Hilary Mantel’s recently published short story, which took as its subject the assassination of Margaret Thatcher is causing a swirl of controversy. There have been calls (by Lord Timothy Bell) for Mantel to be investigated by the police, though it’s not entirely clear for what crime.

If it’s the depiction of a crime in literature, it has been remarked that another peer of the Upper House, Baroness James (PD James) might also be in hot water; further to that, JK Rowling is presumably going to be tried for witchcraft and JG Ballard is almost certainly getting posthumous points on his license.

To make up your own mind on the story, you can read it in full here.

Lord Bell, who made the official announcement of Margaret Thatcher’s death, and who was nominated by the Iron Lady for a knighthood, felt the story to be in poor taste. In equally unexpected news, somewhere a bear is walking into the woods with a newspaper under his arm.