“Knots and Crosses” by Ian Rankin

This is the first novel in the Rebus series, and the first book by Rankin that I’ve read. From it, I have learned that Rankin is not a hack writer. He is quite good, though I must say that I’m glad I read Rankin’s introduction. It explains quite nicely why, as an ambitious young author’s first crime novel, the language was sometimes too literate. Also, he developed Rebus as quite a complex character because he did not intend to write any more books about him. Given his complex backstory, I’m interested in finding out how Rebus evolves in succeeding books.