Book review: Knots and Crosses - Ian Rankin

Title: Knots and Crosses

Author: Ian Rankin

FICTION

Genre: Detective, thriller

Ranking: 7.5 out of 10.0

Buy: Maybe

Borrow: Yes

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knots-Crosses-Rebus-Novel-Rankin/dp/0752883534/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Summary:  The brutal abduction and murder of two young girls takes place in Edinburgh. And now a third girl is missing, presumably gone to the same sad end. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away by his disenchanted wife, is one of many policemen hunting the killer.

And then the messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve.

Main review: 

The first Rebus novel from the No.1 bestselling author. Rebus is now a very successful TV series as well.

The brutal abduction and murder of two young girls takes place in Edinburgh. Not a common occurrence. And now a third girl is missing, presumably gone to the same sad end. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter, Samantha, spirited away by his disenchanted wife, is one of many policemen hunting the killer.

And then the anonymous messages begin to arrive: with knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle. His girlfriend Inspector Gill Templer figures that in fact John is part of the solution.

He was a soldier and in the SAS before he became a policeman and somewhere in that past is the clue. When his wife is beaten on the head and Samantha is also kidnapped, John agrees to be hypnotised by his brother Michael, a professional hypnotist, to uncover whatever he has kept hidden even from himself.  What comes out is the solution to the puzzle, but we will not tell you in order not to spoil it for you.

Further reading suggestion: Even Dogs in the Wild - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Even-Dogs-Wild-Rebus-Novel/dp/1409159388/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=