Review of "The Warning on the Window," by Margaret Sutton

Review of

The Warning on the Window, by Margaret Sutton

Four out of five stars

 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.