The Broken Vase — Rex Stout

When death stages a performance at Carnegie Hall, Tecumseh Fox goes backstage to catch the killer who pulled the strings. Who stole the dead man's Stradivarius--only to send it back? And what about the deadly duet featuring a stolen Ming vase and an afternoon cocktail laced with cyanide? Throw in an accompanist who plays all the wrong notes, a jealous sister straight out of Italian opera, and a chorus of suspects with a cacophony of lies and alibis. Suddenly Fox has to step up the tempo before the killer makes an encore--a sinister sonata composed in the key of murder.