num_pages: 188
description: 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.
language: English
title: A Judgement in Stone
titlecomplete: A Judgement in Stone
characters: Joan Smith, Eunice Parchman, Norman Smith, Melinda Coverdale, Giles Mont, Jacqueline Coverdale, George Coverdale
genres: Thriller, Detective, Novels, Crime, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Mystery, British Literature, Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 7092
places: England
awards: awardedAt: 220953600000
name: CWA Silver Dagger
publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard