Perfume

THE STORY OF A MURDERER

“The Name of the Rose, the last literary sensation from Europe, crept up on America by stealth. PERFUME… arrives with fanfare… PERFUME GIVES OFF A RARE, SINFULLY ADDICTIVE CHILL OF PURE EVIL. SUSKIND HAS SEDUCTIVE POWER AS A STORYTELLER.”

Connoisseur

“PERFUME IS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING DISCOVERIES IN YEARS… A SUPREMELY ACCOMPLISHED WORK OF ART, MARVELOUSLY GRAFTED AND ENJOYABLE, AND RICH IN HISTORICAL DETAIL, WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF LIFE… AN ASTONISHING PERFORMANCE, A MASTERWORK OF ARTISTIC CONCEPTION AND EXECUTION… CONSTANTLY FASCINATING… WITH HIS VERY FIRST NOVEL, PATRICK SUSKIND HAS ASSURED HIMSELF A PLACE BESIDE THE MOST IMPORTANT… WRITERS OF OUR TIME.”

San Francisco Chronicle

“MESMERIZING FROM FIRST PAGE TO LAST… a highly sophisticated horror tale… The last section of PERFUME takes on the frantic dimensions of a superior mystery story… SUPERB STORY-TELLING ALL THE WAY… THE CLIMAX IS A SAVAGE SHOCKER.”

Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A BESTSELLER THAT ALSO EXISTS AS A STRANGE AND INGENIOUS WORK OF LITERATURE… PERFUME has many dimensions. It is a meditation upon irrationality and the Age of Reason; upon obsession and illusion; upon solipsism and art. The sensuous, supple prose moves with a pantherish grace…”

Boston Globe

“AN EXCELLENT AND MOST EXTRAORDINARY FIRST NOVEL…”

Chicago Tribune

“AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER… A FASCINATING AND HORRIFYING TALE… BRILLIANT.”

Library Journal

“AN INGENIOUS STORY… ABOUT A MOST EXOTIC MONSTER… SUSPENSE BUILDS UP STEADILY, PARTICULARLY AT THE END.”

Los Angeles Times

“UNUSUAL AND COMPELLING… PERFUME offers a riot for the senses… PERFUME READS CHILLINGLY LIKE A WELL-DOCUMENTED, VERIFIABLE CASE HISTORY OF LUNACY AND MASS HYSTERIA.”

Publishers Weekly

“AN ORIGINAL, GRUESOME, COMPELLING NOVEL…”

Christian Science Monitor

“The story spins along like an ancient tale out of the Arabian Nights with both suspense and horror growing steadily… A tour de force of the imagination, a spell-weaving experience…”

People

“Like the best scents, PERFUME’s effects will linger long after it has been stoppered…”

Time

“MR. SUSKIND’S INGENUITY PACKS PERFUME WITH FRESH POWER. GRENOUILLE GROWS INTO AS COMPELLING A HEARTLESS FIEND -MADDENED BY AN UNCARING WORLD-AS YOU COULD ASK FOR.”

The Wall Street Journal

PART I

One