The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J Harris takes a look at life through the eyes of someone quite unusual indeed. Jasper Wishart is a young autistic boy who sees things a bit different from even most autistics. Jasper has a rare gift called synesthesia, where sensory inputs are dual-wired. Jasper sees sound, each a unique combination of shape and colour. He also suffers from prosopagnosia, or 'face-blindness’. He cannot recognise faces, not even his da’s, but he uses a variety of tricks to attempt to keep things straight. Jasper has witnessed a murder, but the only way he can describe it is through colour, which no one else can understand.

Bee Larkham moves in nearby, staying to clear out her deceased mother's house. She loves music, and sets up to teach to earn income while she preps the house for sale. She also loves birds, and puts out feeders that draw parakeets, much to Jasper's pleasure. He adores birds. Soon Bee has Jasper running errands in exchange for being allowed to watch nesting parakeets from her house. But what Jasper doesn't know is the truth behind the errands he's running, until one day when he accidentally walks in on Bee 'getting busy’ with one of her students. When Jasper refuses to keep playing messenger, Bee retaliates with a horrible trick, one that may or may not have contributed to her death. Jasper then begins to hunt for clues, bringing to light not just the truth of Bee’s death, but of her past as well, bringing more than one criminal to justice. And from it all, Jasper finds a friend in a most unlikely person.

Jasper is portrayed well. The unique mix of autism, prosopagnosia, and synesthesia made him quite the interesting character. I can't even imagine his levels of frustration. Autism alone can make communication difficult, but add in a completely foreign way of viewing the world, and the frustration quadruples. I have a friend with synesthesia, and he said those descriptions were accurate. Since the story is told first person from Jasper's POV, we get a unique perspective. I love that Jasper uses his gift to create beautiful abstract paintings that actually do tell stories that he can read.

I can only imagine his da’s frustrations too. Jasper's ma was a synesthete, though not autistic. When she passed from illness, Jasper's soldier father was recalled. His father tries to understand his son, but he doesn't, not fully, and gets aggravated with Jasper's quirks and proclivities at times. One of these quirks includes calling 999 often, and for things the police wouldn't normally handle. Yet, despite the frustrations, his father never once seems to think Jasper needs to be placed in a facility. He does the best he can, and clearly loves his son. He even always dresses the same so Jasper can easily recognise him.

Highly recommended if you enjoy books such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Touchstone for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder features thirteen-year-old Jasper Wishart who is autistic, suffers from prosopagnosia (face blindess), and is a synesthete. His autism and face blindness (he can't recognize faces and must depend on voices and clothing to identify even his own father) are definite drawbacks, but Jasper thinks of his synesthesia as a wonderful gift.

Sounds are colors, and Jasper delights in the myriad colors of voices, music, even memories--his mother is cobalt blue.

What I liked: Jasper. It is difficult to truly imagine some of his autistic and facial blindness difficulties. Although his conditions are natural for Jasper, they seem remarkably frightening for the reader. Imagine only being able to recognize your father and distinguish him from others by the sound of his voice (and for Jasper, the color of his father's voice--a muddy brown) and his clothing. All of the normal relationships in life would be so slippery!

I enjoyed Jasper's curious approach to life and his charming character, but Harris also managed to make me imagine the frustrations of living with a bright child with so many complications. Jasper's father does the best he can for his child, but he is also a single parent who must dress the same way each day to help his son recognize him.

Bee Larkham, the beautiful and unconventional new neighbor, captures the imagination of the entire neighborhood, but not always in a positive way. She provides the impetus for some unpleasant situations.

Not so much: The overuse of the color trope can get a little irritating. There are also places where things drag; the story might be better served if it was a little shorter and tighter.

Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon in the use of an autistic main character. Sarah Harris has written a book that makes you curious about autism and synesthesia, but you still wonder about how the accuracy/realism of some of the details.

I enjoyed The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder and look forward to what Harris does next book.

Read in March; blog review scheduled for May 29.

NetGalley/Touchstone

Mystery/Coming of Age. June 12, 2018. Print length: 368 pages.

A young autistic boy who hears sounds only as colors, and can’t recognize even familiar faces, thinks he killed his new neighbor across the street. The premise is a great one, but the book lagged too much for me, and I tired of the constant description of each color. I found myself flipping ahead and skimming pages to get to the meat of the plot.