In the 1960s and early 1970s a number of writers ghosted Ellery Queen novels. Face to Face has been attributed to Jack Vance. It certainly reads like a Jack Vance novel: the murdered singer leaves a dying clue: the letters “f a c e” are scrawled on a piece of paper. Given that Vance later wrote a novel in his Demon Princes series called The Face the evidence seems incontrovertible. And then there are the fanciful Vancean character names: Ardene Piggyback Vlietland, Daffy Dingle, Gertie Hodge Huppenkleimer, and Glory Guild. If you enjoy puzzle novels, this mystery will challenge you. Jack Vance ghosted three other Ellery Queen novels: A Room to Die In, The Four Johns, and The Madman Theory. All are worth reading.
Read this one. I love the Ellery Queens with Ellery the Detective and have read all but a few of the story collections. Never much cared for that group farmed out with other characters though.
I’ve read several of those ghosted Ellery Queens. They vary widely in quality. I believe the four books written by Jack Vance are the picks of the litter.
The one by Avram Davidson’s good, too.
Two Ellery Queen books are attributed to Avram Davidson: On the Eighth Day and The Fourth Side of the Triangle. Which one do you recommend?