SEVEN STRANGE CLUES: Judy Bolton #4. by Sutton, Margaret - (ca 1942, c. 1932.)

New York:: Grosset & Dunlap,, (ca 1942, c. 1932.). Hardcover -. Very good in dark green covers in a very good minus dust jacket with some loss to the top of the dj spine. Usual toning to the inexpensive wartime paper, previous owner's name.. Early printing. "Judy gets to the bottom of a mystery that centers around a prize poster contest and a fire in the school building." The fourth title in this mystery series, which is in many ways, more realistic than most such series. Judy starts out as a high school girl, has some of the usual problems all kids encounter including misunderstandings among friends, etc, is a little older and more mature in each book. Although I didn't know any of the history of the series at the time I was reading them, the "mysteries" are mostly based on actual events, the town is the town where Sutton grew up and unlike most of the other series books published by Grosset and Dunlap, this was not part of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Margaret Sutton was a real woman, writing under her own name. Because of the opposition of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, this series did not have the extensive reprinting that the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys had. Glossy frontispiece. Notation on title page that this was printed under wartime conditions. Illustrated by Pelagie Doane with a glossy frontispiece and the bright pink staircase endpapers. 210 pp plus 4 pp. ads.