The Rottweiler

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 stars

Review written in March, 2011

(2) Found this in a used book store and I usually love Rendell's mysteries - in particular her stand-alones tend to be macarbe and better written than the Inspector Wexford series. But this one was a bit of a dud. A serial killer is garroting girls in London and stealing a personal item from them before he dumps their body. The reader knows who the perpetrator is, even if the police don't - he lives in a boarding house upstairs from an antique shop -- and the reader gets to know the odd little circle of people that live in the boarding house and frequent the shop.

It is not really a whodunnit but more of a 'why do I do it?' - kind of a psychological mystery. But frankly the plot isn't really all that compelling and all the (practically) show more unrelated side stories were tedious. It wasn't so much that the ending was a let down but more that there was never really an up to come down from. The dramatic tension was practically non-existent.

Of course, Rendell's writing is fairly engaging and she is a lovely character sketch artist. The novel is easy to read and entertaining, so I don't begrudge the time. But it seemed like Rendell's heart just wasn't in this one.

Overall, a bit of a yawn - nowhere near as dark as say 'A Judgement in Stone' or as twisty and perplexing as 'A Dark Adapted Eye,' or the 'House of Stairs.' So not a good Rendell to start with - just OK. show less

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 show more at least had not tied up the ending so neatly. show less

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.

I am a big fan of Rendell's standalone novels, but I was quite disappointed in this one. Other reviews complain about the fact that she revealed who the murderer was very early, but in many of her standalone novels, the identity of the murderer/criminal is never in question. Her psychological analyses of the individuals are what makes the books so good. But in my opinion, this book was too cluttered with superfluous characters and their stories, and the killer's story wasn't that interesting. It sort of felt like she was phoning this one in.

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 show more book was just ok for me. show less

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.