A Bullet for Cinderella by John D. MacDonald was originally published in 1955 and I personally found this to be a hard-boiled crime story that I could not put down. It starts out with the main character arriving in a strange town with the purpose of recovering a buried treasure that his army buddy told him about just before he died in the prison of war camp they were in.

Tal Howard is a disillusioned Korean War veteran he’s hoping to finance a new life with the sixty thousand dollars of embezzled funds that his dying friend, Tim, told him about. Unfortunately his friend wasn’t able to tell him specifically where the money is and another inmate from the camp is also in town searching for the money that he overheard Tal and Tim discussing. This other inmate, Earl Fitzmartin, is a particularly nasty character, tough, amoral and ruthless. The plot twists and turns, secrets are revealed, dead bodies turn up and our main character finally realizes that the stolen money isn’t as important to him as the real treasure he has found in this town is, a young woman called Ruth. Unfortunately by the time Tal sorts out his feelings, Ruth has fallen into the hands of Fitzmartin.

This classic story features some fairly brutal action, interesting characters and a well written plot that holds the readers attention. The story moves quickly but the final few chapters are incredibly fast moving, exciting and suspenseful helping to make A Bullet For Cinderella a page turner. ( )

The characters and imagery of the story are cleverly plotted and will told. MacDonald at his best. An archeological treasure as well invoking many images of the early part Korean war fifties. Many little reminders of what the world was like then. Little things like gas station attendants pumping gas. Reads quickly. ( )

Inn a foxhole during the War, A dying soldier reveals knowledge of much money hidden in jars back home. He tell a friend and reveals the name of someone who knows where it is. ( )

Good 50's Noir ( )

This was not MacDonald's best book. The dialogue seemed far too forced. I did enjoy the main character, but the bad was a little unbelievable. 3 Shiny Bits of the Night Sky for me. ( )