Murder at the ABA

Author Darius Just is annoyed by the ingratitude of his former protege, up-and-coming author Giles Devore, but that doesn’t mean he wants to see him dead. When Just finds Devore’s body in his hotel room after failing to follow through on a favor he’d agreed to perform, he is determined to atone for his lapse by solving Devore’s murder. The trouble is, Just is the only person who believes Devore’s death was murder and not an accident. Just doggedly retraces Devore’s final hours in order to identify a motive and a murderer. He is assisted along the way by fellow author Isaac Asimov, who is under contract to write a book called Murder at the ABA and who just might be able to use Devore’s death as the plot for his novel.

This show more is a light mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously, although it’s not a cozy mystery. It’s set during four days of the 1975 ABA Convention, which was also Memorial Day weekend. It’s a book of a different era, with a different sexual ethic. Just (and by extension, Asimov) spends a lot of time thinking about sex and he flirts with just about every female who crosses his path. I’m glad I tried one of Asimov’s mysteries, but if this is characteristic of his style, I doubt I’ll try another one. The mystery plot wasn’t good enough to outweigh the elements that I found distasteful. show less

I don't know where I found this shabby paperback, but it could not have been better-timed; I was right in the middle of my metafiction craze and just stumbling into online media fandom, and so reading a story set in a convention in which the author appears as a character (a comic one, no less) -- there are no words for how much I enjoyed this.

Which is not to say it's one of Asimov's best. It's -- well, you know how Austen worried that Pride & Prejudice was "too light & bright & sparkling"? Yeah. This is froth. Pure froth. And it is awesomesauce froth.

One of these days, I would actually love to see a serious analysis of this piece, focusing on the metafictional aspects; Asimov-as-character versus Asimov-as-author, the inherent tension of show more the author writing himself as comic relief, and so on and so forth.

For me, the ostensible plot, the murder (which, if I recall correctly, has kink-harshing elements) is so not the point. I don't even remember who dunnit. show less

A murder mystery set at the American Bookseller's Association conference of 1975, and told from the point of view of a small, insecure, misanthropic author. It is clever and entertaining, as you'd expect from an Asimov mystery, and it's fascinating to see even an outdated look inside the publishing industry; but the book gets an added fillip of the surreal from the inclusion of Isaac Asimov as comic relief, and he and his protagonist taking potshots at each other in the footnotes.

Quote: "And [Asimov]'ll sign anything, hardbacks, softbacks, other people's books, scraps of paper. Inevitably someone handed him a blank check on the occasion when I was there, and he signed that without as much as a waver to his smile — except that he show more signed: 'Harlan Ellison.'" show less

This book is also published as "Murder at the ABA". This was a decent murder mystery by Asimov. What made it more interesting was his use of his friends and himself for the story. He only makes a cameo appearance and has fun describing himself from the point of view of others. The main character and is obviously based on his SF writer friend Harlan Ellison.
In his special notes he declares his characters are not based on real people but anyone whom has read his autobiography or read any of Harlan Ellison's autobiographical stories will doubt this.
Part of the fun is the footnotes by himself and his main character. He seems to have enjoyed himself writing this book.

La trama è ben costruita anche se non eccezionale. Quello che mi ha piacevolmente colpito è l'ironia di Asimov nel descrivere se stesso, gli altri e l'ambiente degli autori/editori. La lettura scorre piacevole mentre realtà e finzione si intrecciano lasciando un sorriso sulle labbra.

This book serves only one good purpose: it's a winking nod to the Asimov fan. The author includes himself in the story, uses footnotes to hold a humorous debate with the protagonist, and offers a very simple puzzle of a mystery. If you love Asimov and wish you could have hung out with him at a bookseller's convention, you'll want this. If you want a mystery with depth, look elsewhere.

The book opens with the writer, Darius Just, telling us about his part in the opening day of the 1975 meeting of the ABA and how the events of that day led to a violent death. Darius meets up with his publisher, various booksellers, and a number of other writers among whom is Isaac Asimov. Isaac tells Darius that his publisher asked him to attend to get background color for a book to be called Murder at the ABA.

I had read this story years ago but I had forgotten most of it. However, Asimov as a character in the book I had remembered. He does poke fun at himself as well as at Darius who is supposed to be based on Harlan Ellison. The footnotes just added to the fun. A quick read with a reasonable mystery that Darius feels obligated to solve.