PROTOCOL FOR MURDER

At the outset of this debut mystery, Bert Swain, once a New York City reporter with a belief in the difference between good journalism and schlock, is in Florida writing stories about poltergeists for a supermarket rag. Nathan (who writes the ``Rights'' column for Publishers Weekly) sends Bert back to Gotham, where an old friend has wangled him a job as publicity director for a medical research facility, and where strange doings trigger his reporting instincts and set him to sleuthing. (Mystery Guild selection)