Book review: Murder at the ABA

Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific authors ever. Besides having much of his sci-fi I've got several of his kids books, his Guide to the Bible (really excellent), and his joke book. I almost picked up his Guide to Shakespeare the other day. I used one of his medical texts to disprove the idea that men have fewer ribs than women - as taught by my high school science teacher. See most medical texts don't even mention it because it's stupid.

Now I'm slowly fleshing out a murder mystery of my own. The subjects are isolated so I'm reading other mysteries that take place in a limited area. Books like "Murder on the Orient Express" and movies like "Clue". I'm not planning it as a comedy, but most everything I write is a farce on some level.

In collecting research material I found "Murder at the ABA" by Asimov. Asimov isn't known for his mysteries. Ok, there's those short stories with all those old guys in the lounge of their club but that doesn't count. This book helps show why he's not known for his mysteries. It's not bad. But it's not something you just can't make yourself put down.

The central character is so-so author Darius Just. Just is attending the ABA (American Booksellers Association) convention to help his publisher convince major bookstores to carry his stuff. Also there is much more successful author, former protégé of Just, and murder victim Giles Devore. Asimov and several other real world characters who you might see in a mid-70's ABA conference are also there.

We're given a list of people who Devore has pissed off in recent months and then Devore is found dead in his room. Just blames himself for Devore's death thinking that if he'd just remembered to pick up a package that Devore asked him to get then none of this would have happened. So over the next two days Just works on proving not only that Devore was murdered but who dunnit.

Just and Asimov bump into each other several times in the book. Just is trying to solve a murder and Asimov is contracted to work on a book called "Murder at the ABA". Eventually they end up working together on the book I'm talking about. In several areas they end up squabbling via footnotes. By including himself in the book Asimov gets to poke fun at himself.

But unless you're an Asimov junky there's no real reason to read this book. I may crack it open again to take a few notes but other than that it'll just get shoved in the Asimov wing of my library.