I looked it up. It seems that people with this, that i found includes a rather small part of the population, thank goodness, experience sights and, particularly, as is Jasper's case, sounds that evoke a range of colors in their heads...that the majority of the population can’t see. To more complicate matters, Jasper is also "face-blind", meaning that he is unable to recognize anyone, even the people that are closest to him...he only "sees" them by hues of voice and sometimes, clothing. He takes everything literally, including metaphors, idioms, and totally empty threats, like those made by his neighbor, David Gilbert, who you will love to hate. The narrative is told exclusively from Jasper’s first-person perspective...and goes back and forth between past and present as Jasper tries to reconstruct events on his street by "painting" the colors from his memories. He sincerely believes that he has killed his new neighbor, Bee Larkham, but he can only "see" disordered images of a bloody knife, and a wound on his own stomach, as evidence. His father, who has raised Jasper alone since the deaths of his mother and his grandmother, is coping by constantly covering up for his son. Jasper is quite sure that his dad disposed of Bee’s body. Jasper remembers how Bee, who was a musician caused many neighborhood arguments by playing loud music and deliberately luring wild parakeets to the feeders she placed in her yard. These parakeets are descendants of escaped pets and have become an invasive pest in the U.K. Even more disturbing is Bee’s behavior around Jasper’s schoolmate, Lucas Drury, a young music student of Bee's. Jasper’s "color-coded reality" becomes as tedious to the reader after a while as it did to the people around him. I really liked that Sarah Harris gave me a topic that was not only new but also very interesting. This can be summed up as a good story that is told with a lot of heart, humor and even a few tears. ( )

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. ( )