The Judy Bolton detective series, created by Margaret Sutton

Margaret Sutton

Margaret Sutton was most famous as the author of the Judy Bolton Series of mystery books, 38 volumes published between 1932 and 1967...

, follows a realistic young woman who solves mysteries

Detective fiction

Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...

. Although the series was not quite as popular as Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew is a fictional young amateur detective in various mystery series for all ages. She was created by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging firm. The character first appeared in 1930. The books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published...

, Judy Bolton has been called a more complex and believable role model for girls. Judy was also unique in that halfway through the series, she married (something series book heroines rarely, if ever, did).

Characters

The mainstays of the series were Judy Bolton, auburn-haired girl detective

Detective

A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

; her brother, news reporter Horace Bolton; her parents, Doctor and Mrs. Bolton; her loyal black cat

Cat

The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

, Blackberry. She was torn for most of the early volumes between suitors, the wealthy Arthur Farringdon-Pett and the upstanding lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 Peter Dobbs before finally choosing Peter in volume 10. Her best friend was Peter's sister, Grace Dobbs, also known as Honey; her rival for Arthur's affections was Lorraine Lee; she was friends with Arthur's sister, Lois Farringdon-Pett, and one of her archenemies in High School was the snobbish Kay Vincent. She also befriended a mill worker, Irene Lang, who later became Irene Meredith.

Critical assessment

Judy Bolton has been called a better feminist role model than Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew is a fictional young amateur detective in various mystery series for all ages. She was created by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging firm. The character first appeared in 1930. The books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published...

 because "Nancy Drew is more likely to uphold the ideological status quo, while Judy Bolton is more likely to restore moral rather than legal order, because her mysteries tend to emphasize human relationships over material possessions." Unlike Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton often enlists the aid of family members and friends in solving mysteries; she "works in a collaborative way that subverts dominant values."

Judy is emotional and self-doubting; for this reason she has been called a "more believable" role model.

Judy is often defined in relation to men: as Dr. Bolton's daughter or later, as Peter Dobbs' wife.

Publication history

There were 38 titles in the original Judy Bolton series, all copyrighted between 1932 and 1967. The final 12, particularly the last one, had limited printing

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

s and as a result are hard to find. Collectors often find themselves paying upwards of $200 for a volume in good condition. The series ended before the 39th book, The Strange Likeness, could be published. According to author Margaret Sutton, the series was killed due not to poor sales, but to pressure from the Stratemeyer Syndicate

Stratemeyer Syndicate

The Stratemeyer Syndicate was the producer of a number of mystery series for children, including Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others.- History :...

. The Stratemeyer Syndicate

Stratemeyer Syndicate

The Stratemeyer Syndicate was the producer of a number of mystery series for children, including Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others.- History :...

 wished to lessen competition for the Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew is a fictional young amateur detective in various mystery series for all ages. She was created by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging firm. The character first appeared in 1930. The books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published...

 series. Pelagie Doane

Pelagie Doane

Pelagie Doane was an American illustrator during the 1930s to the 1960s for children's books. She illustrated many volumes in the Judy Bolton series, as well as The Magic Makers series written by Margaret Sutton...

 illustrated many of the early books in the Judy Bolton.

In 1997, three decades after the last Judy Bolton title was issued by Grosset & Dunlap

Grosset & Dunlap

Grosset & Dunlap is a United States book publisher founded in 1898.The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of the British publishing conglomerate, Pearson PLC through its American subsidiary Penguin Group....

, author Linda Joy Singleton completed a book that series creator Margaret Sutton had begun writing several years before. Once the first draft was finished, Singleton submitted it to Sutton for revisions, and the book that emerged from their collaboration carries the name of both co-authors. Chronologically, The Talking Snowman takes place during the Christmas season between the events described in volume 3 and volume 4, and thus is known to collectors as "volume 3.5".

Another title, The Whispering Belltower, was written by Kate Emburg with the encouragement of Margaret Sutton.

Titles

1. The Vanishing Shadow (1932)

2. The Haunted Attic (1932)

3. The Invisible Chimes (1932)

4. Seven Strange Clues (1932)

5. The Ghost Parade (1933)

6. The Yellow Phantom (1933)

7. The Mystic Ball (1934)

8. The Voice in the Suitcase (1935)

9. The Mysterious Half Cat (1936)

10. The Riddle of the Double Ring (1937)

11. The Unfinished House (1938)

12. The Midnight Visitor (1939)

13. The Name on the Bracelet (1940)

14. The Clue in the Patchwork Quilt (1941)

15. The Mark on the Mirror (1942)

16. The Secret of the Barred Window (1943)

17. The Rainbow Riddle (1946)

18. The Living Portrait (1947)

19. The Secret of the Musical Tree (1948)

20. The Warning on the Window (1949)


21. The Clue of the Stone Lantern (1950)

22. The Secret of Fog Island (1951)

23. The Black Cat's Clue (1952)

24. The Forbidden Chest (1953)

25. The Haunted Road (1954)

26. The Clue in the Ruined Castle (1955)

27. The Trail of the Green Doll (1956)

28. The Haunted Fountain (1957)

29. The Clue of the Broken Wing (1958)

30. The Phantom Friend (1959)

31. The Discovery at the Dragon's Mouth (1960)

32. The Whispered Watchword (1961)

33. The Secret Quest (1962)

34. The Puzzle in the Pond (1963)

35. The Hidden Clue (1964)

36. The Pledge of the Twin Knights (1965)

37. The Search for the Glowing Hand (1966)

38. The Secret at the Sand Castle (1967)

39. The Strange Likeness (unpublished)