A Whiff of Murder

Some people read auras--a light or color that surrounds others, revealing their character or emotions. Lise Bloom reads ribbons--of fragrance, that is. Whenever she meets someone new, fragrance unfurls from them--an ability called "clairalience." It's a gift she keeps to herself, including from her loving adoptive family, while secretly searching her ancestry for the roots of her magic.

Hoping to gain insight into her clairalience, Lise works at the Lucky Lotus, a New Age shop. Unfortunately, the oils the owner, Dyann, concocts, nauseate Lise and impede her sense of scent. Worse, the shop feels more like wealthy Dyann's hobby than a spiritual place, thanks to her toxic love-torment relationship with her ex-husband, Richard.

Dyann is so pleased with her latest vengeful scheme that she shares it with Lise and gleefully remarks that if Richard ever finds out, he'll kill her. For Lise, it's the last straw. Persuaded to quit by her caring, colorful crew of neighbors, Lise shows up with a resignation letter. But first, she detects a fetid odor she doesn't recognize--and discovers a spilled bottle of Mayan ceremonial liqueur . . . beside Dyann's dead body.

In her rush to call the police, Lise doesn't notice she's dropped her resignation letter beside the body--making her the prime suspect. Now, she'll have to follow her nose to uncoil a venomous truth. It just may lead her life in an entirely new direction--unless a killer cuts it short . . .