Knots and Crosses

{{for|the folk band Knots and Crosses|Carol Noonan}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Use British English|date=December 2016}} {{short description|1987 novel by Ian Rankin}} {{Infobox book |  | name = Knots and Crosses | illustrator = | image = IanRankinKnotsandCrosses.jpg | caption = First UK edition | author = [[Ian Rankin]] | cover_artist = | country = [[Scotland]] |set_in=[[Edinburgh]] and [[Fife]], 1985 | language = English | series = [[Inspector Rebus]] | genre = [[Detective fiction]] | publisher = [[The Bodley Head]] | release_date = 1987 | media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|hardback]] & [[paperback]]) | pages = 168 pp |dewey=823.914 |congress= PR6068 .A57 | isbn = 0-3703-1057-8 | oclc= 60611210 | preceded_by = | followed_by = [[Hide and Seek (Rankin novel)|Hide and Seek]] }}

'''''Knots and Crosses''''' (also written '''''Knots & Crosses''''') is a 1987 [[crime novel]] by [[Ian Rankin]]. It is the first of the [[Inspector Rebus]] novels. It was written while Rankin was a postgraduate student at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. In the introduction to this novel, Rankin states that Rebus lives directly opposite the window in [[Marchmont]] from which he himself looked out while writing the book.

== Plot ==

1985. Edinburgh has been shocked by the abduction and subsequent strangling of two young girls. Journalist [[Jim Stevens (journalist)|Jim Stevens]] runs his own investigation, and has uncovered [[Michael Rebus]]'s drug dealing. He suspects that his brother John, a [[Lothian and Borders Police]] officer, knows or even supports his brother's illegal activities.

John Rebus is meanwhile assigned to the investigative team. The investigation remains without success, and eventually two more girls disappear. Throughout the case, John is haunted by his past in the [[Special Air Service|SAS]]. Then his former wife is attacked and his daughter abducted. Only when he is hypnotized by his brother is he able to share his past with him and his colleague and lover Gill Templer. Taking hints from seemingly cryptic anonymous letters, John connects the murders to his own military past. Relieved from his duty because of the personal involvement, he decides to find and face his enemy.

==Characters and notes== *[[Detective Sergeant John Rebus]] – lead character, hard drinking, Scottish detective with a troubled past *[[Michael Rebus]] – John's younger brother, rich from following his father's career in stage hypnotism, with a few secrets to hide *[[Samantha Rebus|Samantha]] – John Rebus' daughter *Detective Inspector [[Gill Templer]] – the Press Liaison officer on the abduction case, and Rebus' on-off love interest *[[Jim Stevens (journalist)|Jim Stevens]] – investigative journalist

==Connections to other Rankin books==

* Jim Stevens reappears in Rankin's third book, [[Watchman (novel)|''Watchman'']], following his move to London at the end of ''Knots''; he appears again in the tenth novel, ''[[Dead Souls (Rankin novel)|Dead Souls]]'', where he is murdered. * An alternative version of Gordon Reeve, Rebus' partner in SAS training, was the protagonist of ''[[Blood Hunt (novel)|Blood Hunt]]'', the last book Rankin wrote under his "Jack Harvey" alias: he stated on his website that this was to give it a "sense of 'closure'".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=32 |title=Jack Harvey novels: Introduction |first=Ian |last=Rankin |website=IanRankin.net |access-date=22 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215100516/http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=32 |archive-date=15 February 2011}}</ref>

==Writing ''Knots and Crosses''==

In the ''Exile on Princes Street'' foreword to ''Rebus: The Early Years'', Rankin says he wrote this book shortly after giving his father a [[James Kelman]] book (the type of book he was studying at the time) and being shocked when his father said it wasn't "written in English" and had no story; Rankin says this made him rethink what type of writer he wanted to be. He wrote ''Knots'' with the idea of updating [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'' into then-modern Edinburgh, with Rebus as the Jekyll figure (the book implies for a while that Rebus himself is unwittingly the killer) and he put Rebus in the same road, Arden Street, that he himself was living in. He states he was shocked to find out later that everyone thought he'd written a crime book, as he was unfamiliar with the genre.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rankin |first=Ian |date=2000 |title=Rebus: The Early Years |location=London, UK |publisher=[[Orion Books]] |pages=vii–viii |isbn=978-0-75283-799-4}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'', he speaks of the stylistic details he would have liked to change, saying: "I was a young man in love with language, striving for a voice and sometimes overreaching."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jordison |first=Sam |date=2015-11-03 |title=Inspector Rebus: the birth of a real heavyweight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/03/inspector-rebus-birth-knots-and-crosses-ian-rankin |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

== Reception == Though the novel was not much reviewed when it first came out,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interview {{!}} Ian Rankin |url=https://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/ianrankin.html |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=www.januarymagazine.com}}</ref> it was viewed as promising, with ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' commenting: "Solidly drawn characters, keen psychological insights and an intriguing, well-knit plot—along with a rather florid but individual writing style—make Rankin a newcomer to watch."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ian-rankin/knots-and-crosses/ |title=KNOTS AND CROSSES {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref>

==References==

[[Category:1987 British novels]] [[Category:1987 English-language novels]] [[Category:Novels set in 1985]] [[Category:Inspector Rebus novels]] [[Category:The Bodley Head books]]