Base Notes

A lasting impression is worth killing for.

In New York City everybody needs a side hustle, and perfumer Vic Fowler has developed a delicate art that has proved to be very lucrative: creating bespoke scents that evoke immersive memories--memories that, for Vic's clients, are worth killing for. But the city is expensive, and these days even artisanal murder doesn't pay the bills. When Joseph Eisner, a former client with deep pockets, offers Vic an opportunity to expand the enterprise, the money is too good to turn down. But the job is too intricate--and too dangerous--to attempt alone.

Manipulating fellow struggling artists into acting as accomplices is easy. Like Vic, they too are on the verge of burnout and bankruptcy. But as relationships become more complicated, Vic's careful plans start to unravel. Hounded by guilt and a tenacious private investigator, Vic grows increasingly desperate to complete Eisner's commission. Is there anyone--friends, lovers, coconspirators--that Vic won't sacrifice for art?

Lara Elena Donnelly is the author of the Nebula-, Lambda-, and Locus-nominated trilogy the Amberlough Dossier. She has taught in the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College, as well as the Catapult classes in New York and the Alpha SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers.

In the summer, she wears The Cobra & the Canary. In the winter, Nudiflorum. And some others in between, to keep things interesting.

As of this writing, she lives on the grounds of the old Hamilton Estate, with a screenwriter and a small mask-and-mantle tabby pretentiously named after a bitter Italian aperitif. For more information, visit www.laradonnelly.com.