Honestly, I only picked this up because of its comparison to A curious Case of the Dog in the Night, which I enjoyed. I thought it would be interesting to experience a book with a man character who has color synesthesia. While at times it was it wasn't enough to overcome everything else I disliked about the book. First off, Bee Larkham was a horrible human being. I had ZERO sympathy for her throughout the book, especially at the end. Her interactions with our main character were at times horrendous, and because of that and the constant repetitiveness this book underwhelmed.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jasper is an autistic teen who is also a synesthete - he can’t recognize faces, he only recognizes people by the colors he sees when he hears their voices. Even a whisper can be confusing. He is a journaler and an artist, as well as a student, whose mother passed away. He lives with his single father who is often insensitive to the fact he is atypical. When a young woman, Bee, moves in across the street, he thinks she’s befriended him, in fact she is manipulating and gaslighting him. After Bee is murdered, Jasper is not just caught up in the intrigue of solving the crime, he’s also a suspect. Red herrings, numerous suspects, and a number of twists make this a captivating literary mystery. Recommended read-alikes: The Flavia de Luce series (Alan Bradley), Ginny Moon (Benjamin Ludwig), and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. (Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the opportunity to read, review, and recommend this title.)

I had heard great things about this book and so jumped at the chance to read it when it arrived on Netgalley (just returned from a break from reviewing, hence the massive delay in posting this!) It was likened somewhat to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which I loved years ago.

Sadly, as much as I was looking forward to this one, it became grating quite quickly, mainly due to the constant colour descriptions. I think it's quite a difficult one; the main character, a young boy called Jasper, has synesthesia, so sees colours when he hears sounds. He's also unable to recognise faces. This is a wonderfully intriguing concept for a book, but I couldn't get through the first quarter, because the constant descriptions were just so repetative and the plot dragged. I really wanted to like this, but I couldn't.

I'm not sure I was QUITE as enamored of this one as some people but it was beautifully written and different - the descriptive sense of what it is like to have Synaesthesia was stunning and rather gorgeous - the highlight really, in the imaginative sense.

A protagonist with synesthesia and prosopagnosia (face blindness) sounds like the perfect cocktail for a mystery book. And you know what? It really was. The combination made for a protagonist that was both unique and memorable and super easy to root for.

Sarah J. Harris turns murder mystery on its head by marrying a charming, yet unreliable, narrator with a seemingly solved murder that begins to unravel. And I loved (almost) every minute of it.

Thoughts:

- This is, hands down, the best unreliable narrator I’ve ever read. Mostly because it’s unintentional. I mean, poor Jasper’s doing his best. He’s not trying to be duplicitous or cunning. Actually, I’m pretty sure he couldn’t even if he tried. Simply due to the nature of his character—a combination of synesthesia, face blindness, and autism—Jasper often doesn’t fully understand the world around him. As the point-of-view character, Jasper tells the story in the best way he knows how, leaving the reader to suss out fact from fiction. And man, it required lots of attention to details and interpreting things rather than relying solely on what you’re told. There were plenty of times I felt myself getting mad on Jasper’s behalf, because he simply didn’t understand what was happening, but there was more than enough context for the reader to pick up on it. And people suck. That’s all I have to say.

- Jasper is a really strong protagonist, and brought a unique perspective to the story. Jasper doesn’t see the world as some might. Part of that is due to his synesthesia, which gives him the ability to see sound as colors. Which is fascinating. Color was such a big theme in the book, and often, Jasper identified people by their clothes and their color. Both of which can be deceptive.

- The mystery was riveting, mostly because it seemed like it was already solved when the book started. But, as I said, Jasper’s world is often deceptive. I mean, the only witness to Bee Larkham’s murder is Jasper, but his memory’s scattered and unclear, and he’s not sure where all the pieces fit together. Everything comes into focus little by little, and it’s often required to read between the lines in order to get the entire gist. Nothing is just blatantly explained, and that kept me engaged in the story.

- The way the book ends? Cue angelic choir! So, an otherwise pleasant mystery book can be totally ruined for me with a lackluster resolution to the mystery. I mean, that’s the whole point of a mystery book, right?! So not the case here. There are several possible culprits, and each one makes sense right up until that final clue, and then it’s like … oooh.

Sticking Points:

- Jasper is obsessed with parakeets and … wow, there was a lot of bird talk. Which is great if you love birds. All you ornithologists out there, I see you. This is a book for you! Parakeet it up. But for me? Hard pass. I really couldn’t be less interested in birds if I tried. Not going to lie, there were several times I considered DNFing this book just because I couldn’t take the bird talk. I understand that it’s a quirk of Jasper’s personality, particularly with his autism and his hyperfocus on the birds, but … I just couldn’t do it. In the end, I opted to just skim or skip those bits.

- Confession: I love books that incorporate color. Also confession: I don’t understand what certain shades are supposed to look like. Which is ALWAYS a problem when reading books where color is a major theme. And yet I love them? Because I’m a bundle of contradictions. I understood why it was a thing, and yet, specific shades always trip me up because I don’t know the difference and I’m sure as heck not going to put my book down to Google that particular color. So it seems we’re at an impasse here.

- You have to really be in it for the long haul to appreciate this book and be able to make it through the slog. There are pros and cons to writing neurodivergent characters. Pro: diversity and representation. Yay! Con: Wow, it’s hard to follow and confusing and often repetitive. Yikes. There were plenty of times that the book dragged simply by virtue of who Jasper was. I tended to be more forgiving because that’s sort of the point of the character, but it definitely bogged down in places for me.

- The very end was an awful lot of exposition explanation, which was a bit of a letdown, since I already got it, even if Jasper didn’t, and I didn’t need it spelled out to me. Some of it was a little necessary, but it felt like the overall mystery was summed up with Jasper just reciting Important Facts that his father told him. The problem is, I already knew most of these facts because of details in the previous narrative, so Jasper stating them was a little on-the-nose for me. Having the answers blatantly handed to me in the end sort of cheapened all the work I did through the rest of the novel to see the truth behind Jasper’s narrative.

This novel tells the story of a boy named Jasper living with autism, synesthesia, and face blindness who sees the world very differently than the rest of us. It reminded me sooo much of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." The story starts with Jasper admitting that he killed his neighbor, Bee Larkham, and then it unfolds in flashbacks to reveal what really happened. This format seemed a little confusing at times since there was a lot of jumping back and forth. I did think a lot of the side characters were interesting, and Harris nailed Jasper's voice. I didn't predict the ending but would have loved a little more cohesion throughout the book. Plus, it felt a tad long. Otherwise, I'd recommend this for anyone looking for a unique and quirky narrator.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was initially drawn to the cover and the title of the book. I liked the unique story. I liked the character of Jasper. At times it was a little too wordy, but otherwise I liked it.

Told from the perspective of a teenaged boy with a form of autism that includes both synesthesia and face-blindness, THE COLOR OF BEE LARKHAM’S DEATH provides a fascinating look at the world through a different lens. As Jasper slowly assembles the clues about Bee Larkham’s death that he is able to discern given his disabilities, the author uses Jasper’s sensory talents and limitations to guide the reader through a maze of misdirection.

Jasper uses clues other than facial features to help him recognize the people moving through his world. He remembers hair color and length and patterns in clothing, but mostly he relies on the colors that spoken voices invoke. Characters are consistently referred to by their colors throughout the book, only to be given names when Jasper has determined their identity through color or clothing. When Bee Larkham moves in next door, part of her charm for him is that her vibrant blue color reminds Jasper of his mother (indigo blue) who died several years ago. Bee has other charms, however, which include sharing his love of the brightly colored parakeets that nest in her trees and playing music very loud (which produces intense colors for Jasper). These charms do not endear her to the older neighbors on the street, leaving Jasper to feel he must protect her and the parakeets.

Bee, a musician, has moved back to the neighborhood from Australia following her mother’s death, planning to clear out the house in which she grew up, sell it, and move on. To support herself, she gives music lessons to local teens. As she becomes entangled with an older boy from Jasper’s school, she manipulates Jasper into becoming a go-between. Jasper’s autism makes him an innocent in the process, and the author allows us feel his confusion at the same time that we understand exactly what is going on behind the scenes. Bee has many visits from the men on the street, and by the time of her murder there are multiple candidates for the perpetrator other than Jasper.

Although the initial pages of the book feel tedious as we get used to seeing the world through Jasper’s eyes, Harris does such a thorough job of making his world complete that the book soon becomes hard to put down. Short chapters that alternate between Bee’s arrival on the street and the months-later investigation of her death help move the pace quickly along. Since it’s not clear to Jasper whether or not he killed Bee Larkham, it is likewise unclear to the reader. The suspense ratchets up as the past and present draw closer together, and the ending provides a satisfying resolution.

This is Sarah Harris’ first adult novel, and in it she immerses the reader in an unforgettable world.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this book was a very well written original, addictive and fascinating murder mystery.
I can’t wait to read what this author writes next.
I highly recommend this book to everyone.

The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris is a highly recommended mystery about an autistic boy with synesthesia who is certain he has done something wrong.

Jasper Wishart, 13, lives in a world defined by color for sounds, words, days, and numbers. While he can't recognize people's faces, he does recognize their colors through their voices. When Bee Larkham moves in across the street, the first thing he notices is her color, which is so close to his deceased mom's color. Bee brings new colors with her, in her music and her life, and, even more importantly, she sets up bird feeders to encourage the parakeets roosting in the tree in her yard. Jasper, who paints the colors her sees, is overjoyed by the beautiful swirling colors the parakeets bring to his world. He uses binoculars to watch them.

Jasper also keeps detailed notebooks about the parakeets, the colors he sees and the people, via their colors, that visit Bee Larkham. Bee may have brought color to the neighborhood for Jasper, but she also brought noise complaints from angry neighbors. We know from the start of the book that Bee Larkham was murdered, and Jasper sees her murder as "ice blue crystals with glittery edges and jagged silver icicles." He is in the police station being questioned with his father, and his father has brought in many of his notebooks. Jasper is sure he is responsible for her murder, and his dad is covering up for him. He is going back, through the colors in his memory and paintings that tell the story of the parakeets and Bee, to tell us what happened.

The narrative alternates between present day and the past, leading up to Bee Larkham's murder, and is told through Jasper's first person unique perspective. The writing is excellent and Harris uses Jasper's synesthesia to provide the details to tell the story. Readers must be determined to stick with the narrative and Jasper's untrustworthy memories, as well as follow the colors Jasper assigns to various sounds and what he notices. It isn't always easy.

The writing is excellent and Jasper is an interesting character. With the narrative jumping between time periods and with the detailed color assignments from Jasper, the ideal reader will likely be willing to invest the time to follow his colors to get to the truth and have a good color vocabulary/visual identification. I know my colors, shades, tints and tones, so this wasn't difficult for me, but might be a struggle for some readers. It was worth it to get to the end and uncover the mystery.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Touchstone.
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The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder is about a teenage autistic boy with synesthesia who gets entangled in a murder mystery. Synesthesia is where two senses are blended. One sense is heightened or activated by another. For instance in Jasper's case he sees colors when he hears sounds. He like other autistic people, has to have things in a certain order and takes things quite literally. He doesn't understand metaphors or some of the colloquialisms that we use, Jasper also has difficulty with facial recognition. He can't even recognize his own father's face. Instead he identifies people by the color of their voice. So thhis father and others that aware of his condition wear particular "uniforms" so that he can figure out who they are based on the articles of clothing, hairstyles or jewelry they are wearing. This device plays a critical part in the story and lends itself well to the mystery.

The murder victim Bee Larkham is described early on as the wayward daughter of Mrs. Larkham who has just recently passed. She has returned to the neighborhood to settle her mother's affairs and get the house in order for sale. But the house is in such disrepair that she decides to hold music lessons in order to raise the money. I had mixed feelings about this character. At first she seemed to understand Jasper and was willing to "gift" him the colors of the parakeets' song. Then she began manipulating Jasper to her own ends, taking advantage of his condition. However, the author is so good at making the characters human that in the end I sympathized for her. Over the course of time we are led to a host of different suspects, including our beloved Jasper. Of course he is so tender-hearted that you find it hard to believe. You're hoping that it's not true despite the evidence. Then you are praying that even if he is guilty that he doesn't get caught up in it. However, as someone with his disability Jasper doesn't know how to lie. So he puts himself in danger time and time again. Read The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder. You'll find yourself rooting for Jasper too.

Experience synesthesia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obrBAysVef0

A super creative mystery by Sarah J. Harris involving an unusual 13-year old boy named Jasper preoccupied with parakeets and born with synesthesia, the superpower of seeing colors when he hears sounds. Jasper also has difficulty recognizing faces. Although a work of fiction, this book opened my eyes to the real phenomenon of synesthesia.

Jasper inherited this remarkable gift from his deceased mother who was the only person in his life who saw the world in the same way. He’s bullied at school, his father wants him to pretend to see the world like a normal person, “monochrome and muted.” When Jasper’s beautiful neighbor and parakeet keeper Bee Larkham disappears, Jasper sees the ‘color of murder’ and alludes that her death is his fault. His father is there to muddy up the water trying to shield his son from the investigators. Is this simply because Jasper’s behavior is too unpredictable or is there something more sinister brewing?

Jasper is bright and quirky. I loved the development of his character, his thought processes, his approach to life and untangling of memories with the connection of colors. A refreshing and good mystery.

When I started this story, I was very intrigued by the plot and how the telling would unfold. It wasn’t a book for me. I wish it would have been told from a different perspective because there were a lot of questions that I needed answered and there were a lot of redundant themes that could have been broken up by adding a third-person perspective. But just because it wasn’t for me, you may love this book! Give it a try. I did finish to the entirety, so my review is based on the fact I wanted to finish the story and it was an easy read.

"The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder" by Sarah J. Harris, Touchstone, June 12, 2018, 368 pages.

Jasper Wishart is 13. He has autism and synesthesia, which causes him to see colors when he hears sounds. He can't otherwise recognize people, but thinks of them related to what they are wearing, such as Dark Blue Baseball Cap Man.

Bee Larkham moves in to her late mother's home, to get it ready to sell. Jasper lives with his dad. His mother died when he was 9. He likes Bee because when she speaks, he sees blue. He saw cobalt blue when his mother spoke.

Bee teaches guitar and piano. Jasper loves birds, especially wild parakeets. Bee lets him come to her house to see the birds from her bedroom window because it is a better view. But neighbors have been complaining that the birds cause damage to their homes and because Bee plays loud music late at night. Then a man accuses Bee of sexually assaulting his son. Police start doing interviews.

During that investigation, Jasper confesses that he murdered Bee and that his father hid her body. He is called to the police station, but because of the synesthesia, he can't be a reliable witness.

This is a wonderful book reminiscent of Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" published in 2003, which is also excellent. While "Bee Larkham" is a mystery, it is more of a character study of the life of a boy with special needs. It is both funny and sad.

This is Sarah J. Harris' first adult novel. She writes young adult books under the pen name Sarah Sky.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the Advanced Readers Copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

What's really happening? What really happened to Bee? Those are the two questions that hover over this intriguing novel narrated by Jaspar, a 13 year old with both synesthia and face blindness who is being raised by his father who just doesn't know what to do with him. The arrival of Bee shakes things up in the neighborhood and for Jaspar. Her murder makes it even more confusing. There are a lot of elements here- a coming of age story, a struggle with difference, a murder mystery- and sometimes it seems like one touch too many. That said, I found this fascinating. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Try this for a unique narrator.

[Excerpt]:
As the synopsis hints, this book is similar to Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” in that the protagonist is a young boy who is autistic. Although his autism doesn’t seem as life-altering as Haddon’s character, Jasper experiences a very unique aspect of autism – as well as being socially awkward, unable to converse with people he doesn’t know, and being very particular about certain things, he sees colors when he hears sounds, and he also has great difficulty recognizing or remembering people . Throughout the novel, it’s quite unclear what’s really going on, which lends Jasper the label of an unreliable narrator. Was Bee Larkham really murdered? Did she really have an affair with a 15 year old? Did said 15 year old really get her pregnant? Was Jasper really responsible for Bee’s potential murder? Other characters’ motives and expressions can’t be taken at face value, either, because from Jasper’s POV, anything and anyone can be suspicious or a villain.

The description of all the colors Jasper sees is so breathtaking. I loved “watermelon pink” and “mustard yellow” as well as “burnt orange” and dozens of other expressions of sound. Here’s a few I highlighted:

“Instead, more parakeets arrived in a chorus of brilliant ultramarine with dustings of lilac and electric violet.”
“amethyst blues”
“rancid seaweed swear-word”
“soft buttery yellow”
“…and a musical chorus of rippling flamingo pinks, purples, blues, and exploding golden droplets.”
[Full review on my blog!]

At its most basic, this is the story of a young man who is on the autism spectrum who thinks he has murdered his neighbor. But really the story is so much more! It is about how Jasper sees colors from sounds. It is about how Jasper is able to (or not) communicate with others and how this impacts the investigation into the disappearance and then murder of Bee Larkham. By the middle of the book, I was able to visualize what I think Jasper's world looked like. I saw illustrated cartoon speech bubbles emerge from speakers filled with colors and animation. It could be a beautiful world and I was jealous. This book could not have been easy to write. Colors were Jasper's identifiers for people, as he can't remember faces, so Ms. Harris couldn't rely on facial expressions to express to the reader emotions. Just like Jasper, we had to use the colors attributed by Ms. Harris, to understand what was happening. Thankfully she went above and beyond a Crayola 154 color box in writing this book and sharing Jasper's world with the reader.

Well, The Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder did not initially grab me. I wasn’t a fan of the characters, but I don’t think that I was supposed to like them. Furthermore, I had most of the mystery solved immediately. There were a few twists and some action at the end that were great. Overall, it was written well, it just took too long to get to solving the mystery.

Jasper Wishart, 13, sees the world as a kaleidoscope of color. He suffers from synesthesia, causing him to see colors when he hears sounds. Additionally, he has face blindness. His world is filled with anonymous faces that are only recognizable to him by voice, choice of clothing, hats and hair style/hair color. He has his own unique method for interpreting the world around him. Sadly, Jasper's mother who had synesthesia as well and understood Jasper best, has died. His dad is finding it difficult to address his needs. Jasper is fascinated with parakeets. He is an budding ornithologist.

Jasper's neighborhood has become chaotic since Bee Larkham moved back home. Bee, a music teacher living in Australia, has returned to renovate her family home and "unload" it as quickly as possible. The tornado that is Bee Larkham creates stress for nearby neighbors. David Gilbert, named "Cherry Cords" by Jasper, is a retired gamekeeper. He threatens to shoot the large abundance of parakeets visiting Bee's bird feeders. "Smoking Black Duffel Coat Man" can't handle the loud music Bee plays at all hours of the night. Jasper, however, is thrilled to meet Bee. Bee's "color" is sky blue, the closest color to the cobalt blue Jasper has visualized and artistically rendered to represent his mother. Jasper begrudgingly agrees to deliver notes for Bee in exchange for viewing rights from her bedroom window while she gives music lessons. Using his binoculars, Jasper can get a close and unobstructed view of the parakeets in Bee's oak tree. Strange things occur. A music student files charges against Bee. Bee goes missing! There can be terrible colors in the world. Jasper is unsettled by color he cannot understand-the color of murder.

"The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder" by Sarah J. Harris is a unique, engrossing mystery. Author Harris has created a tome with many twists and turns, and with great sensitivity, in sharing Jasper Wishart's struggle, within his limited frame of reference, to help unravel the mystery. Kudos to Harris for a superb five star read.

Thank you Touchstone and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder".

10 days. 9 days to get actually interested in this book. And then one more day to finish it. Yeesh. I wanted to love it so much! I love the entire concept of this kid who doesn't process faces, but DOES process sound as color. I love that he did or saw something, and we're trying to piece it together with him, but his sensory processing differences make it so hard. I love that we don't know who to trust. But seriously, the build up and the development of the story is just not there. It shouldn't be this hard to get into something that otherwise has so many qualities that you know you'll love. I'm sorry to say that I can't recommend this one, because it just went too slow. But, if you feel like you've got interest in this type of story, hit me with other recommendations for the unreliable narrator/SPD combo, because I am FOR it!