Allmen and the Pink Diamond

by Martin Suter, Steph Morris (Translator)

Overview

When a $30 million diamond disappears, the gentleman P.I. embarks on an adventure across Europe in this “delightfully quirky and original” mystery (Peter James, author of Dead Simple).
 
A rare pink diamond recently sold at auction has gone missing, and gentleman thief turned private detective Johann Freidrich von Allmen cannot resist the case—even if his butler and business partner Carlos de Leon has his reservations. With suspicion falling on a man named Artyom Sokolov, Allmen and de Leon embark from London to Zurich in search of the mysterious Russian.
 
Soon the two discover that they are up against a conspiracy far more complex and dangerous than they suspected. And as amorous adventures and diverting mishaps litter their path through Europe’s high society, Allmen and de Leon get closer to uncovering a high-tech plot to manipulate global financial markets.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939931726
Publisher:	New Vessel Press
Publication date:	07/22/2020
Series:	The Allmen Detective Novels
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	203
Sales rank:	682,985
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Martin Suter, born in Zurich in 1948, is a novelist, screenwriter and newspaper columnist. He has written a dozen novels, many of them best-sellers in Europe and translated into 32 languages. Suter lives with his family in Zurich. Two previous novels by Suter, Allmen and the Dragonflies and The Last Weynfeldt, have also been published by New Vessel Press.

Steph Morris studied fine art at Goldsmiths’ College, London, and history of art at Chelsea College of Art. He has translated the diaries of East German writer Brigitte Reimann as well as nonfiction books about Joseph Beuys and Pina Bausch, and has been a translator in residence at the Europäisches Übersetzer-Kollegium, in Straelen, Germany.

Editorial Reviews

01/28/2019

In Suter’s so-so sequel to 2018’s Allmen and the Dragonflies, Johann Friedrich von Allmen, the head of Allmen International Inquiries, accepts a lucrative assignment, despite the belief of his butler and business partner, Carlos de Leon, that the case is beyond Johann’s capacity. A pink diamond that was auctioned in Switzerland for £30 million has disappeared. An Englishman named Montgomery tells Allman that his unnamed client was the gem’s purchaser, and that others have identified a Russian, Artyom Sokolov, as having been involved in the theft. Montgomery asks Allman to find Sokolov, whose last known address was in Switzerland. Allmen’s dogged but unremarkable sleuthing develops promising leads, as well as evidence that his quarry is also of interest to multiple other parties. The plot itself is nothing special, and the conceit of an investigator living beyond his means who relies on his servant’s commonsense goes only so far in maintaining interest in what happens once Sokolov is found. Still, some fans of light crime novels will be satisfied. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Sophisticated sybarite Allmen of course gets the best of everything ... the Pink Diamond turns out not to be as expected, and Allmen and faithful Carlos enter the slippery realm of high ­finance. Immense fun for lovers of ­international mystery."
—Library Journal

"Delightfully quirky and original, it feels like a Golden Age detective novel transposed, wonderfully, into the 21st century."
—Peter James, author of Dead Simple and Dead Man's Time

"Suter is a consummate crime writer, his style is light and fast paced but has real depth when it comes to characterisation and understanding human nature. The overall impression is one of enjoyment; Suter knows how to entertain and Allmen and the Pink Diamond is at times wickedly funny and always slightly eccentric. There’s an eclectic cast of characters and brief cameos all finely sketched."
—NB Magazine

"Most enjoyable ... Allmen and the Pink Diamond certainly goes down easily and well—and lingers nicely as the lightest of wafts, leaving one also looking forward to the next meeting with the quite delightful Allmen."
—The Complete Review

“In the honorable vein of elegant, gentleman thieves, comes Allmen.”
—Noah Charney, author of The Art Thief and The Art of Forgery

“Fritz von Allmen [is] an unapologetically profligate bon vivant and petty thief … all with the aplomb of a slightly more self-aware Bertie Wooster. Martin Suter is a terrific writer.”
—Jonathan Rabb, author of Among the Living and Rosa

"Fans of light crime novels will be satisfied."
—Publishers Weekly

"Action, a touch of eroticism, lots of humor and sweet melancholy ... The Swiss novelist provides great entertainment."
—Les Echos

"Johann Friedrich von Allmen is a pleasant alternative to the many seedy, lonely and sordid investigators in most crime novels. Allmen is elegant, cultivated, measured, but never dull and always a bit ironic. A good mixture that gives these light-hearted, amusing crime novels their special character."
—Westdeutscher Rundfunk

From the Publisher

03/01/2019

After the sparkly Allmen and the Dragonflies, destitute if aristocratic Johann Friedrich von Allmen returns with Guatemalan butler Carlos, having founded Allmen International Inquiries to pursue work as a private investigator. Here, he's been asked by an Englishman to find the Pink Diamond, a precious jewel stolen from a man who really doesn't have a claim on it. The suspect is a Russian Allmen tracks from an apartment building to a rental agency to a villa to a stunning Baltic coast resort, where sophisticated sybarite Allmen of course gets the best of everything and charges it to his client. But the Russian is being tracked by others, the Pink Diamond turns out not to be as expected, and Allmen and faithful Carlos enter the slippery realm of high finance. VERDICT Immense fun for lovers of international mystery.

Library Journal