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Knots And Crosses

The number one bestselling series that inspired BBC One’s REBUS

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Knots And Crosses

By: Ian Rankin
Narrated by: James Macpherson
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And in Edinburgh of all places. I mean, you never think of that sort of thing happening in Edinburgh, do you... '

'That sort of thing' is the brutal abduction and murder of two young girls. And now a third is missing, presumably gone to the same sad end. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away south 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.

Read by James Macpherson

(p) 2011 Orion Publishing Group©1987 John Rebus Ltd Crime Fiction Detective Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Traditional Detectives Thriller Crime Scary Suspense
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Critic reviews

Ian Rankin is a genius (Lee Child)
No one in Britain writes better crime novels today
Britain's No.1 crime writer
The best and most complex thriller writer in Britain today
Rankin is the thinking man's thriller writer
A master in his field
All stars
Most relevant
I've heard a lot about this Rebus character but never read any of Rankins' books. This is a good introduction and really fleshes out the character and plot. Good interpretation by Macpherson and quality recording. Shall now download book 2!

New to Rebus

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after only recently stumbling across the rebus series, where better to start than the first book. I'm hooked already and I'm on book 7 within a month.

narration is excellent and really completes the package. only negative, the book seems quite short as do the first few rebus books, thankfully 7 and 8 appear longer and I feel I'm getting more for my audible credits.

great start to the series

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Thank goodness its short. The story goes nowhere for a log time the the ending is rushed beyond belief.

Dull beyond belief

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Many short cuts taken without too much concern for small inconsistencies. Quite a few clichés: the tough-as-nails journalist, the dour Scottish police detective, the beautiful female colleague who falls for him. Much of the emphasis is on the main character's demons, to the extent that the story line almost becomes incidental to the character's psychological portrait. A real feeling of being in Edinburgh. A perfect narrator with a very pleasant Scottish accent.

not very convincing but an easy listen nonetheless

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Very slow. Not much happened. Lots of non-plot background and some very implausible plot lines. Think I’ll stick to Ruth Rendell or Val McDermid for my crime fix.

Underwhelming

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