I'd heard a lot about this book so was excited to get a NetGallery ARC. I thought it was very well written and while Jasper isn't always the most likeable of characters, the story is gripping and had me wondering what would happen next. I thought the description of how Jasper sees colours was very evocative and was cleverly used as a storytelling mechanism whilst explaining the condition of synaesthasia clearly and, I think, accurately (speaking from no prior experience!).

I thought the storyline of this book was good and I enjoyed the whodunnit element. What I enjoyed most however was reading about someone with synesthesia as it was something I had never heard of. The book was beautifully described using mainly colours to identify almost every element which gave it a whimsical feel to the characters which at times contrasted with the theme of the story, but in a really interesting way.

Thanks for letting me read this book.

After the first chapter, I didn't think I'd like this AT ALL. It's a grower though! Once you fall in to the rhythm of Jasper's life and the way that he sees the world, it's all rather beautiful. He has synaesthesia - he sees sounds and voices as colours. Numbers and words have colours too. To add to his interesting world, he also has prosopagnosia (face blindness) and autism. He paints pictures of the sounds he experiences, and they sound as though they'll be beautiful.
I really felt for his father: it can't be easy parenting a child with Jaspers complex needs. However, I feel he comes across as being a very capable, loving man. He struggles to understand his son sometimes, but I think he appears to work very hard to help Jasper. And honestly, it must be hard to be Jasper as well.
As someone who works in education, I found it difficult to see how Jasper has slipped through the net of support for his conditions - but it does say in the novel that they have moved around a lot (and I'll allow for poetic licence!). So this might be the reason.
The descriptive language in this novel surrounding Jaspers synaesthesia really is beautiful, and well worth a read purely for that. Then you can stay for the murder mystery event!

This book is fantastic and I love it because it is so different to anything I've read before. Jasper has Synaesthesia which means he sees sounds as colour. The book is told from his point of view and the world that he builds is beautiful. He is also autistic and has Prosopagnosia (face blindness).

The story revolves around Jasper and his relationship with his mysterious neighbour Bee Larkham. He is convinced something bad has happened to her but due to his conditions, and because he is scared, he struggles to put the pieces together.

The fact that Jasper is an unreliable narrator makes this book gripping and you will find yourself distrusting every character. It ended up being nothing like I expected and I loved every minute.

This tells the story of Jasper who sees sounds as colours. He realises that something has happened to his neighbor Bee Larkham. Nobody else seems to be listening to him. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I could not put it down. The author really took me into the mind of Jasper and I saw through his eyes. It was beautifully written. It also has twists to keep you guessing. I would highly recommend this book.

A fabulous read from beginning to end, couldn’t stop once I’d started. An amusing, light hearted holiday read that will leaving you hoping for more. The author writes with such humour and intrigue and has you question similarities you may have to the extremely vivid characters and wonderful story line.

A really fantastic, well researched novel. So unique and interesting, it kept me guessing until the end. Would recommend for fans of The Curious Incident.

This book is a wonderful insight into the amazing world of synathesia and through the eyes of Jasper. The premis of the book is a murder but the main focus is the wonderful way Jasper sees and experiences life. This is an existential feast. The book is written with humour and a sense of warmth. I thoroughly enjoyed this read it is very different from anything else I have read.

I saw the title of this book and, even before I saw the blurb, decided I needed to read it. It’s definitely something that would catch my eye on a library shelf. The main character Jasper is 13 but he definitely came across as younger, possibly due to the conditions he suffers from. While I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of Synaesthesia I don’t think I had ever fully tried to imagine ‘hearing’ colours until reading this. To be honest at the start of the book all the colour references seemed to get in the way of the storytelling but as it progressed I stopped noticing them. I particularly enjoyed the last quarter of the book but it felt like an uphill journey to get to that point. A challenging read but a memorable one.

Jasper sees people as different colours, and finds it hard to identify people just by looking at them, so he has a hard time when he is questioned by the police about Bee Larkham. Bee is his next door neighbour, and has caused trouble on the street since she arrived and now she has disappeared.
The book tells how Jasper struggles with school, but loves to paint in the colours he sees around him.
A moving book with a mystery thrown in which keeps you guessing till the end,

My thanks to netgalley for my ecopy of this book. The book is narrated by the young teenager Jasper who is autistic and synaesthetic (I hope I've got that right) I have worked with a number of youngsters with autism and can confirm that Jasper is very true to that condition but I have never encountered face blindness before.

As engaging as Jasper is, at the outset I really struggled with the colours that he sees rather than hearing sounds, as I am someone who finds visualisation difficult but I did get past this and I am sure that for many these descriptions will add even more to the authenticity and validity of the outcome.

Jasper's story is about parakeets and murder and the puzzles he has to deal with whilst eventually solving the murder of Bee Larkham. This book is so completely different to any others in this genre but I found it completely compelling. However, as in life, I think readers will either love Jasper or they may dislike him. I found him to be absolutely wonderful and I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I requested this on a whim. It’s not my usual genre and I struggled with it. I DNF at 28%. Not for me, sorry.

It was my first insight into this disorder and found it educational. I found some parts repetitive and had to keep reminding myself of which colours were who. All in all I would recommend as it gave an insight into human and neighbourhood relationships.

Difficult subject to tackle,never mind the mystery as well. Wasn't an easy read,but heartwarming ending.

**I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for my own personal and honest review**

I found this book a bit of a slow burner, it took me a while to get into it, Jasper's voice is so unique that I found his descriptions and colours hard to relate to at times, but the last 1/3rd of the book really captivated me and I ended up really enjoying it. At the beigning I wasn't sure that I would.

The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder is a really original book, there have been others I've read recently on prosopagnosia or autism, but it's really the inclusion of synesthesia that makes this book truly stand out. I read it in ebook format, but there's obviously some paintings included with colours, it might have helped me to relate a little better at the beginning. I'm not a pantone expert, so I can't, for istance, in my head differentiate between sky blue and cobalt blue, and I felt that was an important differentiation.

This is a wonderfully researched and detailed rich book, and it has so many subtle layers that I'd recommend anyone to read it. It's the story of a boy who is so comfortable with who he is, struggling to fit in in a world who isn't comfortable with who he is. It's about acceptance. Although of course it's also about murder. I'll probably be thinking about this one for a while.

An interesting story where the main character is an adolescent boy that not only has autism but also synaesthesia . I thought that the author described the character's observations and emotions very well showing an extensive amount of research into those topics. Unfortunately, the excess of these descriptions did detract from the storyline for me and I was starting to lose interest. However I stuck with it past the mid-point and found that I could not put it down until it ended. Overall, not for the easily bored but an enjoyable read.

The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J Harris a powerful four-star read. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea as not everyone will enjoy the style of writing, but give it a go as its beautifully written and powerful beyond belief. Jasper is our narrator and for a young man he has a powerful voice, he shows us the murder mystery in a manner that will keep you guessing all the way through. Jasper has synaesthesia meaning he sees sounds as colours and this adds a great level to the story, making you see the story unfold, as well as some other problems such as not recognising faces, which must be so difficult to cope with but yet again adds a great aspect to the story. As the story unfolds you see how easy it is for Jasper to get confused, is that what happened or is he really right?
It can get a little confusing at times, but I just went back a couple of pages and could find the story again quickly, this may just be one of the most powerful books of the year.

A wonderful book.

This is a truly unique story with a wonderful protagonist. I was enthralled within the first few chapters and couldn't stop reading. Jasper is a hugely lovable character with a distinctive voice. Never read a book quite like this, but would recommend it to fans of The Curious Incident or Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend.

I'm not sure I was QUITE as enamoured 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.

Minus that though it's a nice little mystery story in it's own right and I would have adored it if I had gotten along with Jasper but I'm afraid he annoyed me somewhat from about midway through the book. He is different, thinks differently but I thought he read rather too young even allowing for his Synaesthesia and the way that makes him see the world differently. Some of his repetitive behaviour was just brought up too much.

Even with that though, I loved the idea of it, the concept is fantastic and it is well executed, I imagine that this one will do very well and it deserves too simply for bringing something different to the crime mix.

Recommended even with my subjective caveats.

As soon as I saw the tile of this book I knew immediately what it meant. As a synaesthete nearly everything in my vocabulary has a colour whether it be numbers, letters,or days of the week, to name but a few. I've read a couple of novels in which this condition takes center stage, Claire Morell's Astonishing Splashes of Colour being one. Neither that, or this book really describes the condition well, but admittedly, it is a difficult concept to describe to people, as I know only too well.

This particular novel is told from thirteen-year old Jasper's very colourful point of view. Jasper – I won't say “sufffer”, because in my experience I don't suffer at all, I embrace my synaesthesia – let's just say he also has face-blindness and, I suspect autism. So there's a whole lot going on here.

Jasper, convinced he is involved with the death of a neighbour, Bee Larkham, is accompanied to the local police station by his father, a single parent, who seems to be almost oblivious to his son's oddities. The police interviews are colourful but confusing, and this, I found to be the problem with this book – the overwhelming detail, almost minute by minute is just too much. I've no doubt the author researched these conditions, but the result, rather than being interesting and informative, if not entertaining, became intensely irritating and boring.

There will be obvious comparison's to Mark Haddon's Curious Incident of a Dog......, another book I'm afraid I couldn't get on with.

I do wonder if author has personal experience of the conditions she writes about; in this case I would be surprised if the answer was Yes.