Preview

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Allmen and the Dragonflies

By: Martin Suter, Steph Morris - translator
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $12.33

Buy for $12.33

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

This is a thrilling art-heist escapade that evokes a world of European high culture and luxury, while plumbing the vicissitudes of less exalted human foibles and obsessions.

Johann Friedrich von Allmen, a bon vivant of dandified refinement, has exhausted his family fortune. Forced to downscale, Allmen inhabits the garden house of his former Zurich estate, attended by his Guatemalan butler Carlos. When not reading novels by Balzac and Somerset Maugham, he plays jazz on a Bechstein baby grand. Allmen's fortunes take a sharp turn when he meets Jojo, a stunning blonde whose lakeside villa contains five Art Nouveau bowls created by renowned French artist Emile Galle and decorated with a dragonfly motif. Allmen, seeking to pay off mounting debts, absconds with the priceless bowls and embarks on a high-risk, potentially violent bid to cash them in.

This is the first audiobook in a series of humorous, fast-paced detective novels devoted to Allmen - a memorable gentleman-thief who, with his trusted sidekick Carlos, creates an investigative firm to recover missing precious objects.

©2018 Martin Suter (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Allmen and the Dragonflies

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    46
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    55
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Lifestyle Can get To be Troublesome

I did enjoy this book enough to want to know what happens—the events were straight forward and interesting enough with only the perhaps one (maybe 2 interesting twists); not a page turner but just enough who-dunnit interest. I may look for a second read with this character if one exists but not quite with the same enthusiasm I’ve had with others of its ilk. The main and supporting characters could have been developed further, as well as the murdered person’s history to lend more authenticity to the whys and hows of that particular person’s business dealings

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Slow start-(?) PRESS THROUGH!

Such a fun story- a perfect weekend listen when you need a luxurious listen in between favorites!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An entertaining quick listen

An enjoyable wander through the life of a trust fund, baby, who has run out of his inheritance later in life. The ethics he compromises, and his perceived wins, enhances the short history. highly recommend for laid-back weekend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

More Allmen, please. And more Grover Gardner, too.

It’s always fun to watch a character skirt that fine line between attenuated survival and utter disaster. At least, it is when the author keeps the writing wry. This Martin Suter does and, without too much sex, violence, or foul language, gives us an engaging, entertaining story.

As with his recordings of Ross Macdonald and Andrea Camilleri, Grover Gardner hands in his usual straightforward (yet somehow nuanced) performance. Hope to see more translations available soon, all with Mr. Gardner at the mic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

well performed droll humor

very nicely done story about a rascal. has lots of
clever twists and turns. enjoy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Origen story

This is not a dark or violent mystery. It feels almost light hearted (in spite of the muder).
For such a short book the author spends a lot of time developing his main character, Allmen. For me, it worked; it was light hearted escape even if not exactly believable.
I actually gave the book a chance because I noticed it was a translation (author is Swiss). The setting and the main character are "exotic," from my perspective, which adds a little charm to the experience of hearing the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful