Every scent tells a story. The last thing Nia wants is to be branded a "Sinsory." Where she comes from, that's just as deadly as the plagues that arrive and ravage every generation. That's why she keeps her unusually keen sense of smell a secret. Only two people in the city of Yerat know of her special abilities: her beloved Auntie and her best friend, Fox. But once the worst plague in a century hits their desert continent, all of that suddenly changes. That's when an invitation arrives in the shape of a jar of blackcurrant jam. Nia is asked to join the Cloister, a select and secluded school for children with heightened senses. There she meets Scentiers, like her, but also Gazers, Whisper-Gatherers, and many more, whose sensory powers go far beyond what regular folk can smell, see, or hear. It's there that Nia learns her nose knows far more than she ever dreamed . . . maybe enough to find the cure for the plague. Or even sniff out the sinister secrets hiding in the Cloister's walls . . .