[ADwD Spoilers] Who wrote the letter?

[Shawn Hargreaves]

Is the letter true? (Stannis is dead, Mance captured...)

Or is Ramsey lying? (still must have captured Mance or at least one spearwife in order to know his identity, but could be making up the rest)

Or a third option...

What if this letter is from someone else entirely?

1. Mance?
   
2. Lord Manderly?
   
3. Stannis?
   
4. The banker?
   
5. Whoever was hiding in the crypt?
   

Could it have been a ploy to get Jon down to Winterfell?

[RAAM]

that would suck

mance"now all i have to do is get snow down here to throw him a surprise party, hes going to be so happy"

3 days later

manderly"mance, weve just learned that jon died because he was planning to come down here"

mance*shrugs*"at least we get to eat the cake"

manderly"yeah,about that, i kinda ate the whole cake for fifth dinner"

mance"what?!noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!"

[j52y]

I definitely think the author of the letter was Ramsay. Only he would care so much about Reek.

[Ser Wun Wun]

I read someone's post who believed it was just a gambit by Ramsay to get Jon to give him hostages because his battle with Stannis wasn't going so well. I liked that theory. The only problem with it is why Ramsay would think Jon could get the hostages to him if Stannis's forces are still outside Winterfell. Nonetheless it is the most probable theory I've heard.

[The Dodger]

Yes I think it is pretty clear that Ramsay wrote it, probably messing with Jon's mind cos Stannis has them penned up in Winterfell. Without Theon and 'Arya' Ramsay is just probably bored. And having caught Mance, (or the women) he knows that Jon was messing with him first.

[mormont]

There's already a thread on this, so I'm afraid I'm going to close this. :)