Cinderella

This is the sixth in McBain's series of fearful ""fairy tales'' starring lawyer Matthew Hope of Calusa, Fla., as compelling a character as those in the author's popular 87th Precinct novels. When Hope's friend, private eye Otto Samalson, is killed while on an assignment for him, the lawyer makes up his mind to find the murderer. The investigation leads Hope into the affairs of several men involved with a gorgeous hooker known as Cinderella. Hired thugs on her trail leave behind them the bloody bodies of people they question, and the lawyer is in constant danger. Cleverly eluding pursuers, Cinderella guards a fortune in stolen cocaine with which she expects to secure a rosy future until time and her luck run out. This is a violent story, more horrifying than its gory predecessors (Goldilocks; Beauty and the Beast, but very well written and a natural attraction for McBain fans. (April 28)