Murder at the ABA

Murder at the ABA 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. The book is an example of metafiction, as Asimov himself appears as a character doing research for a murder mystery set at a booksellers' convention. Asimov... recounts the unusual history behind Murder at the ABA in his second autobiographical volume, In Joy Still Felt . 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. Murder at the ABA was published as Authorised Murder in the UK. 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.
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