I’m writing this from Vancouver B.C., where the mystery author-fan convention Left Coast Crime is in full gear. The hotel lobby smells of the Hyatt Regency’s piped-in rose and steam-iron aldehydes, and the 300+ authors milling in the conference rooms and draining bottles of wine in the bar smell like….well, not much.
Over the past few days, I asked a few dozen authors what perfume they wore. I got a lot of “I don’t wear perfume” and “I used to wear perfume.” For instance, Becky Clark quit wearing perfume because it rubbed off on her children “and they smelled like old ladies.” But I did get a few hits.
Let’s start with one of the best-smelling authors here, Terry Shames. Thanks to a suggestion by perfume journalist and crime writer Denise Hamilton, Terry wears Parfum DelRae Bois de Paradis. (She said she also loves Parfum DelRae Panache.) Those were the only niche fragrances mentioned.
About half of the authors I talked to said they only wore fragrance when they had a special night out, and half of those weren’t 100% sure what the perfume was. Usually, a string of questions (“What shape is the bottle?” “Do you remember what color it is?” “Oh, does it have a strong rose note?”) eventually elicited the name — usually something from a department store.
Janice Peacock wears Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom & Honey. Her husband is a beekeeper, and she grew up at the edge of orange groves, so the scent means a lot to her. (Side note: Janice is also a glass artist and has worked with Shari Hopper to restore antique perfume bottles. Tragically, Shari’s workshop was destroyed in the Paradise fire.)
Lisa Alber likes Bulgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert. Kathy Krevat/Kathy Aarons (lots of people have double lives here) said she used to wear Paco Rabanne Calandre, and when she dresses up, she wears “something by Coco Chanel. I think it’s Chanel No. 5. Maybe.”
Libby Klein buys a perfume whenever she travels to a new country and now has a collection of bottles. Her favorite is Thierry Mugler Angel, followed by Aquolina Pink Sugar, which she said she adores, even though it only lasts ten minutes on her skin.
Alec Peche had to google perfume bottle photos to find her favorites, but she eventually came up with Chloé — we never determined which one — and Prada Infusion d’Iris.
Scented oils also have a following among the authors I talked with. Tessa Floreano likes spearmint, rosemary, and sage oils because they help her focus. Cynthia Kuhn wear the occasional dab of plumeria oil.
Do the fragrance habits of crime writers mirror those of the public? I don’t know, but I can tell you this: My love of fragrance makes me a rare mystery author here. But I sure smell great.
Note: top image is detail from the cover of Angie's book Head Case. You can find a complete list of her books at her website, Angela M. Sanders.
Angela: you’re so close to me! Oh, and thank you for not calling my town Vancouver, Canada. It’s always been interesting to me how people who wear a fragrance don’t know what they’re wearing!
I thought of you when I was there! (I just arrived home minutes ago.) Yes, I’m always surprised when people don’t know their own perfume, too.
“Maybe Chanel No. 5” was pretty vague, wasn’t it?
The post is once again making me think of “The Maltese Falcon,” and how Sam Spade identified Joel Cairo as wearing chypre. It was gardenia in the movie. There were little details scattered in that book that the reader might or might not pick up on.
I love those details! I wonder what the screenwriters were thinking when they made the switch from chypre to gardenia? Probably that most people wouldn’t know what a chypre was.
I think that’s part of it but also they were probably thought that wearing floral perfume would really hammer home that Joel Cairo was the depraved homosexual’ gangster that both the book and film stress he is.
To be clear, Dashiel Hammet and the film writers are trying to make him seem depraved- I do not share their view.
Both book and film though good have some very prejudiced ideas in them!
That thought crossed my mind, too, but I wasn’t quite sure how to word it as well as you have!
Hmm, who would have the best-smelling conference? Sadly, anything I’ve gone to has been close to unscented.
I’m definitely the best-smelling person right this second, thanks to a generous friend who loaded me up with vintage Diorella! (wink wink)
I’m reading a crime novel at the moment in which a woman murdered in 1968 is wearing Rive Gauche – which wasn’t created until 1970/71. The book will probably be reprinted and I know the author (but not well) and i keep wondering if I should mention it?
I think you should. I’m sure you can tell the author how much you loved the novel, and how you’re sure you’re the only person who noticed that one little detail. Similarly, I read a thriller that takes place now that features a woman who wears My Sin (and she doesn’t come off as someone willing to scour the internet for old bottles).
When I do line editing, I hope to catch things like that before the book gets published. I agree with Angela in tactfully letting the author know. Sometimes the author is already painfully aware of an error that got through. Historical novels are tough that way, if the author is serious about getting the history right.
One author I follow had a fan comment on how she’d switched the names around a couple of times in a book. I agreed with the comment. The author was mad at herself because she’d thought she’d lost that fault.
I told the owner of the little e-publishing company that I work for that I’d seen a few self-published “mail order bride” e-books that had a lot of anachronisms in them. I was listing in my head which things hadn’t been invented yet in the 1800s. The owner said she knew how I feel about those things. I point out anachronisms in speech and setting in the historical stories I line edit.
Another thing with having been a history major and getting into trying to grow Old Garden Roses is the awareness that Hybrid Tea roses weren’t around in medieval Europe. A very popular historical romance had a red and white rose on the cover, but it wasn’t the Old Garden Rose ‘York and Lancaster.’ It was the super-distinctive modern red and white rose ‘Double Delight.’ Oops. That was a traditionally printed book, and must have had a professional cover artist. Those things happen.
So many details can slip through! It’s always good to have smart readers and editors–a good copy editor is gold–go over a novel. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to get historical work right.
I confess that I had never ever considered the connection between mystery writing and scent, but it now occurs to me that one thing I especially appreciate about the Louise Penny Gamache series is the relentlessly rich sensuality of the food, coffee, and wine. And am now very much looking forward to reading your books. Great post. Thanks!
I love those details about her novels, too! What is it Gamache always smells of? I want to say tobacco and sandalwood, but I could be remembering wrong.
Sandalwood and rosewater, I think. And the sweetest part is that the rosewater (?) is supposed to be residue from his close contact with the much beloved Mme. Gamache….
Yes! I remember he eats lots of black licorice pipes, too–and evocative smell.
I have no idea what he smelled like,but I will always Raymond Chandler for his visit to a perfume executive’s office I the opening chapter Lady in the Lake. Marlowe glance at the Factice in the excutive’s outrage office and cynicallynotes the scent is marketed as the lure for bagging a rich husband
That’s such a good one! I haven’t read Lady in the Lake in a long time. I’m due for a reread of it.
One if my favourite books in any genre, but that scene is especially fabulous. Perfume is integral to the plot in that book.
Okay, I’m pulling it off my shelf right this minute and putting it next to the bed.
This is so fun! Their replies to your questions are priceless.
I have no doubt that you were the best smelling author in attendance. Although I find it odd that some folks didn’t know what they were wearing. Thanks for the smile!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! And, no, the post wasn’t an April Fools Day joke, either!
WOW! I didn’t even know there was such a convention. Dang…I missed it
Did you ask any of the male authors?
It’s held every year–Left Coast Crime–you should check it out! No, I didn’t ask any of the male authors. Next time for sure.
A mystery author I follow, Josh Lanyon, will put in details of which colognes various characters in her books are wearing. In a historical mystery, one protagonist identifies another character as wearing “Lentheric.” That sent me on a hunt through perfume blogs to try to figure that out. I’ll have to check, but I think that book was set in the 1930s or so. Lentheric fragrances would have been available at the time, anyway. In another historical mystery of Josh’s, this one in the 1940s, a character notices that a room smells like “pine and Estee Lauder.”
One of her modern-day characters wears an Escentric Molecules fragrance. And now I get that reference, thanks to y’all.
I’ll have to page through other modern mysteries that Josh has written for mentions of perfumes and colognes.
I love that he lists the fragrances! It would be nice not to have a broad perfume house name, though, and to actually pinpoint a particular fragrance.
This was a fun read! I like when authors mention what different characters smell like, so it’s fun to think about the authors’ own relationships with scent.
I always love hearing about a character’s fragrance, too–even if it’s something as vague as “a whiff of jasmine and sandalwood” or “vetiver.”
I’ve posted on NST before about a character in one of M.M. Kaye’s books who “wafts Bois des Iles.” I think it was accurate for the time/setting. I get such a kick out of that.
Thanks for the fun read, Angela! Here’s another line I enjoyed from the same book even though it’s not about perfume:
“The smoke from his cigarette spiraled up into the still air and the scent of it mingled pleasantly with the smell of beeswax and dust and the tall orange lilies that filled a vast copper jar by the carved chest.”
Any author who specifically mentions Bois des Iles is okay by me! I love the quoted description you posted, too.
I always think a femme fatale is massively improved if we know what she wafts as she draws in on her prey.
It’s not really a mystery per se but I’m Laurain’s the Red Notebook the heroine wears Habanita- which seems like a classic French choice for a very French novella.
I know what you mean about the femme fatale! The name Carnal Flower was made for her. And now I’m very curious about the Red Notebook–thanks!
Speaking of Parfums Delrae, does anyone have information about the brand, are they out of business?
The scents are sold out on the website since months, none of the retailers carry it anymore.
I wrote an email months ago to them, and received no reply.
Terry Shames might need to change her perfumes, even if she seems to be the best fragranced one among the authors
I don’t have any specific info, but it does seem like their fragrances are thin on the ground at the moment. I’ve been longing for a bottle of Bois de Paradis myself. Maybe I should let Terry know….
Your post reminded my of one of my favourite mystery writers, Georges Simenon. His books are full of food descriptions and all the drinks Maigret gets through. Perfume not so much, but his tales do feel fragrant though.
I love it when authors venture beyond the visual in their descriptions. (I also love to hear about a character’s meal, although not everyone agrees with me.)
Yes! He’s wonderful on food. I have a cookbook where someone has assembled recipes for the dishes that are mentioned. It’s called ‘Madame Magrait’s Cookbook’ i think? Not sure. The recipes are for fairly stodgy meaty dishes by our standards today, but it’s a great read.
Oh, I thought you were talking about Lady in the Lake! I like Simenon, too, though. And I have the Nero Wolfe cookbook, which is good reading–I’ve never cooked from it.
Yes the title is Madame Maigret’s recipes (Les recettes de madame Maigret).
I vividly remember the description of the mussel dish in the novel called La maison du juge, and I’m not even that fond of seafood.
Now I want mussels!
Very interesting! When I write, I often try to think of what fragrance a character would wear. And I’m guessing your group of authors there probably do reflect the tastes of the larger society. I seldom smell perfume when I’m out. I still treasure the memory of a woman wearing Mitsouko (and a sweatshirt and jeans) in line at a Subway sandwich shop.
Yes to Mitsouko in the wild! Once I smelled a woman wearing Teint de Neige and commented on it, and she looked at me like I was magic for even knowing what it was.