Ruth

1977 · 44083 — London: Hutchinson 1977. First edition of the author's masterpiece. Octavo original cloth. Signed by Ruth Rendell on the title page. Near fine in a fine dust jacket. 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. "Rendell writes with such elegance and restraint with such literary voice and an insightful mind that she transcends the mystery genre and achieves something almost sublime" Los Angeles Times. The novel was filmed twice: The Housekeeper starred Rita Tushingham as the illiterate maid and La Cérémonie directed by Claude Chabrol where Sandrine Bonnaire played the role. Hutchinson hardcover books