Tag: Crime

The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah. J Harris

Official Book Description:

How do you solve a mystery when you can’t understand the clues? There are three things you need to know about Jasper.

1. He sees the world completely differently.
2. He can’t recognise faces – not even his own.
3. He is the only witness to the murder of his neighbour, Bee Larkham.

But uncovering the truth about that night will change his world forever…

Review:

While perusing the latest books on offer in my local bookshop I came across ‘The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder’, which appeared to be a murder mystery but which a unique twist. The story is written from the viewpoint of Jasper, a 13 year old boy with synaesthesia – a merging of senses where he interprets sounds as colours and in addition to this face-blindness where he can only recognise people (even his father) by their voices and their clothing.

After Jasper’s new neighbour, Bee Larkham goes missing; he is left questioning the events surrounding this and is convinced of one fact: she was murdered. We join Jasper on his investigation where he attempts to piece together the colours for the evening and weeks leading up to her disappearance. The complexity of his learning difficulties and memory recollection weaves us through a jigsaw of theories which Jasper bases upon the little he does recall and his comprehensive list of neighbour and bird activity he witnesses from his bedroom window. We also get to know Bee Larkham’s personality and grapple with the likability to her character, do we feel sorry for or not? Harris does a good job of pulling us either side of the fence for whether she genuinely cares for Jasper or is merely using him as a tool.

Intrigued? This book is very unique, quirky and well-thought-out.  I will admit, the first few chapters were so different and overwhelming with the different colours and descriptions Harris provides us with that I believed it would get a little repetitive and monotonous. However, I have read similar reviews to this effect and the consensus (which I agree with) is to persevere as I did, as I became hooked! It is endearing to get to know this little boy with autism and I certainly felt like I was rooting for him to discover the truth by the end.  

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Where to Buy:

You can order this book online via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com or Waterstones

If you enjoyed my review or influenced you to try the book, please leave me a comment & like!

by Categories: Crime, Easy Read, Modern & Contemporary FictionTags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Haunted by James Patterson & James O.Born

Official Book Description:

You can take Michael Bennett out of New York City, but you can’t take the cop out of Michael Bennett.

Detective Michael Bennett is ready for a vacation after a series of crises push him, and his family, to the brink. He settles on an idyllic small town in the beautiful Maine woods. But just when Bennett thinks he can relax, he gets pulled into a case that has shocked the tight-knit community. Kids are disappearing with no explanation – until several bodies turn up in the woods.

Far from the city streets he knows so well, Bennett is fighting to protect a town, the law, and the family that he loves above all else.

Review:

Haunted takes us in the footsteps of Michael Bennett, an NYPD cop whose personal life is on a downward spiral. He decides to take his family on holiday but he doesn’t get the relaxing get-away he’d quite hoped for! The story focuses primarily on Michael Bennett with his family and other characters moving along with the plot. The writers did a brilliant job in developing his character and allowing us, as the reader to understand the world from his perspective. He is a family man, pure and simple.

Michael has experienced plenty of heartaches and a recent event close to home forms a connection with his personal and professional life. We see a cop, upholding the law, bringing criminals to justice. On the other hand, he is also a father; desperate to help a loved one, but his hands are tied. It alters the way he looks at situations – rather than through the eyes of a police officer he is also looking from the viewpoint of a father.

I believed initially, that the plot would follow his attempts to resolve these matters and get to the bottom of them …but the story itself took a different route and focuses on a different murder case in the woods of Maine. It seems Michael cannot escape from the world around him and his determination for justice is admirable.

The chapters and sentences were quite short. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for me, it worked. I felt eager to continue reading and find out what would happen next.

I felt Michael’s character was strong; I genuinely felt a bond with him and therefore his family – I cared about what was going to happen; towards the end, I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough!

This being said, as aforementioned I felt the story did deviate from the path it appeared to initially be taking. There didn’t seem to be any real closure on the events surrounding his personal life, not all the questions relating to this were answered, it was concluded in quite a vague way. Sadly, I also predicted most of the ending, it wasn’t as complex as hoped, and there was very little suspense.

I’d recommend this book if you are looking for an easy read. I enjoyed it and I would unquestionably try more books by these authors. However, this was not a complex plot and the story was pretty much straight forward from start to finish. I felt the satisfaction of the story being concluded, however, I was not left awestruck by the outcome, it certainly won’t be sitting on my shelf of memorable readings.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Where to Buy:

You can order this book online via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Asda (For UK visitors)

World of Book (UK Delivery)

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