THE ROTTWEILER

The first young woman murdered had a bite mark on her neck, prompting the media to dub her killer “The Rottweiler.” As the number of killings grows to two, three, and beyond, that nickname sticks, even though it has become clear that the original bite was incidental. The Rottweiler is a serial garroter, distinguished by his habit of taking a small trinket from each victim as a macabre souvenir.

The strangled young women all lived in the same ethnically diverse London neighborhood near Lisson Grove, so it is here that the police focus their investigation. Soon their suspicions lead them to an antiques shop, where items taken from the victims start turning up amid the clutter. As we get acquainted with the odd assortment of characters who work in and pass through the shop, we sense that one of them will be the Rottweiler’s next victim...unless the meticulous killer makes an uncharacteristic mistake.

Ruth Rendell is in top form here as she deftly propels the narrative, alternating between the inner life of a compulsive killer and the daily affairs of those who live nearby, unknowing yet somehow aware of the unnerving shadow of his presence.

“Ruth Rendell has written some of the best novels of the twentieth century.” —Frances Fyfield

“Rendell’s clear, shapely prose casts the mesmerizing spell of the confessional.” —The New Yorker

Over the past forty years, Ruth Rendell has created an extraordinary body of literary work, including, most recently, Adam and Eve and Pinch Me and The Babes in the Wood. Her accomplishments have been celebrated by numerous awards, including a remarkable total of three Edgars from the Mystery Writers of America, as well as the organization’s Grand Master award. In England, the Crime Writers’ Association has honored her with three Gold Daggers, a Silver Dagger, and a Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre.