~ The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder, by Sarah J. Harris ~
In 2003, there was Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, a ground breaking novel which provided the reader the then rare and charming experience of seeing the world through the eyes of an autistic child. Since then, more such books have been written, and a fair few have continued to be charming even if no longer so rare. Recently, Judy Newman’s To Siri With Love (2017) provided a beautiful account of her autistic son’s coping with the world, and Sarah J. Harris’ debut adult novel, The Colour of Bee Larkam’s Murder (2018) follows in this time-honoured tradition of showing us the world through the eyes of an endearing child who is not just autistic but who delights in synesthesia (Jasper sees colour in sounds).
It is a whodunnit as well as an exploration of Jasper’s inner world. On Vincent Street, where Jasper lives with his dad, an exciting woman, Bee (Beatrice) Larkham moves back in to clear out the house after her mother’s death. Her arrival upsets the street as well as the community further beyond, and she ends up missing. Of course Jasper holds the key to many pieces of the puzzle, but for Jasper, the world is puzzling, and he uses all his coping mechanisms to try to make sense of it, but it is a constant struggle. Jasper is unable to recognise faces, a condition which for a main character in a whodunnit, is definitely an unusual plot twist!
Jasper’s sincerity, his artistic talent, his love of animals, his confusion and distress, easily wins the reader over. He is touching in his courage and desire to do the right thing in a world which constantly baffles him. The novel is well constructed as a whodunnit because the pieces are made puzzling to the reader, sharing in Jasper’s experience. Another wonderful feature of the novel is how it refuses to over-simplify the world by making them into heroes and villains, friends and enemies, as Jasper is inclined to do, preferring simple binaries and clear categories. The novel insists humans and relationships come in many shades, which Jasper paints furiously in his unending struggle to use painting to help him comprehend events.
The book unfolds at excellent pace, builds suspense and plot development well, and is a very polished debut novel indeed. It was a joy to read, and here is a very promising author to keep an eye out for in the future.
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