The Warning on the Window

Judy Bolton Mysteries #20

by Margaret Sutton

Someone is trying to sabotage the rebuilding of Roulsville, which was destroyed after the flood caused by the breaking of the Roulsville dam. Mysterious accidents have injured workers and set back the construction of the new homes. Peter is called by the foreman to investigate the sabotage.

While he is on the premises, Peter is attacked by an unknown assailant and is nearly buried alive underneath a pile of dirt. Peter is hospitalized in serious condition, and Judy devotes her energy into uncovering who is responsible for the accident.

A piece of plastic that Roberta found at the construction site may be the key to uncovering the culprit behind the accident. As Judy investigates this lead, she comes face to face with the suspect and must use all of her wits to survive!

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

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

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judy Bolton is an old friend and like old friends, it's comforting to visit with her. I have read this book several times before. I re-read it for a trivia contest this time and found that I like it even better than I did before.

Judy's husband Peter suffers a serious head injury early in the morning when they show up to answer the summons of the foreman at the building site in Roulsville. In the steam of a window shows the words "You will be next". This warning continues to show up around the building site always just before an accident. The workers think the site is jinxed and begin to quit but Judy knows that there is a live perpetrator behind the scenes who is up to no good. The answer lies in a stinky swamp not far from the development.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up devouring the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift books, reading every one that they had in every library that I could get to. Through the girls in school and other contacts regarding adventure books for young people, I was also aware of the Nancy Drew series for girls. However, I had little to no understanding of the Judy Bolton series of mystery books.
According to the blurb on the back of this book, Judy is “. . . the attractive young wife of an FBI agent...” Like the good wife, she cooks for her husband in their house in the area of Roulsville and Dry Brook Hollow. When her husband Peter receives an odd phone call early in the morning, he rises and leaves to answer the summons.
There is a housing development where there has been a series of suspicious construction “accidents,” one of which led to the death of a workman. When Peter is severely injured while investigating on the site, Judy expresses her concerns for his well being, but continues to investigate the situation. The action is that of a woman, there are no fisticuffs and only men suffer from violence, which is consistent with the role of women in the stories of the forties and fifties. Judy outwits the villain and learns the reason why the development project was sabotaged.
Yet, this book is still an interesting read, for it demonstrates what passed for female detective adventure stories in a time where women were typecast as the weaker sex.

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was escorted to the police car a short time later. Judy watched, her gray eyes as cold as steel.

And no wonder. She just escaped from and triumphed over the man who almost killed her husband, Peter. Some very clever sleuthing by Judy catches the dangerous criminals out FBIing the FBI. Her friend Arthur's housing development is being ruthlessly sabotaged. There are two good twists at the end, but there also are good clues prior to the reveal as to who the evil mastermind is and the purpose behind it. Full of domestic drama as Peter lies on death's door in the hospital and loads of action, the book ends very dramatically in a blaze of glory (literally).

https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....

[RLB Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming back to Judy Bolton books is a relaxing breath of fresh air. I discovered her when I was in grade school and re-read them periodically. Even named one of our black cats Blackberry after hers. While I liked the volumes before Judy and Peter married better (no more mystery about IF they would marry!), the later stories always held enough backstory and new clues to keep my interest. Even after a LOT of years...they still do. I was pleasantly surprised to find so many readers here who actually know and fondly remember Judy.

[LuAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that the mysteries are sometimes in Farringdon, sometimes in Roulsville, sometimes in New York City or elsewhere. But these small town/cities in mystery series do sure have a lot of crime--and Roulsville is not even rebuilt yet! The usual breaks in logic, heedless plunges into danger, but nice to see Judy take the lead while Peter is laid up and Roberta acting as assistant.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. This is one of the rare children's series where the characters actually grow up. Judy Bolton is far from perfect: she gets jealous at times, wants to be popular and struggles with the right thing to do, etc. That only make her more human than the more perfect Nancy Drew. She also is very big-hearted and ends up making friends with people from all levels of society which makes for some thrilling adventures.

The stories have more details than many of the books today, which may make them a little bit slower paced but I think it also makes them richer.

In this one: When Peter is serious injured while investigating mysterious accidents that are threatening the rebuilding of a town after a flood it falls to Judy to find out the truth.

This one had some good twists and a thrilling ending. A good story.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars. An early morning phone call lures Peter to the office of the new Roulsville development, where a number of accidents have occurred recently. Both Judy and Roberta beg to go with him, and since no one is there when they arrive, the go have breakfast. Returning, Peter disappears and Judy sees The Warning on the Window. Peter is found, unconscious, and his life is in grave danger. Despite this Judy is determined to investigate, especially after Roberta finds a clue.

My main quibble with this book in particular is the level of danger involved — Peter's so-called accident could become murder or at least attempted murder; not, in my opinion, an entirely suitable plot for a supposed children's book.

[Nancy Bandusky · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites in the series. Judy and her boarder, Roberta, are pulled into a mystery due to Peter's job as a G-man. Some characters from earlier books make an "appearance" pretty much in name only causing this book to really focus on Judy. It is an enjoyable read - even if Judy gets herself into dangerous situations, after all that's Judy.