If Sherlock were to do "ripped from the headlines":

Tell me this is not TOTALLY a Sherlock case:

A British spy who was found dead in the bath of a flat in London was killed before his body was stuffed into a sports bag where it lay decomposing for up to two weeks.

Scotland Yard said today that a post mortem was inconclusive in establishing a cause of death and further examination, including toxicology tests, would be required.

There was no evidence he was stabbed, sources said, dismissing earlier reports. Detectives are studying whether he was strangled, asphyxiated or drugged....

Jason Hollands, 41, a City worker, who also lives nearby, said: "It's truly gruesome - this is a very mixed area of bankers and politicians. I've spoken to the next-door neighbour, who knew nothing."...

Mr Williams' mobile telephone and sim cards had been carefully laid out elsewhere in the flat....

You guys should read the whole article. It sounds more and more like an episode with each detail.

See icon.

"Chick Lit" vs The New York Times

I don't often link to HuffPo anymore, but this is worth it.

With the publication of Jonathan Franzen's fourth novel, Freedom, which was extensively covered in the New York Times while Franzen himself appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, a controversy broke out online over whether Franzen's star treatment was indicative of the literary establishment's alleged shoddy treatment of commercial writers, in particular writers of what is commonly referred to as 'women's fiction.' Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult, both #1 New York Times bestselling authors, found themselves in the middle of the fray....

Why do you feel that commercial fiction, or more specifically popular fiction written by women, tends to be critically overlooked?

Jennifer Weiner: I think it's a very old and deep-seated double standard that holds that when a man writes about family and feelings, it's literature with a capital L, but when a woman considers the same topics, it's romance, or a beach book - in short, it's something unworthy of a serious critic's attention.

That's just the beginning; it's an interesting interview, and has a lot of links to related articles and interviews.

(Yes, the icon is both ironic and meta-ironic)