A review by sophieannereid
The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris

4.0

This took a while to get going and at times was it was difficult to get into. But the precise reason why it was so hard to read was what made this book so interesting, a great effort has been made to tell the story from the point of view of a child with autism, synesthesia and prospopagnosia. That’s a lot to pack in to a character but everything was interwoven and you got a real sense of Jasper as a person, not just a collection of diagnoses.

The underlining thread of this story is a murder mystery, which stands well on its own. The murderer makes sense but there’s plenty of red herrings and detours along the way. The victim is a complex character in her own right, I’m still not sure how I feel about her. What really makes this book special is Jasper as the narrator, it was equal parts delightful and frustrating. Jasper is highly observant and has a great memory for voices but can become fixated on certain things, is unable to recognise faces and can be easily mislead. This doesn’t make for a reliable narrator, but it’s interesting to see the world through his eyes and observe him putting the clues together in his own unique way.

I would have enjoyed this book even more if it was a bit faster paced, but it was worth persevering to the second half!