Customer Reviews

The Rottweiler: A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ruth Rendell here again visits London, the place she is so able to render darkly atmospheric and menacing. There is a serial killer on the loose, and he has been dubbed "The Rottweiler" by the media, due to a bite mark found on the first victims neck, even though that bite mark was later traced back to her boyfriend. His only signature is that he takes one of each victims' personal items - perhaps a watch, or necklace - after having garrotted them.

The latest victim is found near Inez Ferry's antique shop, and because of this the lives of a small group of disparate people will become drawn into this case and it's increasingly introverted investigation. For the police are becoming more and more convinced that someone connected to the shop - anyone from the exotic assistant Zeinab, who is stringing along a variety of rich men, to one of the tenants in the flats above - could very well be a homicidal maniac...

This is everything that I expect a Ruth Rendell novel to be. It is, of course, impeccably written and psychologically excellent, so I need say no more about that. Indeed, The Rottweiler is another of Rendell's books that is entirely unique, in that for almost the first time ever she displays a delicious dark humour, veins of which run through the plot like black treacle. At times, this seems like a social satire, as she directs her gaze onto everything from the media to the often bizarre relationships between men and women. Her characters are also particularly noteworthy, especially the compelling Inez and Will, who is possibly the most moving character she has ever depicted, who takes a perverse, almost unregistered, pleasure from pushing away all prospective suitors for his beloved Aunt Rebecca, who desperately doesn't want to spend the rest of her life caring for her "simple" nephew, though is racked with guilt because of that.

You would easily be forgiven for thinking that this is a serial killer novel, but this is really no more a serial killer novel than the Bible is a book solely about God. It is so much more than that. It's a book about the people involved, how they can be draw into darkness and uncertainty through the effects of the gravity of crime. It's a book about how peoples live always changed when confronted with the horrific. At times, the serial killings themselves seem very on the periphery (I was going to say "incidental" that that would be entirely the wrong word) and it is eerie to read about them in such a detached way. It's also interesting how we, essentially, only know as much about the murders as the characters themselves do through their exposure to the media.

To be honest, it's almost impossible to review a Ruth Rendell book and truly convince of her genius and say what you really want to without illustrating it by disclosing important aspects of the plot or simply re-telling little aspects of the story, which makes the task I have very hard. But, rest assured, this book of a contemporary and chilling London and a small group of people within it is brilliant. It's a novel that questions, among many things, the nature of morality, how we perceive others and ourselves, it examines ideas of the human need for companionship, and the different forms of love between men and women, and it tackles, as many of her books do on some level, the problem of "How eccentric or odd do you have to be before you become a danger to others, or even yourself?" And yet, it is really about none of those things. Those are just tiny stitches in her tapestry, small but illuminating strokes on her canvas. It's about people, and the spider-web of life that connects everything to everything else. And I consider it to be brilliance in its purest form. The only way to understand this is to read one of her works, because there is no one else today writing books quite like this. She's our modern Scheherazade. I just want her to keep telling stories all night long.

Ruth Rendell writes much more compelling novels when she's either writing as Barbara Vine or churning out the Inspector Wexford series. When she focuses on a psychologically complex group of interrelated characters, and tries to weave a murder mystery around them, she often loses focus and her narrative tends to meander and ramble. Unfortunately, her latest, The Rottweiler is one of those novels; part psychological character study, and part murder mystery, this uneven story of blackmail plods along, and while it is a moderately entertaining read and has some wonderfully multi-faceted characters, it's also rather dull and a trifle over-long.

Someone has strangled five young women, and hidden their bodies. The press has dubbed him the Rottweiler. He also steals a small item such as jewelry or a cigarette lighter from each victim. The murders have been happening around Edgeware Road, in the vicinity of Star Antiques, a shop owned by Inez Ferry. The shop, while situated in the fashionable area of Lisson Grove, London, has not been doing well. So in order to supplement her income, Inez rents out three apartments in the building.

Inez's tenants are diverse and strange: Will Cobbett is a beautiful looking but mentally challenged young man who works for a builder. He lives in a child-like world of television cartoons and make-believe, and fantasizes about living happily ever after with Becky, his aunt, who - frustrated at having to look after him - has turned to drink. Ludmila Gogol a Russian immigrant and Freddy Perfect, her boyfriend live next to Freddy and the enigmatic Jeremy Quick lives upstairs from them. Jeremy is a suspicious character, who pays his rent on time, but Inez discovers that he's a chronic liar and she gradually begins suspect his secret past.

The police begin to suspect the Inez might be harboring a murderer but she has no idea which of her tenants is guilty. Inez is too pre-occupied with watching videos of her dead actor husband and wallowing in the dreams of a past and a perfect love that has gone forever. Many of the other tenants have their own agendas - Jeremy is obsessed with satisfying his mother, and fixates about a sexual experience he had when he was thirteen years old. Becky - perhaps the most interesting character - is feeling suffocated by Will. She has given up her life to him, her future, her very self. Drinking has become an essential part of Becky's lifestyle, "it's become the worst kind of behaviour - the secret, covert, and conspirational sort."

Like many of Ruth Rendell's books, The Rottweiler contains a number of inter-connected subplots. In this case, pieces of jewelry belonging to the murdered girls, inexplicably turn up in Inez' shop, and it is steadily revealed that all the characters are in someway linked to the charms. Obviously the mystery of who murdered the girls is the central ingredient of The Rottweiler - a mystery that is revealed pretty early on - but the main crux of the narrative is the gradual revelation of each of the personalities of the main characters. Perhaps this is where The Rottweiler falls short - too much time is spent on describing the characters' inner lives, when, if the focus had remained totally on the murders, a more engaging and fast-paced story would have eventuated. Mike Leonard February 05.

A killer is on the loose, strangling young women before leaving with one of their personal items. In the midst of the investigation, we get a glimpse of life within an antique shop/apartment house owned by Inez Ferry. Her tenants include an eclectic assortment of characters and of course one of them is the killer. In typical Rendell fashion, the killer is revealed by page 100 but the how and why is not and as the killer himself seeks an answer as to why he is doing these deeds, so is the reader and it keeps us turning the pages.

Ruth Rendell never ceases to amaze and I truly wonder how she comes up with these intriguing plots and interesting characters. It is common for such an assortment of characters to come together in some fashion or be connected some way but I was surprised to see that they really do not in this novel. Still, Rendell's prose is highly engrossing and she is a master at depicting the dark side of the human psyche. These characters are among her most vivid and include one of the most sympathetic she has ever created, a young good looking mentally deficient man who becomes a suspect. The incident that leads up to him being suspected is rather heartbreaking.

As always, one the elements that make Rendell's book so much fun is her dark humor when writing about a character or reading their thoughts. Case in point is Zeinab, a beautiful Asian women who works for Inez in the antique shop and uses her beauty to snag rich men in order to pay for her families luxuries.

I only had one minor quip with the story and it concerns the theft of a strongbox and the thief eventually unlocking the combination by a simple guess. Highly unbelievable and unlikely but that is the only flaw in this exceptionally intriguing novel.

This is vintage Rendell. She has a very special gift for portraying, in great detail, people on the fringes of society. They become as real and complex as our own relations and neighbors and because of this, we care about them and fear for them. This is her strength. In this book reside some of her best and quirkiest characters and she takes the time to give them the necessary charm and viability in our imaginations. This is far from her best work but there is a brilliant psychology at play here where a small cadre of forgotten people live in the Marylebone section of London and its members are related by work and/or life in a house of rental properties. That a serial crime of horrible details appears to center a little too close to their lives seems to just add color and a frison of excitement ... at first. We may or may not know who the killer really is (we're pretty sure) and we don't really get a hint until far along in the book, but it is a good journey and well worth the effort. I've been on the edges of Marylebone and it may help to picture it as a little poorer, but nonetheless colorful, Notting Hill.

Ruth Rendell once again proves that she is uniquely talented with "The Rottweiler," her latest psychological thriller. The title refers to a serial killer who, at first, was mistakenly thought to bite his female victims. In truth, he doesn't bite the women he kills; he would rather not touch them at all. He strangles them using cord or a similar object, and then takes a trinket from each body as a keepsake.

"The Rottweiler" takes place in a London neighborhood, and much of the action revolves around an antiques shop owned by Inez, a widow who pines for her adored late husband, Martin. Inez also rents out flats above her shop to an assorted group of tenants. We gradually get to know a great deal about Inez, her tenants, and her gorgeous employee, Zeinab.

Why is Rendell such a mesmerizing writer? One reason is that she takes the time to delve into each character's mind and heart. In the pages of this novel, we meet an unrepentant serial killer, a few thieves, a charlatan, and an alcoholic, among others, but Rendell does not merely use her characters as props. She opens a window into each individual's personality, and she lays bare his or her weaknesses, strengths, vulnerabilities, hopes, and dreams. We may not like these people, but we understand them.

Besides the serial killer plot, there is a poignant and heartbreaking subplot that deals with the plight of Will, a development disabled man who relies a great deal on his Aunt Becky for love and emotional support. Becky is Will's only living relative, and although she cares for Will, she would like to live her own life, free of responsibility for this man-child. However, she is crippled by guilt, and she can think of no way to break free of him. As usual, Rendell writes with dark humor, cynicism, and deep insight into the many ways that people destroy themselves and others, and she holds the reader in the palm of her hand throughout.

In Rendell's world, there is no such thing as fairness. The good are not always rewarded for their virtue, nor are the evil always punished for their sins. Why would we want to enter such a bleak universe? The reasons are simple. Rendell's effortless writing is both lucid and beautifully descriptive, she maintains a high level of suspense until the last page is turned, and she has an unusual and thought-provoking perspective on human nature. That is why Rendell has always been in a class by herself.

Once again Ruth Rendell proves her worth as a novelist. This time the work is far from her best but still reaches beyond the results that most in the genre can offer.

The characters are vivid and well developed, although this time she fumbles and drops too much in the end game. I enjoyed the book from beginning to end but felt somewhat dissatisfied with the glossed over speedy finish. It was almost like she had a deadline approach and wrapped up quickly leaving outstanding characters dangling and a wonderful story unfinished.

Most writers could never expect to recover from this major error but wordsmith Rendell just gets 1 point knocked of the rating. Yup, the book is that strong.

I've read everything Rendell has written(including the Barbara Vines) and she is the best in the mystery genre and often transends it. She can therefore be forgiven for this total misfire---thin ,forced and utterly unconvincing. Her forte may well be creating fabulous villains but the one here is trite and uninteresting. I'm surprised so many of the reviews by readers who know and love her work are raves. I'm generally inclined to cut her a lot of slack

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.

At her best -- and I think you have to go back a decade or so to find her best non-Wexfords -- Rendell creates a wonderful sense of tension by portraying characters who have some flaw or tendency that inexorably draws them into the darkness. That kind of tension is really lacking in this book.

We have the setting Rendell/Vine uses so often: a London house full of disparate residents and their friends. But none of them really engages us; in fact, some of them are mere caricatures. Even the killer seems far too rational and self-examining to have committed the crimes we are told he or she is guilty of. We spend a lot of time with characters who have almost nothing to do with the main story. The police drift in and out of the picture as if they are investigating a serial killer in their spare time.

My advice if you need a Rendell fix: go back and read Live Flesh or A Demon in My View. They're far more gripping and believable.

One minor gripe: why do American publishers feel they need to rewrite books for their audience? No one in Britain refers to football as "soccer", and seeing this word in a British context is really jarring. One wonders how much other local color has been eliminated or rewritten for fear that poor ignorant American readers will be confused.

The weakest RR novel that I have read.
The plot-lines and characterization were weak.
It seemed to be a hurried effort-had some good ideas but these were not developed enough and only showed the usual RR quality in flashes.
Let's just hope that this novel was just a temporary blip and not the shape of things to come.