By page 16 I knew who one of the bad guys was - this is both the best and worst part of a Nancy Drew novel. ( )

An enjoyable book rests in The Clue of the Tapping Heels. What imagination of all the nooks and crannies hidden with the tapping heel house. Of course, no graphic description of the mystery nor any graphic sexual content. My only dilemma rests in that Nancy and her friends seem to have no schedule of school or work, and also parents that allow them to traipse of all hours of the day. The unsavory neighbors that reside near Miss Carter that only care about financial gain at any cost. After reading some heavy psychological mysteries, The Clue of the Tapping Heels provides a pleasant afternoon read. ( )

I read my first Nancy Drew when my classmates and I raided our (too-few-books) library in our first year. Then, one classmate had some books of her own and I borrowed from her.

I liked the idea of a teen amateur detective who solved mysteries and still be practically perfect in every way. Nancy Drew was my first Mary Sue character.

Over the years, reading Nancy Drew evolved into pursuing the goal of collecting all the original 1-57 hardbound books published by Grosset and Dunlap. And less to do with the stories contained therein since my taste in mystery novels also changed and I wanted more harder to solve mysteries. Not to mention that I couldn't stand Bess Marvin.

When termites made a go at the books I left at my family's ancestral house, I strove to build my book collection back up (the Twilight books survived while my Harry Potter and LOTR books were decimated. Also my W.I.T.C.H. comic collection as well as the hard-to-find-now Ragnarok manhwa). I made it a point to read the Nancy Drew books I haven't read in years.

Which was tedious since my irritation with Bess Marvin did not go away. I found the mysteries still real easy, pinpointing everything in a few pages; and I skipped whole sections without losing the narrative. I know that these books are more geared towards a younger audience; but I still read Harry Potter and the Magic Faraway Tree, so where have you?

The Clue of the Tapping Heels, while not a Ludlum thriller mystery, was an easier read than any of the Nancy Drew books I've read lately. It was more of catching the culprit because all the evidence were already laid there and was waiting for confirmation. Bess was less of a pill and there were adorable Persian cats. Win-win. ( )

#16 Challenging questions confront Nancy Drew when she attempts to solve the mystery of the strange tapping sounds in the house of a retired actress. Who is the tapper? How does he gain access to Miss Carter’s house, despite securely locked doors and windows? Why do the tapping sounds come in Morse code? Is there a sinister motive behind the prowler’s actions? While trying to learn the answers to these and other puzzling questions, Nancy finds her investigations complicated by the dishonest administrator of a will and by a thief who steals the actress’s prize Persian cats. ( )

This story had multiple story lines occuring at once. The story also weaves back to what happened before the incident occured. It also allows characters like Carson Drew, Bess and George, play out their roles in the mystery.

It was a bit unnevering reading how colored and darky was written to describe the dark skinned men featured in the story. The author at least describe the features between the dark men featured in the story line. That was a rare plus. ( )