Goldfinger (novel) heroin smuggling operation, British Secret Service operative James Bond is asked by Junius Du Pont, a rich American businessman (whom he briefly met and gambled with in "Casino Royale"), to watch Auric Goldfinger, with whom Du Pont is playing Canasta in order to discover if he is cheating. Bond quickly realises that Goldfinger is indeed cheating with the aid of his female assistant, Jill Masterton, who is spying on DuPont's cards. Bond blackmails Goldfinger into admitting it and paying back DuPont's lost money; he also has a brief affair with Masterton. Back in London, Bond's superior, M, tasks him with
Goldfinger (novel) has accustomed us, ...the narrative does not slip into top gear until Goldfinger unfolds his plan". The "Evening Standard" looked at why Bond was a success and listed "the things that make Bond attractive: the sex, the sadism, the vulgarity of money for its own sake, the cult of power, the lack of standards". "The Sunday Times" called "Goldfinger" "Guilt-edged Bond", whilst the "Manchester Evening News" thought that "Only Fleming could have got away with it...outrageously improbable, wickedly funny, wildly exciting". Even the "avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man", Anthony Boucher, writing for "The New York Times" appeared to enjoy