A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra--and lost for 2,000 years. 
 
Jac L'Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances--and of her mother's suicide--she moved to America. Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with it's financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing--leaving a dead body in his wake--Jac is plunged into a world she thought she'd left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother's disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L'Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation - or is it just another dream infused perfume?

The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra's Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet's battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac's quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

Review

"Compelling... suspenseful tale. Once you catch a whiff, you will be enchanted". - Associated Press

"Rose has entered another realm and written what is bound to be one of this year's best books." -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Entertaining... working history, the science of scents and a mystery together with the aspects of a perfect thriller to create a perfect read." --Crimespree Magazine

"A time-defying journey filled with passion and danger...A kaleidoscope of memorable characters and exotic locales. Elements of both thriller and paranormal romance dominate, and the insights Rose offers on the methods and science of perfumery throughout history add a fascinating top note." Shelf-Awareness.com

"Enthralling. A supple and elegant thriller. There is simply no more daring writer than MJ Rose, and her blisteringly original [novel] shows why." Providence Journal

"A fascinating mystery with many twists and turns... combines intrigue with a touch of history and the art of exotic perfume." The Free-Lance Star

"Provocative...a sweeping sense of romance [and] history." - Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Deliciously sensual...Rose imbues her characters with rich internal lives in a complex plot that races to a satisfying finish." —Publisher's Weekly (starred)

"An absorbing and thrilling ride through the centuries." —Library Journal

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• “M. J. Rose’s multi-stranded plot skillfully hits all the right buttons, blending exotic settings, romance, and paranormal fantasy with political intrigue into a colorful story that would be right at home as a Hollywood thriller.” —New York Journal of Books *

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• “Provocative…a sweeping sense of romance [and] history.” - Cleveland Plain Dealer*

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• “A fascinating mystery with many twists and turns…combines intrigue with a touch of history and a lesson in the art of making exotic perfume, a bit of education mixed with the proverbial whodunit.” --The Free Lance-Star Review*

"A simmering brew that mingles the erotic sensuality of Patrick Suskind's Perfume with the dark and timeless obsessions of Rider Haggard's classic, She. M.J. Rose has once again again dipped into the deep flask of history and brought those rich aromas of the past back to life through the eyes of Jac L'Etoile, a woman who has mastered the scent of conflict, passion and danger." —New York Times bestselling author Katherine Neville

"The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose is an amazing novel, an utterly engrossing thriller that weaves together reincarnation, ancient Egypt, international intrigue, and a lost book of fragrances. Elegantly written, with unforgettable characters and flawlessly realized international settings, here is a novel that will keep you up all night—and leave you with powerful feelings of revelation, wonder, and the infinitude of human possibility." —New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston

"A bewitching brew of history and suspense, as well as a deeply felt love story that transcends time, The Book of Lost Fragrances had me spellbound from the very beginning, taking me from Ancient Egypt to Napoleonic France to the mordern day. This is a book full of delicious surprises, superb research, and brilliantly drawn characters that will live on in your heart long after you turn the last page." —Anne Fortier, author of Juliet

"The Book of Lost Fragrances is one of those rare novels that reminds us of the beauty and enormous complexity of the human soul. The way Rose uses perfume's evocative power is both intelligent and intriguing - triggering her characters memories of their current lives as well as memories of their past lives. This novel is a marvelous discovery." —Javier Sierra

"The Book of Lost Fragrances resonates with spirit, blending myth with reality, tragedy with triumph, pain with joy. You'll find yourself questioning everything you believe—and wanting more." —New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry

"Clever, with beguiling characters; a wonderful mixture of suspense and pace and good old fashioned storytelling, and the research never gets in the way of the plot." —Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth, Sepulchre, and The Winter Ghosts

From the Author

So many people have asked how I came up with the idea for this novel.

I was reading about Cleopatra (69 BCE to 30BCE), who was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and discovered she was fascinated with and some say obsessed by scent. So much so, Marc Anthony built her a fragrance factory where he planted now extinct flora and fauna including groves of balsam trees (important in the creation of perfume at the time) confiscated from Herod.

In the 1980s a team of Italian and Israeli archaeologists believe they unearthed the factory at the south end of theDead Sea, 30 km from Ein Gedi. Residues of ancient perfumes along with seats where customers received beauty treatments were found there.

Cleopatra was said to have kept a recipe book for her perfumes, entitled Cleopatra gynaeciarum libri. The book has been described in writings by historians Dioscorides, Homer and Pliny the Elder.

But no known copy of the book exists today.

When I read about that book, I knew I had the idea for a novel.