By Margaret Sutton

“Nothing exciting like this ever happens to me,” Judy Bolton thought as she turned the pages of the latest book in her favorite series.

Thus begins the first paragraph in the first book of the Judy Bolton Mystery series. That is, in the edition I have, which is the 1964 revision of the original 1932 version. The book was originally written as the first of a series called Melissa of Dry Brook Hollow, but when Grosset and Dunlap agreed to publish it, Margaret made many changes to transform it into the first of her new Judy Bolton series. As with all of her books, Margaret based at least one aspect of the plot on a real incident in her life. This one is based on a real flood that devasted the town of Austin, Pennsylvania when the dam burst. 78 died in that disaster when Margaret was 8 years old. In this novel, thanks to the heroics of Horace, Judy’s brother, only 3 men died. And those 3 men were villains whose criminal actions caused the dam to burst to begin with. So serves them right, I say.

But first, we meet Judy a 15-year-old student spending her summer in Dry Brook Hollow with her grandparents and brother Horace while her parents, Dr. And Mrs. Bolton, are away on vacation and good for them. Judy is bored and lonely with only a girl named Edna to do things with. Horace is not the witty energetic courageous reporter he will become in subsequent books. He is frail and cowardly. His nickname is “Sister” or “Sissy”. Judy wants little to do with him. Luckily for Judy and the reader, Judy does not remain bored for long.

First, she overhears an argument about the Roulsville dam between the workers who are building a new road between Farringdon and Roulsville where the Boltons live. The workers threaten Judy and her weak friend Edna and when Judy tells the truth about overhearing everything they said. They end up kidnapping our heroine (who, they can tell will be a threat to their scheme) and locking her in a nasty shed until she agrees to promise not to “speak” about anything she overheard. While Judy is pondering what the deal is with the dam and stressing about what to do about her promise not to tell what she knows or even that she was kidnapped, lots of not-boring things happen to formerly bored Judy. She has a big fight with Grandma Smeed who virtually stole Judy’s share of the spending money her parents left her and Horace to buy Horace a new suit. The Smeeds and Horace think Judy ran away in anger when in reality she was being held captive in the shed. After they let her go (depositing her with a bag over her head at her home in Roulsville) she wins first place in the community Spelling Bee and is the Belle of the Ball of the party and dance afterward. She goes to pick blackberries but her too-frisky horse runs away with her and she almost collides with a moving train. She is rescued by a childhood acquaintance, Peter Dobbs, and he gives her a kitten she calls “Blackberry”. We also meet Arthur Farringdon-Pett, his sister Lois, and her friend Lorraine. These 3 will also become familiar characters in the series. I loved the way all of these characters are introduced for the first time and their future relationships foreshadowed. It is from architect Arthur, who is something of a hero in this book, that she learns that the dam is poorly constructed by a shady company and is in danger of breaking upon the next hard rain.

Although this book is not a favorite of many Judy Bolton fans, or indeed of Margaret Sutton herself, there is some excellent writing in this. There are some dodgy parts including Grandma Smeed’s character, Judy not going to the authorities immediately when she learns about the dam, and Horace’s over-the-top humility about his actions. But there are some genuinely terrifying and evocative descriptions, especially of Horace hearing the dam breaking, the flood, and his courage (although partially in spite of himself) in warning the citizens of Roulsville and saving thousands of lives. Judy is safe at home above the dam when she and her grandmother hear the terrible storm and rain approaching and hear the dam breaking. Her terror and guilt for Horace’s fate and her search for him is quite affecting. In the aftermath, Judy nails the criminals who are responsible for the tragedy. Horace’s reputation and indeed his character are forever changed by his heroic actions. By the end of the book, the stage is set for Judy’s new life and hopefully new friends and adventures in the neighboring city of Farringdon, since Roulsville as it was, is no more.