'It was 28th April. Wet, naturally, the grass percolating water as John Rebus walked to the grave of his father, dead five years to the day.' This is our first glimpse of the Scottish policeman with the puzzling name... before Ian Rankin hit the bestseller lists, before Rebus became a national institution... A story of the brutal abduction and murder of young girls, at first it seems that Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is just one of many policemen hunting the killer. Then messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve. So begins the case that introduced the crime world to one of its most compelling characters. Whether you're turning the pages for the first time, or reliving the mystery, KNOTS AND CROSSES is unmissable reading.