From the beginning [of "A Judgement in Stone"] we know the details of a multiple murder and who was responsible. But Miss Rendell is a master at bringing horror to ordinary situations. She takes an illiterate housekeeper—really illiterate—with a shady past, puts her into a nice family, then starts applying pressure. The way Miss Rendell gets into the woman's mind is a tour de force. Little by little a chip is added, with well-meaning people contributing to their own doom. This is one of Ruth Rendell's best.

Newgate Callendar, in a review of "A Judgement in Stone," in The New York Times Book Review (copyright © 1978 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), February 26, 1978, p. 34.