A judgement in stone door Ruth Rendell

Title: A judgement in stone
Author: Ruth Rendell
Genre: Crime

Eunice Parchman was an illiterate housekeeper employed by the intellectual upper-middleclass Coverdale family. The work she had to do she did perfectly well.
Although they never felt at ease with her. There was something strange.
After some time they realized that written orders were never executed.
Although they never looked seriously into the matter their youngest daughter discovered she was illiterate and therefore not able to do what she was asked to.
In all cases Miss Parchman tried to avoid situations in which she had to read, this led to rude actions. But it never led to serious confrontations because she led her life quietly in her own room. Things changed when she became friends with Joan Smith, a member of the Epiphany, a religious congregation. George Coverdale didn’t want Eunice to let Mrs. Smith into his house because he noticed she could influence Miss Parchman quite easily.
At the end when Joan was not allowed to come in anymore, Miss Parchman and Mrs. Smith killed the Coverdale family, George, Jacqueline, Melinda and Giles.
On that moment the family was watching an opera on tv.
Joan and Eunice were walking through the gunroom and Eunice, supported by Joan,
decided to murder the family to get rid of her problem.
A month later Miss Parchman is arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mrs. Smith couldn’t be heard by the police because she got into an accident on the night of the murder and would stay unconscious for the rest of her life.

My own opinion:

I like the fact that the whole story is told in the first few lines of the book but still the author manages to keep you interested in the story.
“Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write. There was no real motive and no premeditation; no money was gained and no security.”
Also the author made use of cliffhangers to force you to read the next chapter.
Sometimes I found it difficult to read the detailed, psychological descriptions of the persons because it was a bit too long for me.