Counterpoint

September 1, 1996
In the summer of 1991, 37-year-old Martha Brailsford befriended a neighbor, Tom Maimoni, who told her his wife had recently died of cancer. Subsequently, Brailsford disappeared and her body--tied to an anchor--was found off the coast of Salem, Massachusetts. Maimoni, who was actually married to his fourth wife, had a history of approaching women with the "dead wife" gambit. He claimed that he panicked after Brailsford died by accident aboard his boat, Counterpoint, but he was convicted of second-degree murder. Press, a local resident and author of two mystery novels set in Salem, keenly illuminates the people and places surrounding the tragedy of a woman whose compassion led to her downfall. Of special regional interest and also recommended for larger true-crime collections.--Gregor A. Preston, formerly with Univ. of California Lib., Davis