The Rottweiler | 
 enlarge | Author: Ruth Rendell
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 92981
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1400095883
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781400095889
ASIN: 1400095883
Publication Date: September 13, 2005
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Product Description
The first victim had bite marks on her neck so the London papers nicknamed her killer, “the Rottweiler.” He has been stalking the small and diverse London community of Lisson Grove, where Inez Ferry runs an antique shop frequented by a motley collection of eccentric individuals. When the Rottweiler’s trinkets start showing up in the shop, suddenly, everyone Inez knows is a suspect, and the killer feels all too close. Enthralling and deeply unsettling, The Rottweiler alternates expertly between the mind of a psychopath and the daily affairs of those living in his shadow. It is a transfixing mystery that only Ruth Rendell could write.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 A Spine-Tingling Mystery March 10, 2008
Ruth Rendell is one of my favorite British authors. She has the capability to make readers care vividly for seemingly ordinary characters. The Rottweiler is one of my favorites of her books.
In this compelling novel, a serial killer is strangling young women and taking a memento from each victim as a macabre trophy. The little trinkets, (earrings and a locket for instance), begin appearing in an Antiques shop on Star Street in Marylebone, London. Rendell introduces us to the tenets of the shop/apartment building: Inez Ferry, a lonely woman struggling with the loss of her husband and the owner of the shop, Will Cobbitt, one of the most compelling characters Rendell has ever created. He is a mentally challenged man who cares deeply for his aunt Becky, who in turn wrestles with feelings of guilt and annoyance at the burden of caring for her nephew. Another tenet is Jeremy Quick, a successful businessman who is devoted to his mother. Zeinab is a mysterious character who shamelessly uses her feminine wiles to procure rich luxuries.
Although the identity of the killer is revealed fairly early in the book, the reader is still unable to stop reading the story. We, along with the killer, long to know why such horrible deeds are being committed. With the killer, we too travel an arduous journey, drawn by an unnameable force to discover answers. The ending result is a heartwrenching shock. This novel is psychological suspense at its best. Please give it a chance.
 Not mystery. Not suspense. It's a collection of character studies. February 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I shouldn't be surprised because Ms. Rendell herself said that characterization is what interests her the most.
Centralized in the not-so-upmarket Star Antiques or thereabouts is a diverse lot of variably annoying, amusing, droll, pitiful, and lest I forget, criminal characters. They saunter in and out of the narrative as if this was some ensemble sitcom like Cheers. Never mind, because some of them are good for laughs (such as the smooth-talking Freddy Perfect). One of them is the murderer who, by the way, is identified quite early in the story. The remaining 200+ pages are devoted to (a) the killer's introspection (What is wrong with me? Why am I doing this? What repressed memory is triggering all this? Yata, yata, yata.), and (b) further character development for which the plot is sacrificed.
The insistence of book retailers and libraries in categorizing, en masse, Ms. Rendell's books under the Mystery-Suspense genre is shameful. C'mon, The Rottweiler has no mystery; there's no deduction required from the reader especially since a third into the book the killer is identified so why bother, and its suspense is...is...well, there really isn't any and the little it may have is unsatisfactory.
I don't like a benign Rendell; I like a Rendell that terrifies and sends chills up and down my spine. Oh heck, put plainly, I like a Rendell that's Hitchcock on speed. After a few novels that I truly admired (A Sight for Sore Eyes, Face of Trespass, The Brimstone Wedding), I'm quite disappointed with this.
Three stars for character development. One for the plot such as it is.
Quirky characters, quirky plot! February 15, 2008
This book of Ruth Rendell's is less of a mystery since we learn the identity of the killer quite early, and more of a true psychological study. We examine the psychological profile of the killer who is a self-absorbed psychopath, as well as the breakdown of a borderline personality in the character of Will. And we see how the personalities of these two people affect all of the the other people that interact with them. As I read I kept expecting something truly horrible to happen. (as if the murders of five young women wasn't bad enough). I truly felt sorry for Will's aunt Becky as she is drawn into a life that brings her down. She goes from a successful single businesswoman, to one eaten up by guilt and reliant on alcohol to get her through the days. Rendell can portray characters like no one else, and the deep spiral that so many of these characters are on make for compelling reading.
Tame Mystery, Full of Quirky Characters September 21, 2007
I am not a die-hard mystery reader, although I do like the occasional mystery, and this is my first Ruth Rendell novel. I can't say that it made me want to read more of her work.
The Rottweiler revolves around a small antique store in London. The characters who work in, visit, and hang around the shop are the key to a series of murders in the city. Mistakenly dubbed "the Rottweiler" because a bite mark appeared on his first victim, the murderer garrotes young women and removes trinkets from their bodies as souvenirs. From the intuitive widow who owns the antique store, Inez, to a good-looking laborer with the intelligence of a six-year-old, Will, all of the characters are quirky outsiders in their own way and all have a part to play in the mystery.
The premise of the story is rather standard, but the idea of the characters made it more interesting. Unfortunately, Rendell didn't carry it off. Despite the characters' quirkiness, none of them are sympathetic enough to draw the reader into the story. All of them instead seem more like stereotypes, especially Will, who seems like a shallower version of Tim, the very special, fascinating character created by Colleen McCullough. The narrative itself jumps around between the characters, which, instead of giving the reader a complete picture of the scene and action, makes the story feel a bit plodding. On the subject of the mystery itself, the serial killings, the reader finds out the identity of the killer about halfway through the book and there isn't enough suspense to take the place of that mystery. Instead, the reader is supposed to be drawn into why the killer kills, but I just found myself waiting for the end of the book. Also, mysteries are all about attention to detail and it really bothered me that the writer (and her editor) kept mixing up the trinkets the killer kept. In one scene, the trinkets include a lighter, some earrings, and a keyring. In another, later, scene, the keyring is replaced by a watch, which was planted in the antique shop by the killer earlier in the book (this isn't a spoiler - this information is on the jacket). Since these trinkets were key to the plot, this was an important oversight.
Overall, The Rottweiler was fine. It wasn't awful and it wasn't fantastic. I wanted to find out what happened, but was not surprised, delighted, or shocked when the end came - instead, it was exactly what I expected and I didn't really care what happened to the characters after the action's conclusion. I can't say that this book made me hungry for any more of Rendell's work, despite the predominately positive reviews.
Rottweiler has plenty of teeth December 12, 2006
This is a late (for the book's age) review, but I wanted to add my admiration for Rendell's unfailing ability to construct wonderful stories that are even better character studies. Her principal characters are usually way off center, but not perceived as being as dangerous or as bizaare as they really are by the rest of the world. "The Rottweiler" is a very good example of mundane/normal/boring vs. crazy/malevolent. A good read and worthy of Rendell's well-earned reputation as a master writer of good literature, not to mention one of the best mystery writers alive.
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