The Ghost Parade

Judy Bolton Mysteries #5

by Margaret Sutton

Judy regrets that she is leaving Farringdon for a vacation in the Thousand Islands just as life in Farringdon gets interesting. The police are on the trail of counterfeiters, but Judy won't be around to help them. Excitement does follow Judy, however, when she impulsively purchases seven Indian masks at an auction. Judy learns that the masks are rumored to be cursed and that misfortune befalls whomever owns the monster heads. At first Judy refuses to believe the nonsense, but after the young people arrive at camp, the heads begin to appear and disappear and change location within the storage box. Mysterious sounds are heard at night. The monster heads appear to be alive! As with all mysteries, there is a logical explanation for the movement of the monster heads, and Judy's search for the solution proves to be more exciting and dangerous than she could ever have imagined.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Childrens, Fiction

217 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

Margaret Sutton was born Rachel Irene Beebe in Odin, Pennsylvania in 1903. She was the daughter of Victor Beebe, a well-known historian, and Estella Andrews Beebe. Being a spirited nonconformist, she dropped out of high school, but in 1920, graduated from the Rochester Business Institute. After graduation, she worked for several years as a secretary and in printing. During that time, she met William Sutton at a church dance in New York City. After a courtship exchanging poems and playing chess, they were married in 1924, and she began writing stories for her husband's daughter, Dorothy. Her first Judy Bolton Mystery was published in 1932 under the pen name Margaret Sutton. Ms. Sutton wove many real events and places into the Judy Bolton stories through the 35-year history of the series. She also wrote numerous stories for children and young adults. She was also active in social causes, joining the historic March on Washington in 1964. In 1965, her husband of more than 40 years died. In 1975, after traveling extensively, she married a long-time family friend, Everett Hunting. They moved to Berkeley, California and made their home there until 1993 when they moved back to Pennsylvania. Mr. Hunting died shortly after they moved. In 2001, at the age of 98, Margaret Sutton died in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, not far from her native Potter County.

Reviews

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

“No wonder she’s afraid.” aloud, Judy said,” I told you the box was empty. Someone stole those heads and tried to scare us. You know they couldn’t have walked out of the box alone. See! It’s empty!”
She lifted back the cover!
Lorraine screamed! Then she fell back into Arthur’s arms and began sobbing hysterically.
That head with horns had popped out at her for all the world as if it had been alive.

Just when a mystery is heating up near Farringdon, Judy is about to leave for a month's vacation at a girl’s camp at The Thousand Islands near the Canadian border. She is not a happy camper. On assignment from the paper, Horace takes her along to the scene where Chief Kelly has just busted up a counterfeiters' ring. Some of the criminals are still at large, and Judy is sure the police could use her help. On top of that, Arthur Farringdon-Pett has just bought an airplane. Oh well, I guess Judy will have to endure a boring month of swimming, boating and other camp activities with her friends instead of chasing criminals and joy-riding in airplanes.

Fear Not. Before they even arrive at the camp, Judy has acquired a huge crateful of horrific-looking Indian Masks at an auction and will be keeping them with her at the camp along with her two cats Blackberry and Ghostie. On top of that, she meets a strange old crone called “the Cat Woman” who is headed to the same area. The suspicious old woman tells the friends that the masks are cursed and will bring “sickness, trouble, and death” to all in their vicinity. Hopefully, the strict matron will not raise any objections to Judy's unexpected accouterments.

Besides dealing with the less-than-thrilled Mrs. Dinwiddie, Judy has plenty else on her plate. First the scary Masks seem to have taken on a life of their own, mysteriously disappearing out of the trunk, then spotted parading through the camp. Have the “Ghosts of Dead Warriors” come to life? Next Blackberry and Ghostie have violent fits and Blackberry scratches Judy’s vain sometime frenemy, Lorraine Lee, on the face. Judy along with Pauline, Honey, and Irene take the beloved pets to the Cat Woman who owns an island near by. She cures them and takes care of them since they have been banned from the camp. On the way back the girls almost drown during a violent storm on the River, and then Mrs. Dinwiddie gets deathly ill herself. Judy saves her life using the same treatment that The Cat Woman used on the cats (don’t ask, it’s gross) and things are just getting started. Lorraine disappears just as Arthur shows up in his new plane and then the plane disappears! Judy tracks Lorraine to Cat Island looking for a cure for the scar on her face. And who should show up but Slippery McGuirk, the head of the Counterfeit Ring! And weirder still, he is married to the Cat Woman, who is old enough to be his mother!

This is a Judy Bolton that is very action-packed with some character exploration as well. Lorraine Lee shows her bad side as well as a good side, as does Arthur Farringdon-Pett. We get the first clear hints that Judy’s destiny lies not with rich sophisticated Arthur, but with her longtime friend Peter Dobbs. Pauline, Judy’s New York City friend, who is my favorite character besides Judy, played a strong role in this book. In the teaser for the next book, The Yellow Phantom, we are told that talented but poor Irene’s life will be changed forever.
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[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ghost Parade was written by Margaret Sutton and published in 1933. It is the fifth book in the Judy Bolton mystery series. In this one Judy and her girl friends go to thousand island camp for a month during their summer break. Judy’s afraid she will be bored for a month with no mysteries to solve, but it ends up she is in for more excitement than she bargained for. Counterfeit bills and Native American masks that are relics from the Pequot war create two different mysteries for Judy to solve.

I always enjoy reading a Judy Bolton. I read a handful of these as a teenager and now I’m going back and reading them all in order. These are definitely cozy comfort reads for me. What I like about the Judy Bolton books is that Judy ages as the series goes on. In this one she is still a teenager. I enjoyed the summer camp setting in this one in particular. Such a classic vintage setting for summer. It kept reminding me of parts of the movie Moonrise Kingdom ( My favorite Wes Anderson film) A funny element in this one was a crazy cat lady character they call ‘the cat woman’. She lives on her own island and runs a veterinary clinic.

I’m looking forward to continuing reading this series as time goes on. If you like golden age mysteries especially the ones meant for younger audiences such as Nancy Drew, you simply have to check out Judy Bolton!

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

1933.
Judy is going to a camp. The school she went to had burned down so the students were going to get a long summer vacation. Irene is also going. Judy is currently 15 years old. The camp is called the 1000 island camp.

There are two plots going. One involves a counterfeiting group that was making fake $10 bills (this was 1933 so $10 meant a lot more then.)

In the other are all the things that involve the camp. Judy buys 7 wooden Indian heads at an auction and then finds out that they are supposedly cursed. (The Pequod War, or Pequot War, took place from 1834 until 1938

Problems start to arise at the camp which some people think are due to the curse of the wooden heads. The heads seem to move in their storage box, there's a problem with a snake, a girl is cut by a cat and so on

Then, to top it all, all seven heads go missing. It turns out to be two mysteries and they keep Judy quite busy. A good story.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judy and her girl friends uncover mysteries at camp. I hate to confess that I enjoyed this one less because Peter Dobbs wasn't in it much, but I like reviews to be honest and he's always been my favorite character. I also was able to solve at least some of the mystery before the end (which almost never happens), but since I'm older than the target audience, I don't consider that a valid criticism. I still enjoyed it.

[Lea Beall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. Judy always finds herself in the middle of a mystery.
Strange masks seem to omit an ominous aura and a Cat Woman and Indian legends add suspense and mystery. Judy finds herself growing fond of Arthur but Peter is always on her mind.

[Wilma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mystery.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Judy Bolton book.

[Nancy Bandusky · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed reading this book again, I found that I still don't like it as well as some of the others. Part of the reason is that two of her usual friends (Peter and her brother, Horace) are barely in the story. I think they help ground her as she is quite impetuous - however that trait does help her solve the mysteries but also gets her into trouble.

This story involves two mysteries and, of course, they end up being linked - but it is an enjoyable quick read.

One aspect that I just couldn't overlook is Judy's self-centered view of bringing her cats along on this trip without any permission from the place she was staying. Not only was it a risk to the safety/care of her pets but it was completely inconsiderate and I expected more from her. While I like that Judy isn't perfect and makes mistakes, the fact this situation worked out for her doesn't teach the right message to a younger reader.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a fun series - good, old fashioned plucky heroine.

[Milley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy these are better than Nancy Drew’s or Kay whatshername. This one was actually spooky.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this higher, but many of the clues to the mystery are discovered by accident or coincidence, rather than actual detective work. Judy and a number of her friends head to a camp on one of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence (apparently on the Canadian side, but there is no mention of customs or checking identities!), for several weeks. Because her parents are also on vacation, Judy takes her two cats with her. Along the way, the come across an auction, and Judy ends up winning a collection Indian masks, rather to her chagrin. A woman they offer a ride to tells them these are ghosts of dead warriors, and to beware of them. Mysterious events begin to occur on the island, but in the end everything has a logical explanation, and Judy along with her cat Blackberry, are in the right place at the right time. Recommended, especially if you enjoy stories about a simpler time.

[LuAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Judy's enthusiasm for mystery at the expense of her friends feelings and respecting authority irritating. Not sure she really did much sleuthing, more jumping to conclusions. I enjoyed the other Judy Bolton's more than this one. [Spoilers coming]. And too contrived that the mystery in the Thousand Islands tied in to the mystery back in Potter County, Pennsylvania. Rather disappointing that the masks of the title were really just a red herring.

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute continuation of the story, but I'm beginning to like Judy a little less. She outright said that she hated rules and anyone who tried to enforce them, which I really did not like. I also didn't like that when people are being mean to her she simply mentions all the great things she's done and instantly they are really nice to her. Judy never has to work at earning people's respect. If she did, she might respect other people more.

[Cally73 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this one quite so much as the others. Felt it a little too contrived - the counterfeiter turning up in the same area and was able to fly the plane? I find it a little hard to believe that the spray wasn't noticed on the catnip before it was made into the tea. The little boys being behind the mystery of the masks was very cute.

[Jessica Dudenhofer Beery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun mystery! This time the setting was a summer camp in Canada (I feel like it must be somewhere close to here, lol)...the excitement included poisoned cats, stolen planes and a counterfeit money.
Love this series!!!

[Anna O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 5

Judy is off for a vacation in the Thousand Islands, when excitement brews in her town, as word of counterfeiters reaches her ears. While Judy thinks her vacation might not be all its worth, a mystery does indeed follow our sleuth. Judy impulsively purchases 7 masks, and takes them to camp with her. The masks are said to bring bad luck, but Judy is anything but superstitious. Not long after their arrival, the masks begin to appear and disappear, mysterious sounds are heard at night. Along the way Judy makes new friends, meets a shut in cat lady and her husband. Authur has recently bought a plane, and Lorraine, one of Judys friends is jealous when she gets to be the first and not her. Judy thinks she might be beginning to have feelings for Authur. Will anything come of it? Why are the masks disappearing? Who wants them and why are they seemingly so important?

[Colleen Mertens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mystery follows a group of friends as they unravel an adventure at summer camp in the 1930s. It has spooky tales and hurt feelings as the girls deal with the strange happenings at camp and a counterfeiter's connection to the local area. It is fun and interesting and the ending was different. A cute little mystery for summer.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This antiquated girls adventure story has summer camp, haunted masks, and cat scratches. Heroine Judy Bolton rushes in with nary a thought in her head about danger, and yet, she’s generally the smartest person in any given situation.

[Jerimy Stoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lol. Margaret has made a fun little mystery for younger people. Still, it was fun.

[Randy Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe this is the fifth in the Judy Bolton mystery book series, which I'm reading in order—a plan I'd recommend for Judy Bolton books. Also, I'd just plain recommend this book—it's the craziest one yet. It's also the first to take place in a location away from Judy's hometown region, in rural Pennsylvania. She and a group of friends head north, just over the New York state and Canadian border, in the the Thousand Islands region, where they stay at a summer camp. Sadly, there is no depiction of them eating salads with Thousand Island dressing, but there is plenty of other bizarre food related elements to the story, for people (like me) for whom the food descriptions are a close second to the mystery. On the way to camp, they stop off at an auction, and Judy bids on these surprisingly large, odd, and inexpensive Native American masks—of course wins the auction—so they have to take them along—and naturally, they are at the center of a mystery. It kind of reminded me of that Brady Bunch Hawaiian episode where one of the kids comes upon a powerfully cursed Tiki idol. I'm not at all superstitious (ha), but I was saying, “Just get rid of those masks!” The funny thing is, they'd have had a pretty eventful time even without the mask angle—partly due to meeting the eccentric “Cat Lady,” who is the best character in this series so far. I can't go more into detail there without ruining it for first-time readers. The other funny thing is they take along Blackberry (Judy's cat) and The Ghost (Horace and Irene's cat) without really checking to see if it'd be okay, in advance, at the camp. Well, this was 1933—it's seems like there were a lot less rules then. Anyway, the cats do get significantly involved in the mystery.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the many Nancy Drew clones.
Judy is likable enough and pretty competent.
Her supporting cast is pretty forgettable, as is the mystery.

I liked the girls adventures camping and some of the subplots, but the weakest part of the book was the actual mystery.

Fun and harmless, but it's what you read when you've finished all the Nancy Drew books.