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Ellery remembered Glory Guild very well. Not only did he remember her, but he had listened to her as enchanted in his youth. And now he was in the bedroom of GeeGee - as she was called by her intimate friends, to which Ellery, unfortunately, had never belonged -, in the bedroom of a dead person. But on a piece of paper she had managed to write one more word, a word of four almost illegible letters: the most enigmatic letters Ellery had ever seen.

It was death for "Old Glory"--and the only clue to the murderer of Gloria Guild, the singing "Glory" of the 30s, is her dying scrawl--"Face." Why face? Whose face? Ellery Queen pursues the Glory Riddle from the Bowery to a way-out wedding--and a surprise climax that will jolt you into cold shock. And any reader who nails this killer is a genius or a cheat.

 

The only clue to the murder of Gloria Guild, the singing "Glory" of the Thirties, is her dying scrawl, the letters

Even the great detective-writer Ellery Queen can't read the riddle. Attempting to break the Glory Code, he whisks us on a marathon search from the Bowery to the kickiest happenings in town. And after the glamour of a Broadway opening night, the takes us to a way-out wedding night in his own apartment - where he closes in on the killer.

If you're wise in the ways of Queen, you might actually detect whodunit, for Ellery plays fair - if fast - in this old-timey puzzler. Face to Face is mystery fun served up saucily. The excitement begins when the lovely young actress Roberta West cries hysterically for Ellery Queen's help after Count Carlos Armando has proposed that she (his ex-mistress) murder Gloria Guild (his millionaire, pinch-penny wife). The suspense builds as the plot twists and the suspicions turn: To Roberta. To the marry-for-money Count. To Lorette Spanier, Gloria Guild's ash-blonde, angel-faced niece, newly added as a legatee to Gloria's will. To the Count's countless mistresses, in particular the mysterious woman in the violet veil.

What Ellery Queen reveals at the wedding makes for a chilling climax in a tale as absorbing as it is entertaining Face to Face is a mystery maze cunningly constructed by the master of detective fiction. All the evidence is there. Follow the right path and it will lead you straight to the killer. Take one wrong turn, however slight, and you'll be caught up in a merry murder-go-round of mystery.

If the solution doesn't surprise you, you've peeked ahead to the finish. -- Houston Chronicle

“A fine fantastic farrago... Technically faultless construction (one expects no less), admirable final twist and one lovely private joke for old-line Queen fans (as aren’t we all?).” -- Anthony Boucher,  New York Times

"For puzzle addicts this suave and tantalizing brain teaser is rare and glorious fare.” -- Baltimore News American

“As usual Queen has played fair... punctiliously revealing any clue he finds , every theory he develops... every iota of evidence he uncovers, and challenges the reader to predict the solution. And I'll bet you aren't right.”    --  The Florida Times Union

Today's master of ingenuity presents the most ingenious form of twist or double cross he has devised. ... Some mystery mongers never let us down... This is the best Ellery Queen since Calamity Town. -- Harper Magazine

 
Face to Face - dust cover New American Library (NAL), 1967 (Exists in "regular" and Book Club Edition, the latter only differs with a small "Book Club Edition" notice on the inside flap of the dust cover) (Jacket design Lawrence Ratzkin)Face to Face - hardcover New American Library (NAL), 1967.Face to Face - dust cover Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1967.
Face to Face - cover pocket book edition, Signet P3424, March 1968 (1st).Face to Face - cover pocket book edition, Penguin, 1971Face to Face - cover pocket book edition, Signet 451-Y6872, February 3. 1976.
Face to Face/The House of Brass - cover paperback edition, Signet Double Mystery, 451-AE1454, April 6, 1982
Above from top left to bottom right: dust and hardcover New American Library (1967);  dust cover Gollancz edition (1967); Signet (1968, 1st), Penguin (1971), Signet (1976) and Signet  Double Mystery (1982). *
 
A good story on its own, but elements seem like replays from former novels. At least the solution is satisfying and clever, but haven't we seen the Showdown at a Wedding Ceremony bit before? Again one of the novels which may have been ghostwritten. Some have mentioned the name of Jack Vance. He did write a sci-fi-novel called The Face, but to this date we've found no evidence to sustain the claim Vance had anything to do with this book. 
 
Face to Face - cover paperback edition, Harper Perennial, February 1. 1992.  (cover design by Suzanne Noli, cover illustration by John Paul Genzo) Face to Face - cover audiobook, audiobook Blackstone Audio, Inc., read by Patrick Cullen, December 16. 1999Face to Face - cover paperback edition, G.K. Hall Large Print edition, 2000Face to Face - cover audiobook Blackstone Audio, Inc., read by Patrick Cullen, November 2010.
Face to Face - cover paperback edition, Langtail Press, May 9. 2013Face to Face - cover audiobook Blackstone Audio, Inc., read by Robert Fass, July 1. 2014Face to Face - cover eBook, JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc, Feb 16. 2017 
 
The Canberra Times, Geoffrey Sawer, February 24, 1968.

"Ellery Queen unfolds another crispy whodunit which is neither disguised literary criticism or sugar-coated social history; it would be quite good but for a disastrous Scottish hero who talks rather like an American stage Australian.  He should stick exclusively to his familiar New Yorkers."

 
"Face to Face" was published in "Star Weekly" in two parts on March 25. and April 1. 1967 (Illustration by Dick Marvin). "Face to Face" was published in "Star Weekly" in two parts on March 25. and April 1. 1967 (Illustration by Dick Marvin). 
Above: Face to Face was published in Star Weekly in two parts on March 25. and April 1. 1967 (Illustration by Dick Marvin).


Zingend de Pijp Uit - coverZingend de Pijp Uit - coverFace a Face - cover French edition, Presses De La Cite,  Collection Mystere Nr 73, 1968Face a Face - cover French edition  Nr 1179, 1975Face a Face - cover French edition J'ai LuFace a Face - cover French editions collection J'ai Lu Nr 2779, 1990.
Nur eine frage der Lesart - cover German edition Ullstein Krimi 1170, 1968 translation Mechtild SandbergNur eine frage der Lesart - cover German edition Ullstein Krimi Nr.1708Ellery Queen e la parola chiave - cover Italian edition, Mondadori, series I Classici del Giallo, June 7. 1983Ellery Queen e la parola chiave - cover Italian edition Mondadori, series Oscar Gialli, May 1985
Ellery Queen e la parola chiave - cover Italian editionEllery Queen e la parola chiave - cover Italian edition, 2005

Face to Face Translations:
Czech: Tvárí v tvár 
Danish: Gåden om Gloria 
Dutch/Flemish: Zingend de pijp uit 
French: Face à face 
German: Nur eine Frage der Lesart 
Greek: Ενας Γρίφος Γραμμένος με Αίμα 
Italian: Ellery Queen e la parola chiave 
Japanese: 顔 (kao) 
Russian: ЛИЦОМ К ЛИЦУ 
Spanish: Cara a cara 
Swedish: Rebus i rött 

Cara a Cara - Cover Spanish edition Bruguera, Club Del Misterio, Nr3, 1981.Cara a Cara - Cover Spanish edition, Picazo, Barcelona, 1972Cara a Cara - Cover Spanish edition Cara A Cara - cover Portuguese edition, Colleccao XISCara a Cara - Cover Spanish edition, Ciudad de Libros (eBook)Gåden om Gloria - Cover Danish edition, Lademann
Gåden om Gloria - Cover Danish edition, Rosenkilde & Bahnhof, 2015Rebus i rott - cover Swedish edition, 1974νας γρῖφος γραμμένος μέ αἷμα - cover Greek edition, Omikron- Spyros Galaios, 1970ЛИЦОМ К ЛИЦУ - Cover Russian edition, 1994 (Together with The Finishing Stroke)Тайна китайского мандарина - cover Russian compilation, contains three Ellery Queen stories, "The Chinese Orange Mystery" (Тайна китайского мандарина), "Face to Face" (Лицом к лицу) & "A Study in Terror" (Неизвестная рукопись доктора Уотсона), Publisher Canon (Kahoh), 1994.ЛИЦОМ К ЛИЦУ - Cover Russian edition, 2006 (Includes The Finishing Stroke)
Face to Face - cover Japanese edition, Hayakawa Pocket Mystery Book, 1973Face to Face - cover Japanese edition, Hayakawa Publishing (full cover)Face to face - cover Chinese edition, Masses Press, January 1. 1999Face to Face - cover Taiwanese edition, Face Press, June 2006Face to Face - cover Chinese edition, New Star Press, January 2009Face to Face - cover Chinese edition, New Star Press, January 2009
 


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Other articles on this book

(1) Reading Ellery Queen - Face to Face Jon Mathewson (May 2016)
(2) Tipping My Fedora Cavershamragu (June 28. 2012)
(3) In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel Puzzle Doctor (March 22. 2015)
 
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