Rating: 
Summary: Dumbing down
Review: Interesting book in that the villain is a lady who can not read nor write. She is not from the "back-country" of ignoramuses who never had the opportunity of education but rather from London, one of the world's capitals. She is really, carried to the extreme, an example of "dumbing-down" of our educational system. The result is we accomplish "leaving no child behind" by "leaving no child ahead". As a child, she was given an education but she took the lazy person's way out by pretending to read and write. She ends up seeking friendship with someone that is as socially demented as herself. As a consequence, all those who can understand the written word become her enemies to the extent that she kills them in a very horrifying fashion.The fascinating thing about the book is that it enables the reader to understand to some degree what it is like to not to comprehend the written word. The author illustrates this very graphically by having the subject character use the metropolitan transportation system for the first time wherein it becomes a horrifying nightmare. From what I can see of our high school/colledge graduates, this is more common that we, as a society, care to admit. To me it is a wonder that Amazon.com has so many customers. They must sell a great deal of picture books. Outside of this aspect of a social commentary on our educational system through the understanding of an illiterate as well as a good horrer story there is little to recommend the book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Victim Of Illiteracy?
Review: Jacqueline Coverdale goes to London to interview a potential housekeeper. Impressed by her first impression she makes a rash decision and employs Eunice, a hardworking but cold and deceitful woman with a shameful secret, her inability to read and write. Exploited by her parents she soon learns to exploit other people and doesn't shy away to blackmail them. All goes well on Lowfield house, a kind of country house of the rich and well-educated Coverdales, until they start antagonizing Eunice by interfering with her life, although she only wants to be left alone, concerning about her, because she has no friends and doesn't go out, and handing her written words, which mean nothing to her. Her world is limited to her room with her own TV-set completely ignorant of the world outside. Her only friend is Joan, a sect member and a known gossiper, who also try to exploit Eunice (needs protection of her against her husband). George, the head of the family, distrust and dislike Joan and so Eunice aren't allowed to bring Joan along. Consequently Eunice become unfriendly and starts hating the Cs and stop calling them "Sir" and "Madam", one form of earning their goodwill. After Melinda, one of Georges daughters of a former marriage, who tries to befriend Eunice although she doesn't liker her very much, discovers Eunice's secret Eunice tries to blackmail her, as she has done it several times in her past. She fails miserably and gets fired. Finally Joan encouraged Eunice to kill the Cs, which was also a kick for her, as she had always hated them. In the end Joan sinks into a deep coma after she crashed into a wall and Inspector Vetch, who is first sidetracked by Eunice's frankness and mysterious presence of 2 strangers, arrested the murderer because of the tape-recorder, which proves her deeds. Sentenced to life imprisonment, Eunice will stubbornly refuse to learn how to read and write.
Rating: 
Summary: A Creepy, Chilling Pyschological Thriller
Review: My copy of A Judgement in Stone has the following simple quote from the Times on the front of it: "A classic". I am pleased to be able to agree with this statement! A Judgement in Stone is creepy, chilling and effortlessly scary. The fun with Rendell lies not in finding out `whodunit' but rather `why-they-dunit'. The first paragraph of this novel tells us that `Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdales because she could not read or write'. In this line we have the victims, the murderer and the motive, but still the suspense and intrigue is not taken away from the two hundred or so following pages. The plot is cunning and clever and driven by the personalities of the characters rather than any absurd coincidences or contrivances. From the moment that Mrs and Mr Coverdale employ Eunice as their housekeeper there is something inevitable about their deaths as the Coverdales are bright people and were bound to find out eventually that Eunice was illiterate - this was something that she could not tolerate. I think the reason why this book is so scary is because the murderer is not a knife-wielding serial killer with crazed eyes and mad laughter. Instead the murderer is a plain, middle-aged woman rather like anyone who might walk past you in the street. It is true to life because, of course, most of the criminals in our society look normal. Read A Judgement In Stone if you like psychological thrillers which seem realistic and about `normal' everyday life. JoAnne
Rating:
Summary: A Creepy, Chilling Pyschological Thriller
Review: My copy of A Judgement in Stone has the following simple quote from the Times on the front of it: "A classic". I am pleased to be able to agree with this statement! A Judgement in Stone is creepy, chilling and effortlessly scary. The fun with Rendell lies not in finding out 'whodunit' but rather 'why-they-dunit'. The first paragraph of this novel tells us that 'Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdales because she could not read or write'. In this line we have the victims, the murderer and the motive, but still the suspense and intrigue is not taken away from the two hundred or so following pages. The plot is cunning and clever and driven by the personalities of the characters rather than any absurd coincidences or contrivances. From the moment that Mrs and Mr Coverdale employ Eunice as their housekeeper there is something inevitable about their deaths as the Coverdales are bright people and were bound to find out eventually that Eunice was illiterate - this was something that she could not tolerate. I think the reason why this book is so scary is because the murderer is not a knife-wielding serial killer with crazed eyes and mad laughter. Instead the murderer is a plain, middle-aged woman rather like anyone who might walk past you in the street. It is true to life because, of course, most of the criminals in our society look normal. Read A Judgement In Stone if you like psychological thrillers which seem realistic and about 'normal' everyday life. JoAnne
Rating:
Summary: Another fine psychological thriller by the English master
Review: Once again, Rendell portrays what seems to others a quite ordinary woman as the violent psychopath that circumstances encourage. While Rendell's kernel idea, that a person's inability to read, the limits of the world thus caused, the shame it brings her, the desperate need to hide her inability, defines her life and her final fate, is a bit of a stretch, she is completely convincing in developing it in a step-by-step progression to what then seems inevitable. The main character's very ordinariness is what makes the story so horrible. It is a provocative idea, skillfully executed.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read Classic!
Review: This book, which finally is available in paperback, is truly a chilling classic. You cannot read this book and think about murder or illiteracy quite the same way again. Rendall is simply brilliant here! If you can, watch the French remake of this film which is just as creepy. Perhaps her very best book ever.
Rating:
Summary: Ruth Rendell's best!
Review: This extremely hard to find novel is Rendell at her most psychologically astute. This novel draws you in so completely that it's difficult to forget these characters or story. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough. The paperback version may be available in 2000. Good luck in finding it before then.
Rating: 
Summary: Not an airplane book
Review: This is clearly a well-written book, but at the risk of being politically incorrect, I did not enjoy it. Perhaps it should not be read on an airplane, but I could not get into the book. This is not a light-reading mystery novel, so buyer beware.
Rating:
Summary: A BRILLIANT STUDY OF THE SOCIOPATHIC MIND...
Review: This is one of Ruth Rendell's earlier works and, perhaps, one of her best. More of a novella, rather than a full fledged novel, by virtue of its brevity, it is absolutely brilliant, well-written, and gripping from the get go. Ms. Rendell captures the reader with her first sentence, "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write." This is a descriptive and insightful literary stunner about how an illiterate, middle aged women gets to the point that she wipes out a family one fateful evening. The book takes the reader, step by step, through the events that lead up to this crossroad. It explores the mind of Eunice Parchman, a woman so limited in her world view and so robotic in her actions that she is almost repellent. The reader marvels at her very existence and is sure to find her fascinating character study. Ms. Parchman's interactions with the well educated Coverdale family, who employs her as a housekeeper, are intriguing and always interesting, as she struggles to keep her illiteracy a secret. How Ms. Parchman circumvents its discovery for as long as does, the lengths to which she goes to maintain a facade of literacy, and her socially inappropriate responses to every day situations, paint an intriguing psychological portrait for the reader. The eventual discovery of her illiteracy results in a ghastly outcome, which makes for some gripping and chilling reading. Ms. Rendell is masterful in her storytelling, infusing mundane situations with an understated horror that is all the more chilling because of the common denominator that strikes a chord with the reader. Written is well-nuanced, taut, spare style, this book is a literary gem that will keep the reader riveted to its pages. Bravo!
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