Judy Bolton #24 The Forbidden Chest and #25 The Haunted Road

In Judy Bolton #24, The Forbidden Chest, Judy goes with Holly to get her belongings from Cousin Cleo's house.  Holly insists on taking a chest that she calls the "forbidden" chest.  The next day, Cousin Cleo accuses Holly of theft, since her antiques have been stolen.  Judy knows that Holly is innocent, since Judy was present.  Holly can prove her innocence by opening the chest, but Holly refuses.  Judy tries to find the thief so that Holly can be cleared.

This is another one of those strange coincidences where Peter's FBI case and Judy's mystery turn out to be the same.

I always liked this cover art until other collectors pointed out the flaws.  I won't point out the problems, but this cover is one that should not be examined too closely if you wish to enjoy it.

I really like that Judy goes west on a train with Hal.  I enjoy her independent adventures.  She is worried, and that makes the story compelling.

This is a very good book.

In Judy Bolton #25, The Haunted Road, Peter learns that Frank Caffero's father, a truck driver, has been threatened.  Peter and Frank unsuccessfully try to prevent Mr. Caffero from being hijacked, and Peter disappears.  The only clues are ghosts—people dressed in sheets—seen on the haunted road where the truck was hijacked.  Judy desperately tries to determine what happened to Peter.

On page 20, the reader learns that the Roulsville dam broke five years ago.  This puts Judy's age at about 20.

This story moves too slowly.  Everything about it creeps along.  The text is full of excessive reminiscing about Judy's past cases.  The reminiscing continues through the entire book.

I began skimming by the last one-third of the book.  The plot moves way too slowly with way too much discussion about what happened on Halloween night.  The discussions are quite realistic to what any of us would do when trying to figure something out, but they are way too boring for a book.

I do not like this book.