Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Don't be deceived by Perfume's subtitle-- this is not your average novel about a killer. This is not a "whodunit"-- rather than having the reader uncover the hidden acts of the murderer, Süskind opts instead to put him on full display, and to leave us guessing which deranged fantasy his evil protagonist will attempt to realize next. The glorious effect of this strategy, of putting us into the mind of an unhuman entity that is obsessed with scent, is a fascinating, passionate account that earns its spot on the shelf next to the works of Poe and Shelley.