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!
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