The Clue of the Tapping Heels

infobox Book |
name = The Clue of the Tapping Heels
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Carolyn Keene
illustrator =
cover_artist = R.H. Tandy
country = United States
language = English
series = Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
genre = Mystery novel
publisher = Grosset & Dunlap
release_date = 1939
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-448-09516-5
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Clue of the Tapping Heels" is volume 16 in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories Series. It was first published in 1939. An updated, revised, and largely different story was published under the same title in 1970. The original R.H. Tandy cover art shows Nancy, Bess, and George investigating a ladder at Nancy's house, by moonlight. The revised cover art, by Rudy Nappi, for the 1962 picture cover release, shows the same scene, corrected to match the actual text. Nancy, alone, walks by a ladder outside her home at night. For the 1970 revised edition, the cover art is very vivid and psychedelic--images of Nancy tap-dancing and a head shot, underneath a giant Persian cat head, all on a sunflower-yellow background. This version was also painted by Nappi. The 1939 version is published as a facsimile edition by Applewood Books. As of 2006, this title is still in print.

Plot summary

In the 1939 version of the story, Nancy, Bess, and George, have become tap dance enthusiasts. Nancy meets an eccentric retired actress, Mrs. Purdy, who owns a large amount of cats. Nancy attempts to solve a strange tapping sound at the woman's house. Mrs. Purdy's finances are in poor condition, due mostly to the manipulations of a crook. Meanwhile, she seeks to restore a former suitor of Mrs. Purdy to favor. The story outline was completed by Edna Stratemeyer Squire, and was written by Mildred Wirt Benson, the series' primary ghostwriter. Mrs. Squire is noted to have unusual tastes in plot devices, and this is evident in the unusual action, chapter climaxes, incidents, and events in this book.

In a controversial turn, Nancy and George are drugged by inhalants at a downtown restaurant. In the climax, Nancy is captured, and left bound inside the cabin of a large boat. She taps morse code with her high-heeled oxfords to seek aid, before revealing the mystery's solution. It is this scene which is illustated in the book's frontispiece.

In the 1970 edition, there is still an eccentric actress who loves cats, but the action centers around a charity show in which Nancy is to perform a tap dance number. This time she is trapped in a house rather than a boat and the owner of the cats is Mrs. Carter. Harriet Adams and her administrative team of assistants were responsible for the new story.