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?

“Scent is everything in Donnelly’s unique, voluptuous thriller…Manhattan’s beau monde served up in juicy, evocative prose.” —Kirkus Reviews “This intoxicating thriller keeps the reader guessing. With luck, Vic will be back for an encore.” —Publishers Weekly “Base Notes is an ambitious, upsetting novel of queer horror(s). As with the richly evocative scents Vic crafts, the reading experience moves through levels…Donnelly balances a serial killer protagonist, with all the foibles and frights one expects therein, against a treatise on the back-breaking systems of service labor, urban real estate, and artistic craft…the rich depths of Donnelly’s novel are going to be a perfect scent-match.” —Tor.com “Art. Love. Scent. And murder. Lara Elena Donnelly’s new book has it all.” —Salon “All great science fiction tales, from Frankenstein forward, are essentially morality tales, and that’s true here as well, even though Base Notes is not strictly sci-fi. But it is a fascinating and wondrously told tale well worth the read.” —Providence Journal “Beautiful and vivid…As Vic’s life starts spiraling out of control, it’s difficult not to identify with and hurt for each and every one of these characters. Read at your own peril.” —Mike Omer, New York Times bestselling author

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.