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Knots and Crosses (Inspector Rebus #1)
by
Ian Rankin
Detective John Rebus: His city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders...and he's tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood. Once John Rebus served in Britain's elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh cop who hides from his memories, misses promotions and ignores a series of crank letters. But as the ghoulish killings mount and the tabloid headlines scream, Rebus...more
Paperback, 226 pages
Published
2005
by Orion
(first published 1987)
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"Knots and Crosses" are scraps of string and broken matchsticks in anonymous crank messages to Edinburgh detective John Rebus during a serial kidnapping of girls around 12, his daughter's age. Or is it a tic-tac-toe game? Constantly overcome by memories of elite corps army training, he smokes, drinks, and sleeps around like a 70s divorced lonely dad, until his brother finally hypnotizes him to reveal his bitter past hiding the murderer.
Either I read this before or the suspense builds with our g...more
Either I read this before or the suspense builds with our g...more
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Knots and Crosses is the first of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus novels, although in this one he’s still Detective-Sergeant Rebus. It’s almost impossible because of the way the plot is structured to say anything meaningful about the story without the rusk of giving away any spoilers. All I’ll say is that Rebus is an ex-army guy now a cop who finds himself involved in the investigation of the kidnapping/murders of several girls in Edinburgh. It’s one of those crime novels that focuses in the detect...more
Knots & Crosses takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland, a city that gets in your bones, much like the chilly, damp air that envelopes it during the fall & winter months. It has history, majesty, and real beauty. But this is not the Edinburgh of Rankin's novels. In fact, Rankin paints a picture of a cold, gothic city teeming with dark secrets. The case Rebus is working is horrific: his investigation of the disappearance and gruesome murder of a child soon turns into the scrambling search to f...more
1 like · like · see review
Oct 15, 2008
Emily
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
detective fiction fans
Recommended to Emily by:
npr
Shelves:
own
I will admit to wanting to read this book in part because I heard the author on NPR about a year ago and he is Scottish and I have a big weakness for Scottish accents. But! In my defense, I was actually intrigued by what he said (and not just how he said it!).
Having finally read the book, I have to say, it was a great read. I realized about a third of the way through that it has been a long time since I've read both an apt and original metaphor and this was chock full of them. Being his first n...more
Having finally read the book, I have to say, it was a great read. I realized about a third of the way through that it has been a long time since I've read both an apt and original metaphor and this was chock full of them. Being his first n...more
Feb 06, 2008
Auntie M Graff
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Hard-boiled detective or Scottish mystery fans
The first in Rankin's long-running Rebus series, this hard-boiled detective knows the ins and outs of criminal Edinburgh as no one else, and is not above looking beyond the law to settle his disagreements with the inhabitants of the seamy side of town.
I had the good fortune to interview Rankin in person years ago for "Mystery Scene" magazine, and he is every bit as complicated as his protagonist. Both are hard-drinking, chain smoking guys with a tough, cynical eye of the world, although Rankin...more
I had the good fortune to interview Rankin in person years ago for "Mystery Scene" magazine, and he is every bit as complicated as his protagonist. Both are hard-drinking, chain smoking guys with a tough, cynical eye of the world, although Rankin...more
My latest favorite mystery/crime fiction sleuth, Edinburgh's Inspector John Rebus has more than his fair share of demons to match his unwavering focus on justice, and both have a way of putting him at odds with the powers that be. In this first book of the series, the clues to the identity of the serial killer dubbed "The Edinburgh Strangler" lie in Rebus's buried past. I particularly love the complexities of the juxtapositions between Rebus's cynical dark thoughts and his inability to stop tryi...more
It was OK. Not great but I've read much worse too. I think my beef with it is that it was written over 20 years ago and seems dated. (Not obviously dated, like no one has a cell phone) but the plot devices seem dated. Our protagonist has a big blank spot in his memory about his time spent in the SAS and has never given it much thought. (Huh?) A serial killer is sending him clues in the mail, which he also doesn't give much thought too, brushing it off as a crank. (Really??) Then the killer start...more
Apr 30, 2013
Michele Brenton
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-thrillers
A very quick read being quite short and to the point. Interesting because it is Ian Rankin's first novel and my edition has an introduction from the author himself telling the story of how the novel came to existence. I have a great deal of awe for crime writers. Being a perfectionist myself I quail at the research required to get the procedural details correct and I am eternally grateful for those who manage it so superbly. If they didn't I wouldn't have such a great selection of novels to choo...more
This is the first in a 19-book series that is still going strong. The author was quite young when he started and this novel firmly launched his career. It's a good mystery with a unique twist that was in many ways ahead of its time due to real-life military events that have occurred since 1995 when this was written. Rankin offers astute psychological insights into the characters' behaviors. Conflicting images of Edinburgh are also fascinating. Since it is a successful series, I am guessing it ge...more
I've been wanting to get round to Rebus for more than a decade. All the more disappointing then that this opening entry in the series is so pedestrian. For a start, Rebus himself is a stock collage of character defects that have been better used in better books. Choice of music, reliance on booze, dogged persistence... the redeeming feature, of the character rather than the man, is how uninspired a police officer he is at this stage. It was refreshing, to me at least, to encounter so unimpressiv...more
So I’m reading a proper novel right now (stay tuned for the report), but in the interest of my pressing reading schedule, I downloaded the audio book of Ian Rankin’s Knots and Crosses to listen to while cooking, commuting, and doing chores. In discussion with N. last night I argued that listening to the audio book is *not* cheating in 10-10-12 both because I make the rules in this absurd contest and because and audio book isn’t abridged or fiddled with as a movie adaption might be, and it takes...more
Well, this is definitely a departure in my reading patterns. This novel, Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin, is my first dive into the genre of pure detective fiction. And what an exhilarating first plunge - like a swan dive into an empty pool, but in a very good way.
This is the first novel in the long and well known (to those into detective fiction that is) Rebus series. Actually touted on the cover as “Rankin and Rebus” so people like myself will know what to look for on the bookstore shelf. Go...more
This is the first novel in the long and well known (to those into detective fiction that is) Rebus series. Actually touted on the cover as “Rankin and Rebus” so people like myself will know what to look for on the bookstore shelf. Go...more
After having read reviews of Rankin's John Rebus series--always good, I decided it was time to start it myself. I thought I'd find a complicated story, but I was surprised to find such a simple mystery. Of course, Rebus is far more complicated. I'll continue reading the series to find out more about Rebus and how his past continues to show up in his present. I'd have to agree with the reviews that Rebus is a most interesting character and that Rankin tells a good story. I'm glad I started the se...more
I visited Edinburgh earlier this spring, and then returned in the pages of this first in the Inspector Rebus series by Scottish author, Ian Rankin. The older library copy I read had a picture of Edinburgh's Caltan Hill on the cover, which is why I checked the book out. I was not disappointed. Although the scenes in the story are not the typical tourist attractions, they do depict the moody atmosphere of this lovely city. The title is a play on the words "noughts and crosses", which is the Britis...more
The first Inspector John Rebus novel: the Scottish detective and ex-SAS man plods rather unsuccessfully through a child killer case, focusing on repressing some nasty memory from his past while trying to keep a handle on his own relationships with his adolescent daughter, divorced wife, romantic entanglements, and wealthy hypnotist brother. A series of anonymous letters that are clearly from the killer himself come to Rebus’ home, but he’s too thick to realize any connection until it’s almost to...more
Dec 30, 2010
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2010-audio-books,
2010-mysteries
Knots and Crosses, by Ian Rankin, A. Borrowed from the National Library Service for the Blind.
This is the first of the Rhebus series, published in 1987 and for which Rankin received an Edgar. Rhebus is fairly new to police work but is already proving that he stands out from the norm. He was in the special services unit in the army prior to going into police work and refuses to talk much about it. IN fact, he won’t even think about it. But apparently something happened then which he keeps relivin...more
This is the first of the Rhebus series, published in 1987 and for which Rankin received an Edgar. Rhebus is fairly new to police work but is already proving that he stands out from the norm. He was in the special services unit in the army prior to going into police work and refuses to talk much about it. IN fact, he won’t even think about it. But apparently something happened then which he keeps relivin...more
Nov 10, 2009
Tony
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-crime-detection
Rankin, Ian. KNOTS AND CROSSES. (1987). *****. Rankin is one of the best mystery writers writing today, and this is one of his earlier books that provides more background on his series character, Inspector John Rebus. Rebus is going through a crisis. He is divorced from his wife. He doesn’t get to see his daughter, Samantha, very much – at least not as much as he would like. His police work is getting to him. His past in the SAS keeps coming back to him in chronic outbreaks of mental turmoil. He...more
This is the start of a series about a Detective Inspector John Rebus who works in Edinburgh. He deals with the "real" Edinburgh that the tourists don't see. It is, as anyone who lives in an area frequented by tourists knows, not as pretty and can be rather dreary.
This book finds Rebus at a rather down beaten time in life. He’s divorced his wife, his daughter Samantha lives with her, he works his job seemingly just because he has to work and this job is as good and bad as any. He drinks and smoke...more
This book finds Rebus at a rather down beaten time in life. He’s divorced his wife, his daughter Samantha lives with her, he works his job seemingly just because he has to work and this job is as good and bad as any. He drinks and smoke...more
I have of course been aware of Ian Rankin's Rebus for a long time and looking for something new to read I decided to start with the first one (seems obvious I know but it would have been very easy to just leap into more modern stories). I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was also very interested to read about how the series started, an account of which was included in this Kindle edition.
Although this is now a little dated I didn't find that a negative as I am intending to read the series and like to s...more
Although this is now a little dated I didn't find that a negative as I am intending to read the series and like to s...more
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Soft-boiled crime fiction? Hard-boiled light? Lightly fried with a twist of tarragon?
As the debut of Ian Rankin's Rebus this is a fine book filled with promise.
Rebus is a drunk divorcee formerly of the SAS and now a DS in the Edinburgh police force. There's somebody abducting and killing children and there's no pattern that anyone can see. So far, so cliche. Where Rankin differs from all those other generic modern police procedurals that are oh so popular with the masses is that he doesn't seem...more
As the debut of Ian Rankin's Rebus this is a fine book filled with promise.
Rebus is a drunk divorcee formerly of the SAS and now a DS in the Edinburgh police force. There's somebody abducting and killing children and there's no pattern that anyone can see. So far, so cliche. Where Rankin differs from all those other generic modern police procedurals that are oh so popular with the masses is that he doesn't seem...more
12 likes · like · see review
This book is the first of Rankin's series on Inspector Rebus (although he's still a detective sergeant in this outing.) The good news is that if you end up liking this book, you have 16 more to follow up with.
The story involves Rebus, along with most of the available staff, placed on special assignment to investigate the abduction and strangling of young girls in Edinburgh. Rebus is recently divorced, misses his own young daughter and is still recovering from a top-secret training exercise from...more
The story involves Rebus, along with most of the available staff, placed on special assignment to investigate the abduction and strangling of young girls in Edinburgh. Rebus is recently divorced, misses his own young daughter and is still recovering from a top-secret training exercise from...more
2 likes · like · see review
I had low expectations going into this. Being a big fan of Scottish lit, I've always kept Rankin at arms length, thinking that he'd be too pulpy and pop culturey to be worth reading. I'm comfortable enough to own my snobbery.
Lately, though, I've felt Rankin's pull, especially since Henning Mankell's Wallander books reignited my interest in crime fiction. I have a thing for those damaged, brooding, middle aged, drink-too-much detectives, whose world view is so beaten and jaded by what they've se...more
Lately, though, I've felt Rankin's pull, especially since Henning Mankell's Wallander books reignited my interest in crime fiction. I have a thing for those damaged, brooding, middle aged, drink-too-much detectives, whose world view is so beaten and jaded by what they've se...more
15 likes · like · see review
This was a quick read because I found that once I got into the story, I didn't really want to put it down until I had finished it. I had never read any of Rankin's work before, but he's a good writer. He played fair with the clues and he maintained the suspense throughout.
His main character, Detective John Rebus, is a troubled man. He's not what you would probably think of as a typical policeman and he has to be practically hit over the head before he figures out the clues and discovers who the...more
His main character, Detective John Rebus, is a troubled man. He's not what you would probably think of as a typical policeman and he has to be practically hit over the head before he figures out the clues and discovers who the...more
Introducing Detective Sergeant John Rebus of the Edinburgh police.[return][return]Rebus' past, which he can not remember, haunts him in dreams and even in waking life, with screams of "Don't leave me". Divorced, on good terms with his 12 year old daughter Samantha whom he adores, Rebus is caught up in a case of pre-teen girls who are strangled but not sexually assaulted, a puzzling type of serial murder. In addition, he receives a number of what he dismisses as crank notes, first at the station,...more
I read a couple of Ian Rankin's books a while ago, probably three or four years ago now. This one hadn't faded entirely out of memory, so I didn't find anything too surprising about it. Ian Rankin's own observations about it, in the introduction, about how obviously it's a first novel and how inexperienced he was, are true. It shows sometimes, not that I think it's necessarily bad writing -- just, Ian Rankin is still finding his feet in this book. I might actually have enjoyed it more if I hadn'...more
Having watched, and thoroughly enjoyed the BBC Imagine programme about Ian Rankin (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nw51c) I thought I would give his first Rebus book a go.
There is a child killer on the loose, Rebus is a so-so copper with a some psychological problems caused by events in his past, who finds himself at first pulled into the investigation by those pen-pushers upstairs and given the scutt work, and then becoming more and more the centre of attention.
It is a little bit ploddin...more
There is a child killer on the loose, Rebus is a so-so copper with a some psychological problems caused by events in his past, who finds himself at first pulled into the investigation by those pen-pushers upstairs and given the scutt work, and then becoming more and more the centre of attention.
It is a little bit ploddin...more
I'd read Ian Rankin's Black and Blue some years ago and barely remember it, except that I wasn't so blown away by it that I had to find more. This book was given to me as a freebie and after it sat on a shelf for a couple years I decided to give it a try.
This is the first in the Inspector Rebus series and probably the best place to start with the John Rebus character. He's the textbook flawed character: demon-haunted, drinks too much, divorced, the works. A killer is lurking the streets of Edin...more
This is the first in the Inspector Rebus series and probably the best place to start with the John Rebus character. He's the textbook flawed character: demon-haunted, drinks too much, divorced, the works. A killer is lurking the streets of Edin...more
3 likes · like · see review
Jan 09, 2013
Laura Zlogar
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those who like Ian Rankin and detective fiction
I began reading Rankin's Rebus novels with Black and Blue because critics and even Rankin said that it was in that book that he hit his stride with the plot and character. Now, having read almost all of the books in the series, I am going back and catching up with the four earlier books.
If I had started at the very beginning, I am not sure I would have continued. Knots and Crosses seems very amateurish and ham-handed. The seams show everywhere, and Rankin's language is cliched. The backstories-...more
If I had started at the very beginning, I am not sure I would have continued. Knots and Crosses seems very amateurish and ham-handed. The seams show everywhere, and Rankin's language is cliched. The backstories-...more
We are introduced to Detective Sergeant Rebus of the West Lothian police force. He is hot on the heels of a serial killer that seems to strike at random, with seemingly no connection between his victims. Well, he� s knocking on doors asking for information and searching through dusty old records, not chasing the killer down the main street, but he� s definitely on the case& [return][return]This is the first book in the Inspector Rebus series, and it is very good, making you want to read more...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rebus | 13 | 93 | Jan 14, 2013 06:16am | |
| Rachel & Rach...: Knots and Crosses | 2 | 5 | Apr 25, 2012 06:19am |
AKA Jack Harvey.
Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into twenty-two languages and are bestsellers on several continents.
Ian Rankin has be...more
More about Ian Rankin...
Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the Rebus books are now translated into twenty-two languages and are bestsellers on several continents.
Ian Rankin has be...more
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“It was the laughter of birthdays, of money found in an old pocket.”
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