While the Clock Ticked is the eleventh volume in the original The Hardy Boys series of mystery books for children and teens published by Grosset & Dunlap.
It was called "a mystery story filled with excitement and adventure" 13 years after its original publication.
The book can also be considered a locked-room mystery.
This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by Leslie McFarlane in 1932. Between 1959 and 1973 the first 38 volumes of this series were systematically revised as part of a project directed by Harriet Adams, Edward Stratemeyer's daughter. The original version of this book was rewritten in 1962 by James Buechler