Count Your Enemies

In the field of public relations, few accept the concept of too much success. But Bert Swain, intrepid PR man for the Krinsky Research Center who appears here in his third adventure (after No Good Deed, 1995), finds himself a victim of his own sleuthing skills, having twice solved murders at Westside General Hospital (like Krinsky, a part of Westside Medical Center). Here, one of Westside's directors applies a little strong-arm pressure to recruit Swain to work, undercover and uncomfortably, for his sister. Anne DeVilliers, the strong-willed, oft-married head of Gaia World Institute, an ecological think tank and research haven in northern New Jersey, has been unnerved by death threats. Swain, troubled by the approach of his 50th birthday, faces his investigative assignment with almost equal trepidation. Suspects include jealous staffers; opponents of the institute's involvement in such issues as abortion rights, logging regulations and clean-air measures; and locals who fear and resent the institute. Swain's supporting cast includes his teenage daughter, Paula, who comes to visit from Toronto, where she lives with her mother and does some sleuthing of her own. When threats turn to violence, Swain taps both PR and detecting skills to trap a most unlikely killer. Nathan gives his hero a diffident approach to detecting that diminishes suspense; Swain himself, however, remains literate, likable company. (Mar.) FYI: Nathan writes PW's Rights column.