Jim Stevens reappears in Rankin's third book, Watchman, following his move to London at the end of Knots he appears again in the tenth novel, Dead Souls, where he is murdered.

Detective Inspector Gill Templer - The Press Liaison officer on the abduction case, and Rebus' on-off love interestĬonnections to other Rankin books.

Michael Rebus - John's younger brother, rich from following his father's career in stage hypnotism, but with a few secrets to hide.

Detective Sergeant John Rebus - Lead character, hard drinking, Scottish detective with a troubled past.

Relieved from his duty because of the personal involvement, he decides to find and face his enemy. Taking hints from seemingly cryptic anonymous letters, John connects the murders to his own military past. Only when hypnotized by his brother is he able to share his past with him and his colleague and lover Gill Templer. Then his former wife is attacked and his daughter abducted. Throughout the case, John is haunted by his past in the SAS. The investigation remains without success, and eventually two more girls disappear. John Rebus is meanwhile assigned to the investigative team. He suspects that his brother John, a Lothian and Borders Police officer, knows or even supports his brother's illegal activities.

Journalist Jim Stevens runs his own investigation, and has uncovered Michael Rebus's drug dealing. Edinburgh has been shocked by the abduction and subsequent strangling of two young girls. In the introduction to this novel, Rankin states that Rebus lives directly opposite the window in Marchmont that he looked out of while writing the book.ġ985. It was written while Rankin was a postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh. It is the first of the Inspector Rebus novels. Knots and Crosses (also written Knots & Crosses) is a 1987 crime novel by Ian Rankin.

Noughts and crosses ian rankin