A Judgement In Stone By Ruth Rendell

A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell is widely considered to be one of her greatest works. There are no shocks or surprise twists. And yet it is utterly compelling.

A Judgement In Stone opens with this first sentence: ‘Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.’ The brief first chapter then goes on to tell us the family members who die and the name of Eunice’s accomplice, as well as the when and the where and the why.

With that first chapter, you would think that the book will be boring as you already know who kills who and why and when the killings will take place. Nothing could be further from the truth. The novel is a frightening domestic nightmare that relentlessly counts the days until housekeeper Eunice murders the upper-middle-class Coverdales. With a sense of tension, you know what is going to happen but you cannot look away. What adds to the tension is that from the start we are aware of the date on which it will all happen – Valentine’s Day – and so as we track through the various events we become increasingly aware of how close that date is.

Eunice, using fake references,  is hired as a housekeeper by the Coverdalew family. She can’t read or write and is obsessed to keep her illiteracy a secret. She hides her illiteracy with her cunningness. Being socially inept, she misinterprets every act of kindness she is offered by her employers. Each move this family makes actually moves them closer to their deaths despite their good intentions.

Eventually she is triggered to commit the violent killings using the Coverdale family’s shotguns with the aid of her friend Joan Smith, a fellow social misfit and misguided religious fanatic and reformed prostitute . But Eunice’s illiteracy prevents her from recognizing and disposing of a written clue that was left behind. Eventually a tape recording of the shooting made by one of the victims is discovered. Eunice is charged with the crime, and is mortified when her illiteracy is revealed to the world during the court proceedings.

There are several points in the story where things might have gone very differently had a character made a marginally different decision, acted with a little more caution or with a greater understanding of a situation.

This is a novel that actually lives up to its reputation.  It is just slightly over 200 pages long so it is an easy read.