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The rottweiler

Ruth Rendell

2003339 pagesabout 5–8 hours
2003
first published
  • 2003Crown Publishers · 339 pages · ENGISBN 9781400051908
  • 2003Hutchinson · 342 pages · ENGISBN 9780091799465
  • 2003Paragon · 420 pages · ENGISBN 9780754086987
  • 2004Seal Books · 400 pages · ENGISBN 9780770429485
  • 2004Penguin Random House · 416 pages · ENGISBN 9780099460244
  • 2005Vintage Books · 339 pages · ENGISBN 9781400095889
  • 2005Thorndike Press · 592 pages · ENGISBN 9780786266425
  • 2010Random House Publishing Group · ENGISBN 9781409068754

Arrow celebrates 40 years of publishing Ruth Rendell with this cracking psychological novel'Compelling and disturbing' The TimesThe first girl had a bite mark on her neck. When the tabloids got hold of the story, they immediately called the killer 'The Rottweiler', and the name stuck. The latest body was discovered very near Inez Ferry's antique shop in Marylebone. Someone spotted a shadowy figure running away past the station, but couldn't say for sure if it was a man or a woman. There were only two other clues. The murderer seemed to have a preference for strangling his victims and then removing something personal - like a cigarette lighter or a necklace... Since her actor husband died, too early into their marriage, Inez supplemented her modest income by taking in tenants above the shop. The unpredictably obsessive activities of 'The Rottweiler' would exert a profound influence on this heterogeneous little community, especially when the suspicion began to emerge that one of them might be a homicidal maniac.

How it feels

AtmosphereNoir

How it reads

Plot intensityEventful
Character focusSingle lead

When and where

ThemesJustice
How do you feel?