Base Notes

Author: Lara Elena Donnelly

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: February 1, 2022

A very different take on the usual mystery genre books; Base Notes is unique and intriguing.

Vic Fowler lives in New York City and has been working as a perfumer trying to make it in the big city for years. During her time there, she has figured out how to use scents to bring about memories, strong memories that some would even kill for. Living in the city cost a lot and her day job isn’t always enough to pay the bills. Vic is approached by one of her former clients, Joseph Eisner, who gives her an opportunity to make the kind of money that is too good to turn down. But it might also be too dangerous to go about by herself. With the help of fellow artists, Vic tries to keep her plans from coming apart and worse things happening, all because of greed.

Base Notes was a completely unique take and not what I expected at all.  The beginning started a little slow, but once I got past that it was a quick read with a good female protagonist and storyline. There was a lot of terms and moments dealing with the perfume industry that went over my head and could have been toned down for readers like me. This is not the kind of book you can just breeze through; more time is going to be needed to make it through the pages to get the most out of this one. This is definitely the right book for the right kind of audience, but not for everyone. The writing was very technical at times which lost me, and the tension of the story didn’t pick up quick enough for my liking. Overall, it was a good read but not one I will be racing to read again.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher.  The views and opinions expressed within are my own.