Lesley St James

The Sweet Scent of Death Lesley St James

Liars and Tycoons and Perfume, Oh My!




In the hilarious, award-winning romantic mystery The Sweet Scent of Death, PR account executive and transplanted Southerner Jill Cooksey is trying to launch a new fragrance for her client and prove to herself and everyone around her that she's not a complete failure. Otherwise, she's heading home to Virginia. After a glamorous launch event in New York's Central Park, a young starlet turns up dead behind the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, throwing the PR campaign into jeopardy and Jill into a waking nightmare. To save a friend (who may or may not be guilty), appease her client (who happens to be in love with her friend), and keep her career (so she can pay the rent), Jill must stop a killer while turning around a public relations disaster. In over her head, Jill enlists the help of her network of friends in the PR business (a.k.a. her PR Posse) and a cop-turned-reporter she's not sure she can trust (but to whom she can't say no). Together they stalk the killer through Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx, all the while encountering gun-toting gypsy cab drivers, psychotic society reporters, and obsessive-compulsive late-night TV hosts. From the Cathedral of St. John the Divine to the seediest strip club in the outer boroughs, Jill tries to piece together the truth while keeping herself alive and her client happy. Fans of Janet Evanovich and Jana Deleon will fall in love with Jill Cooksey and her hysterical adventures!




WINNER of Richmond Magazine and James River Writers' Best Unpublished Novel Contest!

"What I loved most was that this was a mystery that kept me frowning as I tried to figure out the clues among this huge cast of characters (my suspects kept changing and I was so wrong), but smiling at the same time." Author Victoria Christopher Murray, Richmond Magazine