Judy Bolton Series - Publication History

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 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. 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. 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. 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.

In 2012, with the permission of Margaret Sutton's family, co-authors Kate Duvall and Beverly Hatfield wrote "The Strange Likeness" based on Sutton's original plot outline, research, and conversations with the author many years ago. The book, #39 in the Judy Bolton Mystery Series, was edited by Sutton's youngest daughter, Lindsay Sutton Stroh, and illustrated by another daughter, Marjorie Sutton Eckstein.