ELLERY QUEEN'S EYEWITNESSES

A somewhat below-par Queen anthology--with second-string work by masters and standard stuff from others. As in several previous collections, the opener is a Rex Stout novella--but a distinctly lesser one this time: ""The Sweet Corn Murder"" (blandly retitled from the original ""Murder Is Corny,"" which appeared in 1963 as part of Trio for Blunt Instruments). Likewise, H. R. F. Keating's episode for Mrs. Craggs here is a wispy let-down; there's a dubious Cornell Woolrich antique, the much-anthologized ""Gone Girl"" by Ross Macdonald, a not-so-hot Ellery Queen oldie. And the bulk of the rest features uninspired series-hero material: Barry Perowne's neo-Raffles, John Ball's Virgil Tibbs, Hugh Pentecost's John Jericho, Joyce Porter's mildly amusing Dover. The few, low-key standouts: a rare, welcome short-story appearance by sprightly novelist Mary McMullen (the hapless revenge of a mistreated secretary); a light but surprisingly subdued P. G. Wodehouse relic; and a characteristically creepy sliver of time-warp/death from David Ely. Minor league.