Pursued by the Crooked Man

Maximiliana Bartha (Max to her lovers, Mom to her kids, Miliana to her friends) believes that it is in the cards for her to die a violent death. And she assumes that most probably her husband, Dominic Racatelli, from whom she fled six years ago - taking a lot of his money along - will be the one to deal it to her.She is lying low but living high in Marin County, where she moved to be near her friend Soo Yung Fong, a former virtuoso violinist now fallen on hard times. Here she has two lovers: Tom Flynn, a San Francisco fireman, and Joel Jarnding, a builder.Although she has no driver's license, no social security or credit cards through which she could be found, Dominic has his ways of tracking her down.Strange happenings begin to disturb the gay surface of Miliana's life. Someone turns up the temperature in her hot tub to a dangerous level while she is out walking the mountain trails, and then her house is set afire. Unbeknownst to her, Dominic is closing in - but he is not the only villain of the piece.In this wonderful tragicomical work, Susan Trott has given us another of her marvelous heroines and a tale rich with the suspense and laughter of life.