The Clue of the Dancing Puppet — Carolyn Keene

When the eerie performances of a life-size puppet begin to haunt the old Van Pelt estate, where an amateur acting group -- the Footlighters -- have their theater, Nancy Drew is called upon to unravel the baffling mystery.

From the moment the pretty detective and her friends Bess and George arrive at the mansion, the dancing puppet puzzle is further complicated by Tammi Whitlock, the Footlighters' temperamental leading lady, and Emmet Calhoun a Shakespearean actor.

Nancy's search of the mansion's dark, musty attic for clues to the weird mystery starts a frightening chain reaction. A phone call from a stranger with a witchlike, cackling voice warns her to "Get out!" Next, an encounter with two jewel theft suspects adds another perplexing angle to the puzzle.

Finally, when Nancy sees the life-size puppet flitting across the moonlit lawn and chases it, she learns that someone with a sinister motive is determined to keep her from solving the case. Is it one of the Footlighters? Or is it an outsider?

Unknowingly, Nancy places herself in even greater danger when she is persuaded to perform in the Footlighters' current show. As the young detective unravels the threads of this tangled mystery, Carolyn Keene fans will follow Nancy from clue to clue in spine-tingling excitement.