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Matthew Hope #6
Cinderella
Private detective Otto Samalson sees the tail—a black Toronado he can’t shake. One dark window rolls down, exposing the barrel of a gun, and the detective is dead.Otto had already known his days were numbered and said as much to his friend, attorney Matthew Hope. Having hired Otto to watch a cheating husband for a client, Matthew is now left with only Otto’s tape recorder, filled with proof of an affair. But could the evidence lead to something larger, something that would drive a man to kill?Meanwhile, a mysterious woman is on the run, her face and name unknown to all except two stepsisters who couldn’t care less if a violent pair of Cubans got their hands on her. If Matthew can decipher the clues in Otto’s evidence, there’s a chance he could reach the girl first and save her life.A chilling addition to the Matthew Hope series from Ed McBain, Cinderella is the tale of a woman known by many names and the men who will do anything to find her.
253 pages
First published January 1, 1986
About the author
Ed McBain
675 books679 followers"Ed McBain" is one of the pen names of American author and screenwriter Salvatore Albert Lombino (1926-2005), who legally adopted the name
Evan Hunter
in 1952.
While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.
While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
April 3, 2023
A middle aged PI is killed on Highway 41. There's a cocaine theft, and some Cubano thugs looking for the woman who stole it, and Matthew Hope looking for both.
Full of 1980's midlife crises.
Full of 1980's midlife crises.
November 10, 2013
Ahhh, Cinderella, another aptly named Matthew Hope series.
During the reading of this book, I've been occupied with other personal matters therefore don't feel like I devoted my entire attention to the book.
It was good as usual but my mind kept wandering and that certainly wasn't the book's fault.
For the sake of fairness then, I'm giving the book four stars when in my foggy mind it's a three. Benefit of the doubt, you know.
Not sure if it all wrapped up...all the loose ends that is, however that fog I spoke of, was still there at the end. If it was really, really good, I would re-read it. I'm sure it was better in reality (my reality, that is) than I remember.
Go for it if you're reading the series.
During the reading of this book, I've been occupied with other personal matters therefore don't feel like I devoted my entire attention to the book.
It was good as usual but my mind kept wandering and that certainly wasn't the book's fault.
For the sake of fairness then, I'm giving the book four stars when in my foggy mind it's a three. Benefit of the doubt, you know.
Not sure if it all wrapped up...all the loose ends that is, however that fog I spoke of, was still there at the end. If it was really, really good, I would re-read it. I'm sure it was better in reality (my reality, that is) than I remember.
Go for it if you're reading the series.
May 19, 2018
Masterful!
I was familiar with the late Ed McBain’s stories of the 87th Precinct; I have read most of them and am now rereading. But came across this with another setting (Florida) and another protagonist. A real page-Turner,
I was familiar with the late Ed McBain’s stories of the 87th Precinct; I have read most of them and am now rereading. But came across this with another setting (Florida) and another protagonist. A real page-Turner,
December 15, 2018
Matthew Hope gets drawn into two parallel cases after his private investigator gets murdered, while he is also unexpectedly drawn back towards his ex-wife. The complex lines of the plot as it moves towards a conclusion are well-paced.
December 29, 2008
It's not quite a 4 star but very close. The book started out kind of slow and was somewhat confusing, but it really got better toward the end of the first third and I ended up liking it a lot.
January 8, 2015
Slow start but quite good the last third of the book. It was funny reading this again after, what?, 20 years?
Read the Danish translation.
Read the Danish translation.
November 17, 2019
I'm a sucker for 99 cent deals on Kindle, which is my only excuse for buying this justly forgotten effort by the late Ed McBain. I knew Cinderella would be yet another book about a maverick attorney/cop/janitor bucking the system to find the scumbags who killed his best friend/fluffer/chiropractor, etc. I expected it to be idiotic but fun. It's just idiotic. McBain writes as if he is straining to meet a contractual word minimum rather than create an exciting piece of escapism. His favored padding technique here is to bloat the early chapters with generic lamentations about divorce and flashbacks of the hero and his ex-wife talking in clipped, fast-paced exchanges that are meant to be witty and sexy but just sound forced, improbable and dumb. I had to give up on this book because I wanted Matthew Hope (the hero) to get killed. Who would read this kind of crap? Maybe my grandpa did, which makes sense, because all the drinking and wartime PTSD cooked his brain. Save your own 99 cents and download something by Max Allan Collins instead.
February 17, 2016
Number six in the fairy tale mysteries by Ed McBain carries three plot lines that tie together in the end. Interwoven in all is Matthew Hope who is rapidly becoming a criminal lawyer rather than dealing with civil matters. A private investigator and friend of Matthew has been hired to assist with one of Hope's cases and is murdered while working on this case. The death of Otto Samalson is now a very personal matter and Attorney Hope starts investigating on his own.
August 8, 2010
A quick, easy read. Not terribly compelling, but I picked it up while on vacation and it was perfect for reading on the plane.
I found the chronology of events rather confusing. Even after re-reading several pages, I could never figure out a certain sequence of events but I didn't really care in the long run. The ending was rather weak, but again, this isn't Sherlock Holmes.
I found the chronology of events rather confusing. Even after re-reading several pages, I could never figure out a certain sequence of events but I didn't really care in the long run. The ending was rather weak, but again, this isn't Sherlock Holmes.
March 15, 2026
Matthew Hope was in bed with his ex-wife Susan when he heard the news. Otto Samalson, a private investigator hired by Hope's law firm, was gunned down on Highway 41. Otto was killed instantly by the first shot and never heard the second one being fired. A black Toronado, which was stolen the day before, fled the scene of the crime.
Otto was working on two cases at the time of his death. The first one involved matrimonial surveillance that Matthew hired Otto for. His client Carla Nettington thinks that her husband Daniel is fooling around with another woman. (He is.) The second case involves a local businessman of boats named David Larkin. Larkin's $8,000 watch is stolen by a young woman whom he refers to as "Cinderella". He also enlists his younger brother known as "Jimmy Legs" and Jimmy's friend Charlie Nubbs to track both the watch and woman down.
Unfortunately, they're not the only ones searching for "Cinderella". The young woman, whose real name is Jenny Santoro, is a call girl who goes by a number of aliases including Jody Carmody, Cheryl Blake and Angela West. Besides the gold watch, Jenny has also swiped four kilos of cocaine from a drug lord out on Key Biscayne. The drug lord named Luis Amaros--known as either "Pudgy" or the "Armadillo"--is furious by this theft. Since Luis can't report the stolen drugs to the police, he sends two of his goons to find his stash and kill Jenny.
The two goons resemble a Mutt and Jeff team. They are Domingo Garzon, a huge knife-wielding thug who speaks minimal English, and Ernesto Moreno, who's more fluent in English. They find Jenny's stepmother Annie Carmody and two stepsisters, the drug-addicted Alice and the twice-divorced Kate, who all reside in Florida. (Jenny's father and stepfather are both deceased. While her mother is not mentioned, she may also have passed away.)
After obtaining vital information on Jenny, Domingo stabs Alice to death. He and Ernesto then break into Kate's apartment in Orlando the following day to get more details about her stepsister. While there, Annie phones Kate and tells her about Alice's murder and to help with the funeral. Domingo, who's standing in the doorway during the phone call, then kills Kate because she now knows too much.
The two thugs then drive to Venice where Annie lives. She returns the next day after identifying Alice's body. (At her and Kate's apartments, Ernesto and Domingo posed as police detectives Garcia and Rodriguez to get information. Annie gives them her most recent photo of Jenny, and the thugs spare the grieving mother, who doesn't yet know that Kate is now dead, too.)
Upon hearing that Jenny is now in Calusa, the thugs drive north from Venice. Besides Annie's picture, the Armadillo gave them a photo he had of "Cenicienta" (a nickname he gave her meaning "Cinderella" in Spanish). Jenny does resemble the blond princess wearing an icy-blue gown with matching slippers like glass and a sapphire brooch. Unlike the famous princess, she's stolen both Larkin's gold watch and four kilos of Amaros's coke which she intends to sell. Jenny hopes to rise from the ashes and quit prostitution once these sales are done. She wants to leave America and settle in a home in the French countryside near Paris. But can she reach these goals before the clock strikes midnight?!
Meanwhile in Calusa, attorney Matthew Hope is trying to find his friend Otto Samalson's killer. Hope speaks to both Carla Nettington and David Larkin before police detectives do. This rankles Detective Cooper Rawles and his partner Andrew Hacker. (Rawles's partner and Matthew's friend Detective Morris Bloom is currently on vacation.) Then somebody cleans out Otto's office, stealing all of his tapes and files, though Matthew listened earlier to the Nettingtons' tape.
Larkin provides Matthew with a photo of "Cinderella". He hears that she may be currently residing at Camelot Towers, and he does some investigating on his own with the photo in hand. After obtaining permission from the building manager, Matthew locates a mysterious redheaded woman in one of the apartments at the complex. She looks familiar though he can't remember where he'd seen her before.
Matthew realizes that he has a number of loose ends that need to be tied up. He wonders if either of Otto's remaining two cases had something to do with his murder. Shortly before his friend's death, Otto told Matthew how his "days were numbered". Following his leads and instincts while ignoring warnings from Detectives Rawles and Hacker, Matthew Hope is determined to find justice for Otto and to locate the enigmatic "Cinderella" (nee Jenny Santoro) before she also becomes a victim.
Ed McBain writes another page-turner. He keeps us in suspense until the final chapter or two. But make sure to read the Matthew Hope series in order. It's better that way!
Rating for "Cinderella": ***-1/2
NOTE: Ed McBain uses the fairy tale of "Cinderella" based from Charles Perrault whose edition contains the fairy godmother and glass slippers she wears to the Prince's ball. The version by the Brothers Grimm has no fairy godmother and gold slippers. The Prince himself coats the steps outside with pitch so that Cinderella's gold slipper gets caught. The Brothers Grimm's story contains a few gory scenes at the end as well.
Otto was working on two cases at the time of his death. The first one involved matrimonial surveillance that Matthew hired Otto for. His client Carla Nettington thinks that her husband Daniel is fooling around with another woman. (He is.) The second case involves a local businessman of boats named David Larkin. Larkin's $8,000 watch is stolen by a young woman whom he refers to as "Cinderella". He also enlists his younger brother known as "Jimmy Legs" and Jimmy's friend Charlie Nubbs to track both the watch and woman down.
Unfortunately, they're not the only ones searching for "Cinderella". The young woman, whose real name is Jenny Santoro, is a call girl who goes by a number of aliases including Jody Carmody, Cheryl Blake and Angela West. Besides the gold watch, Jenny has also swiped four kilos of cocaine from a drug lord out on Key Biscayne. The drug lord named Luis Amaros--known as either "Pudgy" or the "Armadillo"--is furious by this theft. Since Luis can't report the stolen drugs to the police, he sends two of his goons to find his stash and kill Jenny.
The two goons resemble a Mutt and Jeff team. They are Domingo Garzon, a huge knife-wielding thug who speaks minimal English, and Ernesto Moreno, who's more fluent in English. They find Jenny's stepmother Annie Carmody and two stepsisters, the drug-addicted Alice and the twice-divorced Kate, who all reside in Florida. (Jenny's father and stepfather are both deceased. While her mother is not mentioned, she may also have passed away.)
After obtaining vital information on Jenny, Domingo stabs Alice to death. He and Ernesto then break into Kate's apartment in Orlando the following day to get more details about her stepsister. While there, Annie phones Kate and tells her about Alice's murder and to help with the funeral. Domingo, who's standing in the doorway during the phone call, then kills Kate because she now knows too much.
The two thugs then drive to Venice where Annie lives. She returns the next day after identifying Alice's body. (At her and Kate's apartments, Ernesto and Domingo posed as police detectives Garcia and Rodriguez to get information. Annie gives them her most recent photo of Jenny, and the thugs spare the grieving mother, who doesn't yet know that Kate is now dead, too.)
Upon hearing that Jenny is now in Calusa, the thugs drive north from Venice. Besides Annie's picture, the Armadillo gave them a photo he had of "Cenicienta" (a nickname he gave her meaning "Cinderella" in Spanish). Jenny does resemble the blond princess wearing an icy-blue gown with matching slippers like glass and a sapphire brooch. Unlike the famous princess, she's stolen both Larkin's gold watch and four kilos of Amaros's coke which she intends to sell. Jenny hopes to rise from the ashes and quit prostitution once these sales are done. She wants to leave America and settle in a home in the French countryside near Paris. But can she reach these goals before the clock strikes midnight?!
Meanwhile in Calusa, attorney Matthew Hope is trying to find his friend Otto Samalson's killer. Hope speaks to both Carla Nettington and David Larkin before police detectives do. This rankles Detective Cooper Rawles and his partner Andrew Hacker. (Rawles's partner and Matthew's friend Detective Morris Bloom is currently on vacation.) Then somebody cleans out Otto's office, stealing all of his tapes and files, though Matthew listened earlier to the Nettingtons' tape.
Larkin provides Matthew with a photo of "Cinderella". He hears that she may be currently residing at Camelot Towers, and he does some investigating on his own with the photo in hand. After obtaining permission from the building manager, Matthew locates a mysterious redheaded woman in one of the apartments at the complex. She looks familiar though he can't remember where he'd seen her before.
Matthew realizes that he has a number of loose ends that need to be tied up. He wonders if either of Otto's remaining two cases had something to do with his murder. Shortly before his friend's death, Otto told Matthew how his "days were numbered". Following his leads and instincts while ignoring warnings from Detectives Rawles and Hacker, Matthew Hope is determined to find justice for Otto and to locate the enigmatic "Cinderella" (nee Jenny Santoro) before she also becomes a victim.
Ed McBain writes another page-turner. He keeps us in suspense until the final chapter or two. But make sure to read the Matthew Hope series in order. It's better that way!
Rating for "Cinderella": ***-1/2
NOTE: Ed McBain uses the fairy tale of "Cinderella" based from Charles Perrault whose edition contains the fairy godmother and glass slippers she wears to the Prince's ball. The version by the Brothers Grimm has no fairy godmother and gold slippers. The Prince himself coats the steps outside with pitch so that Cinderella's gold slipper gets caught. The Brothers Grimm's story contains a few gory scenes at the end as well.
August 20, 2015
Matthew Hope is in the sack with his ex when he is notified that Otto Samalson has been murdered on Highway 41. Hope investigates as Otto had told him that he, Otto, feared that someone was out to get him. This is a complex novel.
March 27, 2023
This book had several plot lines running through it. Very much in the style of an Elmore Leonard book than an Ed McBain book. Still very entertaining although Matthew Hope does less in this book than the previous entries in this series.
January 29, 2018
Good Wacky Characters in the Criminal Underbelly
The writing may at times be over descriptive , but it never disappoints. The Hope novels, do contain more sex and violence than most of the 87th precinct.
The writing may at times be over descriptive , but it never disappoints. The Hope novels, do contain more sex and violence than most of the 87th precinct.
Read
July 27, 2018Excellent....
have not been able to read them in order; however, I have familiarized myself
with characters in previous editions....
I think Matthew should just forget about his EX-----things will never be the same....
and she is kind of annoying !!!
have not been able to read them in order; however, I have familiarized myself
with characters in previous editions....
I think Matthew should just forget about his EX-----things will never be the same....
and she is kind of annoying !!!
Read
May 1, 2009Fiction
May 6, 2011
This one just missed entirely...
May 8, 2017
Average read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2017
Something keeps me coming back, but I have never rated one of the books anything other than a 3 out of 5
May 3, 2020
Not as satisfying as the 87th precinct novels, but still classic McBain.
August 20, 2023
I guess that definitely my pool-side definition of reading material leans towards the lowbrow, because I’ve really enjoyed this book.
It’s a very classical noir setup: a private detective, working for the real main character in all this series, Matthew Hope, is killed while on a case; Matthew Hope tries to find out who’s to blame by following up on the cases the detective was tackling.
There follows the usual combination of red herrings, unsavory characters, and pitiless killers who are also tracking down one of the same persons the detective was. Everything is formulaic, characters are what you would expect from the milieu, the city of Calusa, in Florida, even the title is part of a formula; apparently, all Matthew Hope’s cases are entitled as traditional children’s tales. But it does not really matter: the pace is quick, the dialogue sparkling, and, at the end, justice is served, although in a roundabout way.
If you enjoy this genre, you’ll like this one.
It’s a very classical noir setup: a private detective, working for the real main character in all this series, Matthew Hope, is killed while on a case; Matthew Hope tries to find out who’s to blame by following up on the cases the detective was tackling.
There follows the usual combination of red herrings, unsavory characters, and pitiless killers who are also tracking down one of the same persons the detective was. Everything is formulaic, characters are what you would expect from the milieu, the city of Calusa, in Florida, even the title is part of a formula; apparently, all Matthew Hope’s cases are entitled as traditional children’s tales. But it does not really matter: the pace is quick, the dialogue sparkling, and, at the end, justice is served, although in a roundabout way.
If you enjoy this genre, you’ll like this one.
February 4, 2025
All of McBain’s Matthew Hope series have titles and plots that mimic Fairy Tales.
I am drawn in by the titles; I want to see how the plots will fit.
In Cinderella a mysterious woman disappears after having attended a ball in a blue gown and “glass” high heels. Her two stepsisters can care less that her whereabouts are unknown. As the investigation progresses, her identity turns out to be far from “The Bell of the Ball” and more than just a private investigator is seeking her throughout the kingdom. Another fun McBain mystery
I am drawn in by the titles; I want to see how the plots will fit.
In Cinderella a mysterious woman disappears after having attended a ball in a blue gown and “glass” high heels. Her two stepsisters can care less that her whereabouts are unknown. As the investigation progresses, her identity turns out to be far from “The Bell of the Ball” and more than just a private investigator is seeking her throughout the kingdom. Another fun McBain mystery
January 1, 2021
Cinderella has stolen a bunch of cocaine Florida and is being chased by a couple private detectives and a couple of thugs representing the owners of the cocaine. When a private detective is killed in the hunt, Matthew Hope gets involved. McBain -- Evan Hunter -- is a master plotter, and creator of dialog, and in this case a lot the feel of Florida from Elmore Leonard novels. A good, fast read.
June 29, 2025
Not the best of the Matthew Hope series, but still extremely enjoyable. I think McBain spent too much of the book on Hope's relationship with his ex-wife. There was not too many memorable situations and lines that I've become to expect from McBain. The plot is very good. Overall a good book. Recommended.
September 23, 2020
What seems like a pretty straightforward murder investigation by Matthew Hope turns out to be pretty convoluted. Hope is more of an observer than an active participant as events play out.
December 24, 2021
Not His Best
McBain story was long and belabored with minutia. The first five were page turners. This one, unfortunately, not so much.
McBain story was long and belabored with minutia. The first five were page turners. This one, unfortunately, not so much.
Did Not Finish
March 29, 2025Another gifted book that is getting unhauled. If I were to read this I would start at book 1 in the series.
December 12, 2024
Same old same old.
September 12, 2015
If this had been my first McBain novel, I don't know if I would have read the second one. Luckily, it was not my first so I will try again. There was nothing wrong with this one, it just didn't flow as smoothly or hold my interest like Three Blind Mice did. But I have faith in McBain and will move on to The Last Best Hope.
December 11, 2015
Askungen
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