Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin - 2004

London: Paperview Ltd., 2004. K5 - A hardcover book SIGNED by author on the title page in very good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has some wrinkling and chipping on the edges and corners, patch label scuff on the front upper right corner, dust jacket and book have some light discoloration and shelf wear. Great Family Reads #20. Ian Rankin creates a vivid picture of Edinburgh's seedy side in a novel that captures the grittiness and soul of the old town. 8.25"x5", 256 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Ian James Rankin is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Rankin did not set out to be a crime writer. He thought his first novels, Knots and Crosses and Hide and Seek, were mainstream books, more in keeping with the Scottish traditions of Robert Louis Stevenson and even Muriel Spark. He was disconcerted by their classification as genre fiction. The Scottish novelist Allan Massie, who tutored Rankin while Massie was writer-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh, reassured him by saying, "Do you think John Buchan ever worried about whether he was writing literature or not?" Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels are set mainly in Edinburgh. They are considered major contributions to the tartan noir genre. Ten of the novels were adapted as a television series on ITV, starring John Hannah as Rebus in series 1 and 2 and Ken Stott in that role in series 3-5. In 2009, Rankin donated the short story "Fieldwork" to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Rankin's story was published in the Earth collection. Rankin signing copies of his debut graphic novel, Dark Entries, in the Edinburgh Forbidden Planet International store in December 2009. In 2009 Rankin stated on Radio Five Live that he would start work on a five- or six-issue run on the comic book Hellblazer, although he may turn the story into a stand-alone graphic novel instead. The Vertigo Comics panel at WonderCon 2009 confirmed that the story would be published as a graphic novel, Dark Entries, the second release from the company's Vertigo Crime imprint. In 2013, Rankin co-wrote the play Dark Road with Mark Thomson, the artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre. The play, which marked Rankin's play-writing debut, premiered at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in September 2013. . Signed by Author. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.