Ruth Rendell, A Judgement in Stone

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A Judgement in Stone

(1977) begins by breaking the rules of a crime novel. In the opening sentence the reader is told the full extent of the crime, the murder of the whole Coverdale family, the murderer, Eunice Parchman, and why she did it: because she could not read and write. Where the traditional crime story starts with a puzzle, this novel begins with a solution. Only it is not so simple. Rendell compounds her challenge to generic boundaries by revealing at once what many of her novels build to at the conclusion, the

mysterious

nature of crime, motivation and desire. How can illiteracy lead to murder?

A Judgement in Stone

proceeds to show us.

The fateful collision between Eunice and the Coverdales occurs through Eunice's cunning and the family's self-indulgent desire for a cheap

1004 words

Citation: Rowland, Susan A.. "A Judgement in Stone". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 October 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21185, accessed 19 March 2024.]

21185 A Judgement in Stone 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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