Born in sweaty, fetid 18th-century Paris, Grenouille is distinctive even in infancy. He has a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's and no personal odour. Suskind develops this idea into a tale of murder controlled by a loathing of humanity."
In the small French town of Rennes-le-Chateau in the 1890s, a parish priest started a rumour which has swelled to a legend that the treasure of the temple of Jerusalem and the Holy Grail were brought to France for safe-keeping. This title attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery.