Two years ago, the Seattle Weekly ran a cover story by Rick Swart titled "Ann Rule's Sloppy Storytelling." The feature made the claim that in her true crime book Heart Full of Lies, Rule was irresponsible when telling the story of Liysa Northon, a woman who was accused of killing her husband. Shortly after the piece was published, Rule called it "extremely malicious" and suggested that there was more "back story" to Swart than was previously revealed. When then-Seattle Weekly editor Caleb Hannan contacted Swart to ask what Rule was referring to, Swart confirmed that he was "in love" with Northon (the pair have since married).

Fast-forward to today: The Daily Mail reports that Rule is suing the Seattle Weekly, Swart, and Hannan.

A complaint filed by the crime author claims 'self-described' journalist Mr Swart pitched the article to the Seattle Weekly about alleged fabrications in the 2003 bestseller Heart Full of Lies, according to a report on Courthouse News Service.

The piece, said to contain 'numerous false statements concerning the contents of the book', along with 'inflammatory comments', ran on the front page of the paper.

It prompted Ms Rule to launch legal proceedings against the newspaper, Mr Swart and Caleb Hannan, then editor of the Weekly.

In the time since the story ran, the Seattle Weekly has gone through numerous staff shifts and changed ownership from Village Voice Media to Sound Publishing. I contacted Hannan, who is now a freelance writer for Businessweek and Grantland. He had no comment. Mark Baumgarten, the Seattle Weekly's editor-in-chief, has not returned my call for comment. no comment.

(UPDATED at 3:27 pm to reflect that Baumgarten returned my call.)