By Kate Duvall and Beverly Hatfield

 45 years after the Judy Bolton series was abruptly canceled and 11 years after Margaret Sutton’s death at the age of 98, this final book appeared in 2012. It finally put a fitting end to the beloved series. It was written by Kate Duvall, president of the Phantom Friends, and Beverly Hatfield, a devoted Judy Bolton fan since childhood and who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Judy. The book, sanctioned by her estate, was based on an outline by Margaret Sutton and incorporated Margaret Sutton’s final wishes for the conclusion to the series. It is illustrated by one of Margaret’s daughters, Marjorie Sutton Eckstein, and was edited by another daughter, Lindsay Sutton Stroh.
So yes, this book is the real deal, totally legit, and no doubt would have had Margaret’s Seal of Approval if she had had one.

It begins with Honey and Judy doing their final holiday shopping on Christmas Eve in Brandt’s department store. Judy sees her husband Peter shopping at the jewelry counter while gazing down at the hectic scene from the escalator. While another shopper creates a diversion, Judy thinks she sees Peter shoplifting a necklace. Of course, this cannot be. FBI agent Peter is either working undercover trying to infiltrate a gang of criminals or it’s not really Peter. She remembers that a month ago her car was almost hit by another driver who bore an uncanny resemblance to her husband. Later he confided to her that a man who resembled him was being investigated by the FBI.

Meanwhile, Honey has gotten a returned “address unknown” letter from her adopted brother Mike whom she grew up with before being returned to her real family, brother Peter and her grandparents (The Invisible Chimes Judy Bolton #3). Peter’s double keeps popping up and one night, Judy and Peter’s house is burgled. Once they learn Mike is in New York City safe and sound the two girls go there to find him, give hopeful mystery writer, Horace’s, manuscript to literary agent Emily Grimshaw and employer of old friend Pauline, and also attend Irene and Dale Meredith’s New Years Eve open house party. While Honey reconnects with Mike and her troubled past, Judy searches for her stolen Wedgewood china and antique doll collection in the NYC antique stores. And she keeps seeing Peter’s suspicious double who is referred to as the “UnPeter” throughout the book. The mystery of the “UnPeter,” his identity (could he actually be related to Peter?), his involvement with the break-in, and his other nefarious activities really take a backseat to Honey’s attempt to deal with her past, and questions regarding the criminal family that raised her. Only after she has come to terms with her emotions regarding her early history and had her questions answered will she be free to become engaged to Judy’s brother Horace with a clear conscience.

This book ends the series on the strongest of notes. In some ways, Margaret Sutton, in some of her later books, had lost the way a bit. She sent Judy all over the country, and too much time was spent away from her roots, family, and friends in Farringdon. Margaret was very socially conscious and incorporated many of her concerns and causes in her books from the very beginning. But in the later books, in many readers’ minds, her agendas seemed to overwhelm the plots of some of her stories in ways that may have been too much for her younger readers. This one answers some questions and provides closure to aspects of Honey and her brother Peter’s past that were raised way back at the beginning of the series. And plus, it is just fun. We have humor, suspense, a tight plot, interesting side characters, old friends, romance (both new and long-established), and Judy at her smartest and most observant. There is even a scene at Dale and Irene’s New Year’s party that is almost too scary and disturbing. (Just icing on the cake, for me.) It is tight, well put together, and organized with no pesky plot holes or unanswered questions. By the end of the book, we see Mike settled near his adopted sister with a possible new romance with an old friend of Judy’s, Horace and Honey happily engaged, Horace soon to be a published author, and Judy’s stolen belongings well on the way to being returned. And best of all, Judy and Peter are expecting a baby(s?) with names already picked out. Just like Margaret wanted.