Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder

  • By: Sarah J. Harris
  • Narrated by: Huw Parmenter
  • Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (307 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder

By: Sarah J. Harris
Narrated by: Huw Parmenter
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

How do you solve a mystery when you can’t remember the clues?

There are three things you need to know about Jasper.

  1. He sees the world completely differently.
  2. He can’t recognise faces - not even his own.
  3. He is the only witness to the murder of his neighbour, Bee Larkham.

But it’s hard to catch a murderer when you can’t recognise their face....

An extraordinary and compelling debut which will make you see the world in a way you’ve never seen it before.

©2018 Sarah J. Harris (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Woman Who Came Back to Life cover art
Lie to Me cover art
The Echo Chamber cover art
In the Eyes of Mr Fury cover art
Dark Place to Hide cover art
Only a Mother cover art
The Stolen Child cover art
Killer Women cover art
Maria in the Moon cover art
222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions cover art
Menopausing cover art
The Retreat cover art

Critic reviews

"A rich tapestry...distinctive and compelling." (Observer)

"A beautiful, original novel, at once funny and tragic and brave." (Sarah Pinborough)

"Intriguing, original and memorable - I couldn't put it down!" (Libby Page, The Lido)

What listeners say about The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    180
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    27
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    211
  • 4 Stars
    54
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    177
  • 4 Stars
    74
  • 3 Stars
    23
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well written brave attempt to enter the world of an autistic boy.

Amazingly this was the second book I had read in the past month dealing with a character ‘suffering’ from this condition.
This was an interesting book trying to enter his world , whilst also becoming an unusual murder mystery.

I have also read the authors latest book which again explores the mind of a deeply flawed person and chronicles a gradual improvement in their lives.
I recommend this author and am loooking forward to her next book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Listened to this book whilst wallpapering a room

Listened to this book whilst wallpapering a room. Finished room before finished book.. so I wallpapered a second room because the book was so good!!
Very well narrated and beautifully written.
Go for it.. whether you're wallpapering or not! 😁

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great

This book has a similar situation to the curious incident of the dog in the night time.
So if you enjoyed that your like this one.

It's a bit slow at parts and there are holes in the story but it's still enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

colourful portrayal of life & all its complexities

I loved this story. It shows the world thrpugh a really different lense and the plotline itself is fantastic. well read. thoroughly enjoyed it! would highly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story

I really liked the story and the idea but found the narrator very irritating, sadly. I struggled to listen to him due to some of his pronunciations.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another great listen

Another great listen. Don’t think I would have finished this book if I had been reading it; the colour descriptions and jumping around in time would have confused me. The narration and story drew me in and I needed to know what had happened. Didn’t like the voice of Jasper’s dad (until the end) but loved the way Huw varied the pace in his voice to add to the drama as it unfolded.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

fascinating concept

This was a slow start, in fact I need to listen to it again, but is also a really fascinating concept. The central character is so we'll observed and really highlights how someone on the autistic spectrum sees life through a different lens. The narration is superb, especially the central character portrayal. The story unfolds slowly and takes a while to move forward, but it really is fascinating and based around Jasper's relationships and understanding of how the world works - from an inside perspective. I loved it and would recommend highly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

An Interesting Listen

The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder was a book that I was very much looking forward to considering the hype surrounding it but in the end, it just left me rather underwhelmed. The idea is really interesting – a 13-year-old suffering from synaesthesia and facial blindness gets embroiled in the murder of his neighbour – but it was a frustrating read in the hands of this unreliable narrator. We know that his early conclusions are obviously not right, which makes them all the more annoying to reread over and over again. Understandably there has to be a lot of repetition due to Harris writing as a boy with learning difficulties but as a book, it becomes quite tiring to read. Perhaps this is the point, to show exactly how sufferers of this particular disability deal with, but it didn’t quite hold the attention as I would have wished.

That being said, it’s clearly well-researched and picks up a little towards the end. It’s unfortunate that a lot of the excess could have been edited out and the final book would have probably been more enjoyable but there we are. I’m glad I read it, it was certainly interesting and the plot itself was intriguing… It just didn’t grab me like I’d hoped. Comparisons to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time are not entirely off-base and although this is far more adult than that particular book, you’ll definitely be reminded of it throughout.

The narration is good though in terms of the different voices, it is a tad shouty and squeaky at times. A solid performance that worked well with the subject matter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Seeing and hearing people in colour, what a special view of life.

A wonderful story and insight into how an autistic boy sees and hears people but can’t recognise faces. A murder mystery weaved into a kaleidoscope of colours. I struggled with the first 15+ chapters trying to understand all the colours, but as the story unfolded I was hooked and had to keep reading/listening. I read this on Audible which helped me understand the colours of each character voice. Told from the child’s point of view helped me understand better how an autistic child’s mind might think. I would recommend this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

different and enjoyable

it is an original and unpredictable story. I enjoyed every minute of it. clever writing and great narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!