The Judy Bolton detective series, created by Margaret Sutton, follows a realistic young woman who solves mysteries. Although the series was not quite as popular as Nancy Drew, 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).
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The mainstays of the series were Judy Bolton, auburn-haired girl detective; her brother, news reporter Horace Bolton; her parents, Doctor and Mrs. Bolton; her loyal black cat, Blackberry. She was torn for most of the early volumes between suitors, the wealthy Arthur Farringdon-Pett and the upstanding lawyer 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.
Judy Bolton has been called a better feminist role model than Nancy Drew 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."[1] 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."[2]
Judy is emotional and self-doubting; for this reason she has been called a "more believable" role model.[3]
Judy is often defined in relation to men: as Dr. Bolton's daughter or later, as Peter Dobbs' wife.[4]
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 printings 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.[5] According to author Margaret Sutton, the series was killed due not to poor sales, but to pressure from the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The Stratemeyer Syndicate wished to lessen competition for the Nancy Drew series.[6] Pelagie Doane 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, author Linda Joy Singleton completed a book that series creator Margaret Sutton had begun writing several years before.[7] 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.[7]
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1. The Vanishing Shadow (1932) |
21. The Clue of the Stone Lantern (1950) |
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