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. ( )

4/6/22

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 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. ( )

Asimov è decisamente meglio come scrittore di fantascienza,che come giallista. ( )

An intriguing whodunit set at the American Booksellers Association. ( )