The Rottweiler

By Ruth Rendell

The first victim was discovered with a bite on her neck. The police traced the DNA to the girl’s boyfriend, but the tabloids had already dubbed the murderer “The Rottweiler,” and the name stuck.

The latest body was found near Inez Ferry’s shop in Marylebone. Someone spotted a figure fleeing into the shadows, but couldn’t say even if it was a man or woman. The only other clues are the murderer’s penchant for strangling his prey, and then removing a small token — a necklace, a lighter.

To make ends meet, widowed Inez Ferry takes in tenants above her antique store. The unpredictable and obsessive acts of the serial murderer begin to disturb the lives of the heterogeneous little community of lodgers, especially when suspicion grows that one of them might be “The Rottweiler.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9780385673174

Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) won three Edgar Awards, the highest accolade from Mystery Writers of America, as well as four Gold Daggers and a Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre from England’s prestigious Crime Writ­ers’ Association. Her remarkable career spanned a half century, with more than sixty books published. A member of the House of Lords, she was one of the great literary figures of our time.

Reviews for The Rottweiler

[jennie_103 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I'm a big fan of Rendell's work generally but I found this one disappointing. The murderer is revealed to the reader quite early on in the book (which I never like) and it is all too neatly resolved at the end for the criminal yet not neatly enough for two of the other characters. A very slow read too.

[blnq-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ruth is one of my very favourite mystery writers. At her best she is the modern Poe. Perhaps it was the performance which grew increasingly irritating for me. I finally threw in the towel and skipped to the end. A rare miss for Ruth though as I say I may have stuck with it if the narrator had been different.

[jalfredb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Outcomes for some characters, unexpected.

[readingover50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I started this book not knowing anything about it. Because of the title, I was hoping this was a horror story about a rottweiler running amok. Instead this is a book about a serial killer, nicknamed The Rottweiler, because one of his victims was found with a bite mark. Hmmm, seems like a pretty weak nickname.At the 1/3 mark, we learn who the killer is. I was a little disappointed, because I wanted the suspense to last. This is a “soft” pick for me. I didn’t hate it but didn’t love it either. More of a character study than a mystery for me. Not much action. Will and his Aunt were totally unnecessary characters. Actually most characters felt like they didn’t move the plot forward. I did like Inez, the shop owner/landlord. The book was just ok for me.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A long, slow read, with no real suspense. A whole lot of character development of people incidental to the central crime, to no good purpose. Stupidest policemen ever. Rendell had an interesting idea here---a serial killer who analyzes himself, figures out what made him do it, and devises a plan to stop himself---but she buried it under a bushel of other little life stories that really had no bearing on it whatsoever. A bit 44 Scotland Street-ish, which would have been all right, maybe, if I hadn't been expecting a crime/mystery. Rendell has written much better things. 2 1/2 starsReview written in March, 2011

[tessaslingerland · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not one of her better stories. I didn't like it that after a few chapters it's revealed who the killer is. And the ending was disappointing and quite sudden.

[billhall · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I generally like Rendell's work, but this one is very pedestrian and lacking any characters I could like. Virtually everyone in the story is bent, even though they are supposedly ordinary people. The killer is identified half way through, and the remainder of the book follows his attempts to understand his pathology and explores the various crooked foibles of the other characters. I finished it, but only. Two stars are for books I finish but would never ever waste time reading a second time. One star is reserved for books I throw against the wall in disgust before finishing them.

[sarah1e · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This isn't really about a serial killer and it isn't a murder mystery - it feels more like an expanded set of short stories that are all linked together. I would call it a 'motive mystery.' I don't mind knowing who the killer is early on - being in that character's head or having that piece of information usually makes the story a bit creepier than a regular mystery. Though not as creepy as I wanted it to be, I still suspected all the characters of hiding some horrible secret or keeping a sinister motive. I disliked most of the characters in the beginning, and my preferences for some characters over others shifted as the story went on. I am not satisfied with some of the resolution - I wish the last chapter hadn't been there at all, or at least had not tied up the ending so neatly.