Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin

For months, I've been saying to myself that I have to read an Ian Rankin book. They must be good. I mean, he has something like 20 Inspector Rebus books and has won a gazillion awards. What am I waiting for? So, when I saw Knots and Crosses, the first Rebus novel, sitting on a shelf in the library of my mom's retirement center, I finally succumbed.

John Rebus is detective inspector on the police force in Edinburgh, "a Old Testament land of barbarity and retribution." Divorced with a 12yo daughter Samantha and an ex-wife banging the loser poet son of Rebus's boss. Rebus is a man with some deep-seated issues from his days in the SAS, has a brother who followed their dad into the family business (hypnotist), but we don't know just what happened in the army. All we know is that in the throws of passion, Rebus usually starts crying. And he is being drawn into an ever-expanding investigation into the abduction and murder of 2 pre-teen girls Sara Adams and Mary Andrews; crimes that have the city on edge.

Rebus has received these bizarre notes, "It's all there if you read between the lines" or "The clues are everywhere." In the envelopes are pieces of string tied in a knot. Or matches tied together in the shape of a cross.

Rankin gently reveals bits and pieces of Rebus's life in Edinburgh where 'the rain is like judgement," 12 yo Samantha's likes and dislikes, his developing relationship with Gill Templar, the police press officer, his partner Jack, the various bars he frequents, and his attempts at smoking 10 cigarettes or less a day.

When he tells Gill about the notes with the knots and crosses, she immediately puts 2 and 2 together and believes the notes are connected to the murders of the 2 girls and one more, Nicola Turner. Another note arrives at his house.

On a night shift after murder #4, Helen Abbott, Rebus takes a call from an English prof at the university who offers some observations on an obscure pattern of wording that actually turns out to be a clue of substance. A clue to the next victim's identity.

Now all those random notes make sense. Someone from Rebus's past is stalking him and wants to make him pay for his sins, dearly. Those knots and crosses mean something important. The pivotal chapter is when Michael Rebus hypnotizes John to look at repressed memories in the hopes of figuring out the killer's identity.

And holy crap . . . now that was a chapter.

I can't believe it took me this long to try a Rankin novel. I like Ken Bruen and his Irish novels, so why wouldn't I like Rankin's Scottish crime novels? A helluva lot is crammed into this short book (226 pages in paperback). And when we find out the English prof's clue, the pace of the presentation changes in an instant. The easygoing reveal of Rebus's life disappears in a single line and the story takes off like a runaway locomotive with the tension building page by page. "Can't put it down" and "page turner" are too trite. The final 60 or so pages fly faster than any book in recent memory.

And this was his first novel? Wow . . . 1 down, 19 to go?

East Coast Don

p.s. I've embedded the English prof's clue in my review. Good luck.