The things people will do to get an author blurb

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia (AP) — Authorities are investigating a suspicious mailing — initially thought to be a bomb — that was sent to bestselling author John Grisham at his farm in Albemarle County.

“It appeared to be a potentially explosive device,” said Lee Catlin, a spokeswoman for the county. “But a state police evaluation determined it was not a functional explosive device.”

County fire marshal Bob Lowry said Tuesday the large envelope was placed in Grisham’s mailbox Saturday but was not delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

The envelope was taken into the house with the rest of the mail and someone in the Grisham house noticed “something suspicious” through a small opening in the envelope, Catlin said. Grisham called police.

Funny, I didn’t realize “suspicious device” was codespeak for “unsolicited manuscript”….