While the Clock Ticked

 While the Clock Ticked (1932) by Franklin W. Dixon

Raymond Dalrymple comes to the Hardy home looking for Fenton Hardy. He hopes to hire the detective to investigate some odd goings-on at the old Purdy house--a house that the banker has recently bought. But Mr. and Mrs. Hardy have gone on a trip to Maine and won't be reached easily. Frank and Joe send a telegram to their father, but in the meantime they offer their services to Dalrymple. The banker is skeptical at first, but after talking to some folks in town he realizes that the boys have a reputation of their own when it comes to mysteries. So, he decides to take them up on it--at least until their father returns.

The Purdy house used to belong to an eccentric old miser who trusted absolutely no one. So Purdy had a secret room built--a room that operates on a time clock much like the banker's vault. The banker thought the place would be an ideal place for him to get work done in peace and quiet. Supposedly, no one can get in or out of the room until the time lock releases the door. And yet...two days in a row he has found threatening messages in the middle of the work table in the secret room. 

You must leave this house forever or death will await you.

Death while the clock ticks.

There is no evidence of the door having been forced nor any secret second entrance. He wants someone to find out who is leaving the notes and why they are threatening him.

Meanwhile, there have been a spate of thefts and no one knows where the gang is hiding or where the loot is being hidden. It isn't long before the Hardys realize that there is a connection with the Purdy house. But are the thieves behind the threats or is there a second mystery connected to the old house?

This is one of the first Hardy Boys books I read back when I got hooked on them because of the The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries that came on in the 70s. But I read it in the revised text version (pictured below). More recently I acquired the original text copy and it was an interesting read. I'd still rate this as one of my top five Hardy Boys books, but I was surprised to find them at odds with Chief Collig and Detective Smuff. My recollection of the books is that the boys had a good relationship with the police and could count on their help--and also their appreciation of the boys' efforts. Here, Collig and Smuff try to steal the boys' glory whenever Frank and Joe solve part of the mystery.

As a child, I enjoyed the tense adventures that Frank and Joe had and, of course, liked the fact that they outwit the bad guys in the end. Reading it as an adult, I still had a great time even though the mystery plot isn't as intricate as most of the mysteries I read now. ★★★★

First line: Joe Hardy looked out of the second-floor window.

Last line: "Except," added Aunt Gertrude pointedly, "when the bomb was at your feet and the clock ticked."

******************

Deaths = 2 (one natural; one fell from height)