A Judgement in Stone (Signed 1st)

Ruth Rendell

ISBN 10: 0091290708 / ISBN 13: 9780091290702

Published by Hutchinson, London, 1977

About this Item

A crime novel in which four members of one family are shot dead one Valentine's Day by their housekeeper, who is arrested for the crime two weeks later, but the tragedy neither begins nor ends there. A relatively early Rendell work, not in the Wexford series, but still highly regarded. It was adapted twice for film. A 1986 British-Canadian coproduction, known as either A Judgement in Stone or The Housekeeper in different markets, starred Rita Tushingham as the illiterate maid and was directed by Ousama Rawi. And the French film La Cérémonie (1995) was directed by Claude Chabrol and starred Sandrine Bonnaire as the maid, with Isabelle Huppert as the friend. Bonnaire and Huppert shared the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival for their performances. This copy is fine in black cloth with gilt titles on the spine. No marks or damage at all. The unclipped dust jacket has been kept in a protective plastic sleeve and is also excellent. Inscribed on the title page, done in 1996. . EB19.

Seller Inventory # B1027

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Judgement in Stone (Signed 1st)
• Publisher: Hutchinson, London
• Publication Date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0091290708
• ISBN 13: 9780091290702
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Signed
• Seller catalogs:
  • Signed/Inscribed
  • Mystery
  • Fiction

About this title

From the Inside Flap

"A classic."--"The London Times
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.
"It will be an amazing achievement if [Rendell] ever writes a better book."--"London Daily Express
"Ruth Rendell is the best mystery writer in the English-speaking world."--"Time