A review by theretiredlibrarian
A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell

3.0

A Judgement in Stone is considered to be one of author Ruth Rendell’s best books. It has a fantastic opening line: “Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.” Eunice is an uneducated woman who is hired by the wealthy Coverdale family as a live in maid. Eunice is peculiar. She shows little emotion and has trouble relating to people. Her secret shame is she can’t read or write. I had to look up to see when this book was originally published. It was 1977. I thought the way Eunice’s character was described throughout the book was terrible! The whole time I was reading it, I kept thinking maybe Eunice was somewhere on the autism spectrum and it wasn’t her fault she grew up poor and illiterate. Anyway, I’ve checked another book off Amazon’s list of 100 mysteries and thrillers to read in a lifetime.