The Vanishing Shadow

The Vanishing Shadow is the first in the Judy Bolton series of mysteries.

Judy Bolton, a fifteen-year-old high school student, is spending what promises to be a boring summer at her grandparents' farm in rural Pennsylvania. However, mystery & adventure are lurking just around the corner when Judy is kidnapped after overhearing a vicious argument between a couple of workmen that reveals an ominous secret is somehow centered around the newly constructed dam looming over the nearby town of Roulsville. Judy undertakes to uncover the mystery while simultaneously struggling to find a way to attend the town’s spelling bee/hootenanny in spite of the machinations of her obnoxious brother and her passive- aggressive grandmother.

This is a tepid, show more although not unentertaining, debut for a teenage sleuth mystery series. The core mystery is quite menacing & sinister, but it unfolds in a setting of blackberry picking, roadsters, quaint general stores, & village dances that is utterly charming.

In spite of her spelling bee prowess, Judy is rather a stupid character. Her commitment to keeping a promise made to her kidnappers under duress is nothing short of ludicrous. It is also a dangerous message to send to young readers. No crime victim is under any obligation to keep promises made to perpetrators, and it is just asinine for Judy Bolton to think otherwise.

Judy’s older brother Horace is a very hard pill to swallow, too. He is a quasi-hypochondriac/sissified coward who uses his ‘weakness’ to manipulate people, particularly his family. The ending in which Horace saves the day & is lauded as a hero is so wild and farfetched it is almost hysterical. And Horace pompously simpers and whines through it all. He really does grate on the nerves.

And the whole concept of the tyrannical granny who bakes pies in her spare time was just bizarre.

Overall, the book was rather disappointing, but it did have a few glimmers of promise sprinkled here and there.

I definitely would be willing to read further installments in the series with the hope that Judy matures and behaves less like a vacuous dope. show less

Judy Bolton and her friends try to solve the mystery of a dammed creek, a mysterious shadow, and a dam that is about to break and flood the valley where they live.

In this book I felt like I was her shadow and looking at everything from behind her.

The town of Roulsville is destroyed by a flood.
Judy and her brother Horace meet Arthur, Lois and Lorraine.