Judy Bolton #32 The Whispered Watchword and #33 The Secret Quest

In Judy Bolton #32, The Whispered Watchword, Judy visits Washington, D.C., with Peter.  They stay in a motel with Blackberry, who disappears shortly after their arrival.  Judy learns that Blackberry was taken to a restaurant by somebody.  Meanwhile, several people who are staying at the motel act strange, and Peter, as usual, knows something about the situation.

I found Judy to be less worried about Blackberry than she should have been.  Judy is concerned, but I would have been completely freaked out if possible gangsters had taken my beloved cat away from me.

I quit reading this book halfway through.  The book is yet another travelogue, and I found it quite boring.

Page 60 of A Guide to Judy Bolton Country contains part of a letter to Margaret Sutton from her editor, Alice Thorne.  Thorne mentions many problems with The Whispered Watchword, among them that the book focuses too much on the sights in Washington.  The book "sounds guide-booky, not a strong Judy Bolton mystery."  I concur.

I do not like this book. 

In Judy Bolton #33, The Secret Quest, Judy and Peter are still in Washington, D.C., and are joined by Honey.  Mercifully, Honey's suitcase gets switched with someone else's, so Judy and Honey leave to find the owners.  No more Washington, D.C.!  Judy discovers quite a mystery at the home of Dorcas and Violetta Jewell.

On page 22, Judy and Honey see the President and his wife.  Honey remarks about how beautiful the First Lady is.  Since this book was published in 1962, the First Lady would have been Jacqueline Kennedy.

A Guide to Judy Bolton Country has a letter on page 62 from Alice Thorne to Margaret Sutton which includes criticism of The Secret Quest.  Thorne concedes, "If you want to start the story in Washington, that's fine, because it will make the readers want to read the previous book."  Since I had already attempted to read the previous book, I was horrified that Judy is still in Washington.  I wanted to escape!

The first one-third of the book is a travelogue, and it bored me.  The story improves greatly once the girls leave Washington.  The last two-thirds of the story is very good.