Meet Kat
In Kat LaGue's cozy mysteries, fragrance meets foul play. Her debut novel, Killer Sillage, introduces Clare Buchowski, proprietor of Good Scents, a Baltimore perfume shop where every scent tells a story--some of which are worth killing for. The second book in the series, Savage Gourmand, expands Clare's world to include the bakeries of Fells Point... and of course, more murder. Book three, A Bitter Accord, arrives this fall.
A lifelong perfume obsessive with a 30-year collection (and still hunting for the perfect Earl Grey scent), Kat brings a nose for detail to everything she writes. As a graphic designer, she's spent years understanding how mood lives in color and shape. As a nonfiction writer covering Baltimore's food scene, she's honed her eye for place and flavor. Fiction lets her stir it all together: mystery, scent, beauty, food, and a healthy dose of humor.
Kat hails from Fells Point, the historic waterfront neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland that serves as the backdrop for her fictional world. It's a place she still calls home and one she knows intimately. When she's not writing or tinkering with her latest handmade jewelry design, you'll likely find her sipping a perfectly brewed cup of coffee, doting on dogs, cooking something delicious, or nose-first in a bottle of interesting perfume. She writes cozies because they celebrate women with creative lives, strong communities, and the stubbornness to solve a murder.
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Cozy Mysteries
Find all of Kat's books on her series page on Amazon, including both Kindle and paperback formats, and preorders.
"The perfect blend of mystery, intrigue, and suspense!! Kat hits all the right notes with her debut cozy mystery!"
-- Meg Muldoon, Bestselling Cozy Mystery Author
"Set in the historic and charming waterfront neighborhood of Fells Point in Baltimore, Kat LaGue's debut is an assured, delightful page-turner. With its memorable perfume shop, Good Scents, and equally memorable characters in Clare and Ivy--LaGue has created the perfect base note for her cozy mystery series."
-- Jen Michalski, author of All This Can Be True
Killer Sillage
Clare Buchowski always dreamed of becoming a perfumer... until an accident changed everything, leaving her with an altered sense of smell. But fragrance still called to her so she did the next best thing: open Good Scents, a perfume shop in the heart of her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. Tucked into a historic neighborhood full of charm and secrets, the shop is where Clare curates indie fragrances, chats with curious customers, and quietly mourns the career that might have been.
When a celebrated independent perfumer debuts a provocative new scent at a private launch party at Clare's shop, things don't go well. After a deadly turn, Clare’s keen nose and sharper instincts tell her that something’s off… and it’s not just the perfume. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a trail of rivalries, betrayals, and long-buried tensions in the close-knit world of niche fragrance. At the center of it all: one elusive ingredient that may hold the key to everything.
Set against the richly textured backdrop of Baltimore, a city of grit and elegance, history and reinvention, Killer Sillage is the atmospheric debut in a new cozy mystery series. With unforgettable characters, an insider’s look at the art of perfume, and a mystery that unfolds like a well-crafted fragrance, it’s a story about scent, memory, and the lengths one woman will go to for the truth.
Savage Gourmand
When a talented Baltimore baker turns up dead in their kitchen, friend and perfume shop owner Clare Buchowski knows it wasn’t an accident.
Suddenly, the charming cobblestones of Fells Point are the site of a murder investigation, and the local baking community is thick with suspicion, bitter rivalries, and rumors of stolen recipes. As Clare starts digging, with her cousin Ivy cracking wise at her side, she uncovers secrets that may finally lead her to the truth.
At the same time, Clare finds herself plagued by strange, vivid dreams that leave her wondering what she’s really picking up on, and what they might be trying to tell her. As the case grows more complicated, she’s forced to confront not only a killer, but a part of herself she’s struggling to understand.
Savage Gourmand is a cozy mystery about pastries and passion, found family and fatal ambition, and a woman who knows the most dangerous lies are often coated in sugar.
Kat Speaks!
Interview with Jen Michalski in the JMWW Journal
Kat and Jen discuss reading, writing, and indie perfume. "I never really dreamed of becoming a novelist, but I thought, maybe I can try a cozy mystery. I’d read a lot of cozies by then, starting with a BookBub pick from Meg Muldoon’s Christmas River series, and I felt like I understood the genre well enough to give it a go. To my great surprise, I truly enjoyed the writing process, and as soon as I finished my first draft, I immediately started imagining plots for the next several books in the series."
"I’ve taken a few creative liberties, like setting my main location, a perfume shop called Good Scents, in a real part of town but inside a completely fictional building. As for community, when I was growing up, Fells Point had a strong Polish presence, with two Polish Catholic churches and lots of Polish-speaking residents. That’s changed over the years, but I wanted to preserve that sense of cultural pride and heritage through my main characters."