Ian Rankin - The Hanging Garden A tense and complicated thriller featuring inspector John Rebus from the acclaimed author of BLACK AND BLUE. Rebus is buried under a pile of paperwork generated by his investigations into a possible war criminal resident in Edinburgh. His immediate superiors are more than happy to have him tucked away in a quiet backwater for several months looking into ancient history.
First published in 1992 it’s one of the earlier Rebus books. The first story in this book is called “Playback”. Rebus is impressed by being able to phone your home phone “from the car-phone” to get “the answering machine to play back any messages.” You can tell from this that it’s rather different from current crime detection fiction. As the title indicates, solving the crime in this story hinges on phone messages. The police receive a phone call from the murderer confessing his crime. He panics and tries to flee, only to be caught as the police arrive on the scene of the crime. He then insists on his innocence.
Ian Rankin - Knots and Crosses Once John Rebus was a Para, served in the elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh policeman who spends time evading his memories, missing promotion opportunities, and right now ignoring a series of crank letters. But as the murders go on happening right under his nose, Rebus cannot ignore the presence of a serial killer stalking the city streets any longer. He isn't the only detective working the case, but he is the only one with all the pices to the puzzle and those letters keep on coming.
The halls are decked, the tree is trimmed, and one young boy is wide awake and watching for a special late-night visitor. But waiting isn't easy-especially when every little noise sounds like Santa! This festive rebus book features 24 flash cards to reinforce beginning reading skills.