Face to Face

By: Ellery Queen

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Gloria Guild is the singing "glory" of the thirties and the millionairess wife of Count Carlos Armando, renowned only for his succession of wealthy wives. When she is murdered, her husband is the obvious suspect, but he has a perfect alibi. So who could he have got to do it for him? The only clue is the word "face," penned in her dying scrawl. But whose face? And why? 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. Anyone whonails this killer before Queen is either a genius or a cheat.

©1967 Ellery Queen (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

1 of my favorite Ellery Queens

even though I guessed the murderer , I loved this book. There were a couple of tidbits I hadn't tealized.

Yes I did guess who

And pretty early on. But it was still worth listening till the end. A little overly wordy, maybe.

LOVED IT!

Loved it! Love all the twists and turns in Ellery Queen’s detective mysteries! Enjoy the listen!

One of the best queens stories

Good characters a sensible plot good pace stirring denouement. Definitely recommended as one of the best of the series.

One Fly in an Otherwise Perfect Ointment

I go to Ellery Queen for elaborate, decorous, thought-provoking plots peppered with good-natured humor and literary allusions. But this story, late in the series (published n 1967), has a touch more grit. Not surprising for a cast of characters that began life back in 1929. Beyond a radically different social milieu (and a completely new audience), all writers tend -- if they know what's good for them -- to change over the course of three decades. So, here we have friendships that start out with promise and end badly. There's this thing called the sexual revolution. The Beatles come in for a knock. And, while the crime is solved, the sleuths end up at odds with one another. Still, the grit doesn't get in the way of the enjoyment.

The one fly in this otherwise perfect ointment is the usually terrific Robert Fass. He's my favorite Queen reader, and his Scottish detective sports a fine brogue. But his British songstress slides unstably from cockney to upper class and back again.

Attention grabbing story

Love the Ellery Queen stories. I have been a fan for a very long time.

A Good Detective Mystery

A fun, light read with a few twists. Although I came to the solution early, some of the twists made me rethink my assertions. Worth the listen.

Ellery saves the day in the knick of time.

I did enjoy this story. The characters were strong and so believable. Once again I did not know who the killer was until the very end.

Twisty

The Ellery Queen series starts with “innocent” murders if one can call murder innocent. It’s an anthology of the moral fiber of America. From a time where women are chaperoned to a time when they are preyed upon by men an then finally to women murders.

It’s a story that I could not stop listening to. I had an idea of who were the criminals but I could not figure out the logistics. The skilled author purposely allowed the reader to see the murderers but skillfully withheld the ability for the reader to be confident of the identity of the murderers until the last chapter.

To make a comparison, it’s like a bag of potato chips. I had to keep munching till the bag was empty!

Dated, disturbing language

I was surprised at how disturbing some of the dated language was. Examples are the descriptions of women, eg "a nubile 16 year old", "he grabbed her like a rapist" for a love scene, and "busty child blonde". Overall, the dialog is pretty corny and the characters were not realistic. Very glad I didn't pay for this.