Episode 74: Crime in a city of culture - with Nick Quantrill

When it comes to cultural significance, the city of Kingston upon Hull is often overlooked in favour of the likes of London, Edinburgh, Liverpool or Manchester. But that's unfair for a city that was the home of poet Phillip Larkin, David Bowie's most famous backing band The Spiders from Mars, and the setting for Ted Lewis's seminal crime novel Jack's Return Home which was adapted to become Get Carter starring Michael Caine. That reputation changed when Hull became the UK's City of Culture in 2017, attracting an estimated five million visitors. Our guest this week, Nick Quantrill, harnessed the buzz to co-create the Hull Noir crime-writing festival. He's the author of four novels featuring private investigator Joe Geraghty, and has enjoyed spells as a writer-in-residence at a leading rugby league club and the National Railway Museum in York. It's a fascinating interview.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca congratulate former Hobcast guest Ian Rankin on his knighthood, and we ask - just why are male readers reluctant to read books by female authors?