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A review by ruthie_the_librarian
The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J. Harris
4.0
This is an interesting mishmash of autistic boy/synaesthesia/murder mystery genres. I can see that some readers might find Jasper's character too frustrating (there's an awful lot about the parakeets!) but I though the portrayal was good, though he occasionally seemed a bit younger than he was supposed to be. The synaesthesia aspect was very interesting, and it was also interesting to think about what it must be like to have face blindness (or live with someone who does).
I liked the murder mystery side of things, and I was kept guessing on what happened so that's always a plus point for me.
On the downside, I found the conclusion ran too slowly for my liking. I understood why Jasper was only slowly piecing together the evidence, but it just dragged on too long. I also found the time shifts very confusing. I felt like I needed a little calendar in front of me to figure out which bit of time I was reading about now - this did add to the confusing feel of the murder, but I would have preferred a more linear approach, or at least a clearer delineation of what was happening when without the need to try and remember days.
Overall though I enjoyed reading this.
With thanks to NetGalley for the copy in return for an honest review.
I liked the murder mystery side of things, and I was kept guessing on what happened so that's always a plus point for me.
On the downside, I found the conclusion ran too slowly for my liking. I understood why Jasper was only slowly piecing together the evidence, but it just dragged on too long. I also found the time shifts very confusing. I felt like I needed a little calendar in front of me to figure out which bit of time I was reading about now - this did add to the confusing feel of the murder, but I would have preferred a more linear approach, or at least a clearer delineation of what was happening when without the need to try and remember days.
Overall though I enjoyed reading this.
With thanks to NetGalley for the copy in return for an honest review.