DEATH OF THE OFFICE WITCH

 Literary agent Charlie Greene (Murder at Moot Point) arrives at her Beverly Hills office just in time to find receptionist Gloria Tuschman missing and to hear her disembodied voice whispering, ``Charlie, I'm in the trash can. Help me.'' Though Gloria's body is actually discovered in the bushes outside the office building, Charlie wonders whether she can use her newfound psychic powers, honed by a sÇance held by Gloria's real-life witches' coven, to figure out which of Gloria's blackmail victims in the office would kill to safeguard a guilty secret (exposure to AIDS, a prison record, a secret wife)--and what Gloria's death has to do with the disappearance of prickly novelist Mary Ann Leffler. Notable for its large, attractive cast, its shameless use of coincidence--you'll need to be psychic to tell which leads mean anything--and the breathtaking gaps that the final explanation never plugs. Puzzle addicts should leave this one alone.