Allmen and the Pink Diamond by Martin Suter - 2011 - translated from German 2019 by Stephen Morris
During German Literature Month November, 2017 I read a very interesting novel by Martin Suter, The Last Weynfeldt.
I am happy to begin my participation in German Literature Month 2019 with another novel by Suter, Allmen and the Pink Diamond.
Short, 203 pages it is a fast reading detective story. It is part of a series of novels starring Johann Friedrich von Allmen and his Guatemalan butler Carlos. Allmen is hired to retrieve a fabulously expensive pink diamond. Perpetually strapped for cash, there is a huge fee involved if he recovers the gem.
Tracks lead to a grand Baltic beach resort. Before then they stop in London and Zurich.. A mysterious Russian is the first suspect.
It was fun to vicariously indulge in the wonderful food served at the hotel and observe the other guests. As befits a story set in an expensive hotel on the Baltic, there are semi-shaddy guests, ranging from the idol rich to international software pirates. Of course there is a bit of mild sex.
I enjoyed reading this but..the characters could be better developed, some of the dialogue does not ring true. This might be a translation issue but an upper class Englishman talks like a character out of an Ali Gee skitt by Sasha Cohen. I did enjoy the section on stock manipulations. It ends happily )for Allman and Carlos. I liked the ending.
I was kindly given a review copy of this novel. I think the price is to high. I would not suggest a friend pay $10.95 for this book. I found
The Last Weynfeldt much more interesting.
About Martin Suter
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.
