The Phantom Friend

"What do you mean?" Judy asks her new friend, Clarissa Valentine. "How could you look in a mirror and not see your reflection?" When Clarissa insists that this strange thing has happened to her, Judy and the other girls think she is teasing them. But when Clarissa disappears in the middle of a television show, even Judy has to admit something peculiar is going on. The three other girls are angry, because with Clarissa went the twenty dollars they had loaned her. But Judy still believes in Clarissa, though something certainly is very wrong. Judy wishes her FBI husband, Peter Dobbs, would complete his mysterious mission and join her in New York City. She wants him to help her find the young girl, who might be in real danger. What Judy does not know is that Peter himself is in danger. The next time she sees him, he is lying injured in a hospital bed. But by a weird combination of circumstance, what happens to Peter gives Judy her first clue to what might have happened to Clarissa. When Judy, with Peter's help, finally learns what really did happen, she uncovers a mystery far more exciting than she could possibly have imagined.


About the Author
Sutton, Margaret: - Margaret Sutton was born Rachel Irene Beebe in Odin, Pennsylvania in 1903. She was the daughter of Victor Beebe, a well-known historian, and Estella Andrews Beebe. Being a spirited nonconformist, she dropped out of high school, but in 1920, graduated from the Rochester Business Institute. After graduation, she worked for several years as a secretary and in printing. During that time, she met William Sutton at a church dance in New York City. After a courtship exchanging poems and playing chess, they were married in 1924, and she began writing stories for her husband's daughter, Dorothy. Her first Judy Bolton Mystery was published in 1932 under the pen name Margaret Sutton. Ms. Sutton wove many real events and places into the Judy Bolton stories through the 35-year history of the series. She also wrote numerous stories for children and young adults. She was also active in social causes, joining the historic March on Washington in 1964. In 1965, her husband of more than 40 years died. In 1975, after traveling extensively, she married a long-time family friend, Everett Hunting. They moved to Berkeley, California and made their home there until 1993 when they moved back to Pennsylvania. Mr. Hunting died shortly after they moved. In 2001, at the age of 98, Margaret Sutton died in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, not far from her native Potter County.