This is a book for a very specific audience, but for that audience it is pure gold. ( )

I'll admit that I'm not one for reading murder mysteries. The last mysteries I've read had characters like Encyclopedia Brown or Jack McGurk as the protagonist. So I'm not qualified to tell if this is a by-the-numbers homage to Agatha Christie (who gets mentioned several times in this book, so I'm inclined to believe if it is it's intentional). What I did find was a murder mystery set in a place that I am intimately familiar: a computer conference. Michael's attention to detail of the conference and the overwhelming confusion possibilities there made me forget at times that this was a mystery. I could sympathize and identify with Dale's plight as he struggles with the barrage of friendly banter and the overall confusion that permeates a conference. It seems an unlikely place to stage a murder mystery but it works and works well.

Unfortunately like most murder mysteries talking about the plot is akin to giving away the secrets within, but suffice to say I found the whole book enjoyable. I could tell that I was enjoying it when I got sucked into the "one more chapter" vortex about 80% of the way through. ( )