Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

This was one of the most clever tales I've had the fortune of reading - but also one of the most contrived.
From the very beginning, the author makes it clear that Grenouille, the antagonist, is nothing to root for - he has no semblance of a conscience, for starters. And while you want to explore such an original character further (a person with a supernatural sense of smell), his character development is diluted in favor of showing the reader how perfumes are made, imitated, and even reverse-engineered - which tends to get on your nerves after a while.
If you can stand a linear narrative, and don't mind reading up on a completely new subject (because let's be honest - who has ever read up on how, exactly, the smell of jasmine flowers is imbibed through oils?), then this book is a must read. The plot idea alone is worthy of praise - the plot is just icing on the cake.