Ruth Rendell
Paperback | Pages: 188 pages Rating: 3.92 | 5311 Users | 383 Reviews
Particularize Of Books A Judgement in Stone
| Title | : | A Judgement in Stone |
| Author | : | Ruth Rendell |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 188 pages |
| Published | : | January 4th 2000 by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (first published May 2nd 1977) |
| Categories | : | Mystery. Fiction. Crime. Thriller. Mystery Thriller. European Literature. British Literature. Suspense |
Ilustration Supposing Books A Judgement in Stone
What on earth could have provoked a modern day St. Valentine's Day massacre?On Valentine's Day, four members of the Coverdale family--George, Jacqueline, Melinda and Giles--were murdered in the space of 15 minutes. Their housekeeper, Eunice Parchman, shot them, one by one, in the blue light of a televised performance of Don Giovanni. When Detective Chief Superintendent William Vetch arrests Miss Parchman two weeks later, he discovers a second tragedy: the key to the Valentine's Day massacre hidden within a private humiliation Eunice Parchman has guarded all her life. A brilliant rendering of character, motive, and the heady discovery of truth, A Judgement in Stone is among Ruth Rendell's finest psychological thrillers.
Itemize Books Toward A Judgement in Stone
| Original Title: | A Judgement in Stone |
| ISBN: | 0375704965 (ISBN13: 9780375704963) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Eunice Parchman, George Coverdale, Jacqueline Coverdale, Giles Mont, Melinda Coverdale, Joan Smith, Norman Smith |
| Setting: | England |
Rating Of Books A Judgement in Stone
Ratings: 3.92 From 5311 Users | 383 ReviewsAssessment Of Books A Judgement in Stone
Read because of the selection in the HRF Keating list of 100 best crime & mystery novels. I only got 30 pages in before getting far too exasperated to keep on reading.It started off in a similar vein to one of those wonderful Simenon roman durs but quickly went downhill as I was introduced to the soon to be murdered family.The main characters are all incredibly awful people and whilst I am a fan of reading about offensive people these were not the type for me. Keating described them as niceRuth Rendell really improves the mystery-thriller style of writing. In this book she starts the story showing the murderer at the beginning of the plot.
Often deemed the greatest work of one of the world's great crime novelists, A Judgement in Stone is justly famous for its arresting first sentence: "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write." But it is not often appreciated that, however straightforward and revelatory it may appear, this sentenceand the upper-class narrator who utters itsuggests an artful and deceptive interpretation of a socially complex crime. Sure, Eunice kills because she is illiterate,
Since I liked the last RR book I read so much I went for another one--liked it very much as well! Again, this isn't a classic mystery who-dunnit. In fact, we're told who dunnit in the very first sentence and why. The story is more about watching the slow-motion train collision that is the relationship between Eunice, an illiterate, unfeeling cleaning woman and her bright, sophisticated, hyper-educated middle class employers. The kind of people who pin up quotes of the day, study Greek as
This is well written but a bit heavy handed. I think it's interesting that an illiterate woman WHO IS ALSO ALREADY A MURDERER, can find solace with a nutjob fundamentalist who dresses like a whore and can conspire with her to commit murder, but I think the emphasis was too much on Eunice's illiteracy. The result is some of the reviews here actually say that the book shows how illiteracy can lead to murder. Actually, the book shows how having a shameful secret can lead a psychopath to murder
I really enjoyed this, but I do think that it needs to be taken for what it is. Its really not a thriller or a suspense novel: there is no actual mystery to the story at all, so if that's what you're looking for you won't find it in here. But as a psychological character study, it really works. It does seem a little dated, it was written in the 70's and it kind of shows - but that's unavoidable. I felt the characters & their relationships were very believable & even though Joan was a bit
Not so much a mystery (the murderer is revealed on the first page), but Rendell has written a taunt, speedy character study with a driving plot. I don't know how she fit such a large number of well-fleshed out characters in 188 pages, but I was fascinated and repelled in turn. What a gem of a novel!
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