Murder at the ABA

Murder at the ABA (1976) is a mystery novel by Isaac Asimov, following the adventures of a writer and amateur detective named Darius Just (whom Asimov modeled on his friend Harlan Ellison). While attending a convention of the American Booksellers Association, Just discovers the dead body of a friend and protégé. Convinced that the death was due to murder, but unable to convince law enforcement, Just decides to investigate on his own.

Contents

1 Origins 2 Characters 2.1 Fictional 2.2 Cameos of real individuals 3 References and links

Origins

Asimov recounts the unusual history behind Murder at the ABA in his second autobiographical volume, In Joy Still Felt (1980). According to Asimov, a book named Murder at Frankfurt had been written, placing a fictional mystery story at the Frankfurt Book Fair. His Doubleday editor, Larry Ashmead, proposed that Asimov write a similar book about the American Booksellers Convention.

Asimov attended the ABA convention in New York City and absorbed enough "local color" to invent the setting, characters and "gimmick" of his mystery story. Ashmead then informed him that they needed the book in time for the next year's convention—which meant that Asimov had only two months in which to write it. Consequently, the novel is full of odd constructions, such as footnotes where the narrator and a character debate the narrator's storytelling style, which Asimov included knowing full well that critics would likely pan them. He needed the fun, he observed later, to keep himself working.

Characters

Almost all of the speaking parts in Murder at the ABA belong to fictitious persons. As part of the novel's ambiance, Asimov included several of the individuals who in fact attended the New York convention. Only one of them, Walter Sullivan of the New York Times, has any spoken dialogue. Sullivan only speaks when he is introduced to Darius Just; he says "Oh, yes" in such a convincing manner that Just is almost fooled into believing Sullivan has heard of him.

Fictional

• Darius Just - narrator, a writer modeled on Harlan Ellison
• Giles Devore - Just's protégé, author of Crossover and Evergone
• Sarah Voskovek - public relations manager at the hotel where the convention occurs
• Thomas and Theresa Valier - executives of Prism Press, Just and Devore's publisher
• Roseann Bronstein - bookseller
• Eunice Devore - lawyer, Giles Devore's wife
• Henrietta Corvass - interview secretary for the ABA
• Anthony Marsogliani - Chief of Hotel Security
• Michael P. Strong - Hotel Security employee
• Shirley Jennifer - writer of romance novels and close friend of Darius Just
• Nellie Griswold - employee of Hercules Press

Cameos of real individuals

• Isaac Asimov - eccentric and prolific writer who attends the convention gathering "local color" for a mystery
• Charles Berlitz - mystic, participant on a panel
• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - actor
• Uri Geller - purported telekinetic, participant on a panel
• Anita Loos - actress
• Joe Namath's mother
• Cathleen Nesbit - actress
• Carl Sagan - astronomer, participant on a panel
• Walter Sullivan - moderator of a panel discussion

References and links

• Asimov, Isaac. Murder at the ABA (Doubleday: 1976). ISBN 0-38511-305-6.
• Jenkins, John. Spoiler-Laden Guide, book 172.
• Review at Asimovians.com.