cover image Once Upon a Fairy Tale

Once Upon a Fairy Tale

Mark McShane. Doubleday Books, $14.95 (183pp) ISBN 978-0-385-26634-5

Timothy Hame is a second-rate art critic who yearns for greater things: excitement, fame and, above all, money. In this engagingly sinister tale, McShane ( Night's Evil ) follows the devious and venal Hame as he formulates an elaborate hoax on the British art world. After a chance encounter with , an untalented, amateur artist, Hame decides that she will become his ``Miss X,'' an undiscovered painter with of major stature. He will show her works one at a time, release information in dribs and drabs, and, after her success is assured, tell the art world that he has merely been joking. When an incredible sum is offered for his protege's first painting, Hame feels his fortune is made. Unfortunately, the young woman's father will not allow her to exhibit, and Hame, desperate, murders him. Although the art critic then believes his scheme will proceed smoothly, his troubles are only beginning. This is a pointed, unpredictable, absorbing and totally enjoyable mystery. (Feb.)