Marco Page was the pseudonym of Harry Kurnitz (1909-1968), an American playwright, producer, screenwriter, and book and music reviewer. He was mostly known for his movie scripts, writing over-the-top adventures for Errol Flynn and comedies for Danny Kaye, among others, over 40 in all. Mystery readers will be familiar with his adaptation of Agatha Christie’s play Witness for the Prosecution. The resulting 1957 film starred Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, Elsa Lanchester, and Tyrone Power, receiving six Academy Award nominations and five Golden Globe nominations. His first mystery, Fast Company (1937) won the Dodd, Mead Red Badge Award. His second mystery capitalized on his knowledge of music.
In The Shadowy Third (Dodd, Mead, 1946) the rare Stradivarius violin owned by brilliant musician Igor Krassin is stolen. The insurance company is reluctant to pay out on its policy and turns David Calder, New York lawyer and private investigator, loose, hoping he can find the violin. No one understands why the violin was stolen, as it is so rare and so distinctive that disposing of it profitably is nearly impossible. Â
The ownership of the violin turns out to be in question. Calder learned that the legendary instrument forcibly left the hands of its owner during the Nazi regime. Now the family of the owner knows Krassin had it and is laying legal claim to the violin when it is recovered. Considering the number of famous paintings that were stolen during the war and were returned to the original owners during the post-war years, Calder suspects the claim of the family to the violin might well stand up in court.
Before long Krassin is murdered. Everyone understands why Krassin might have been killed. He was arrogant and difficult personally and professionally. He was an inveterate womanizer, leaving a trail of angry women, husbands, boyfriends, and fathers. He had no shortage of enemies.
Krassin had recently drafted a new will, leaving a number of generous bequests. He had not signed it however, which means the wife he had been keeping in the background was his heir and she had no intention of honoring the provisions of the new will.
A nicely constructed story with considerable detail about the behind-the-scenes operations of a large symphony and the world of rare classical instruments. The culpability for the theft and for the murder is deftly juggled during the last few chapters, making a case out for first one character and then another. It wasn’t clear until the last three pages who the killer actually was. For fans of music-themed mysteries and readers of mid-century crime fiction.