HER CASE HAD BEEN CLOSED-BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.

On an unseasonably warm winter evening in Pennsylvania, 15-year-old Patty Desmond sneaked out through the basement of her house. She had a history of running away, and that, combined with an argument with her mother, gave police reason to suspect she'd come home in a week or two.

The year was 1965. That night was the last time her family ever saw her.

Conrad Eugene Miller was well-known to local law enforcement. An older married man with a child, Miller's association with Patty was questionable at best. Yet he was the last person known to have seen her alive-and the suspect police continued to circle back toward.

After nothing but false sightings and rumors, the case was moved to the backburner-where it stayed. As decades crept by, reality sunk in: Patty Desmond was never coming back. Then, a tiny crack unleashed a flood of information, and a mystery that had never quite been forgotten was solved.

HOW COULD SUCH A DARK SECRET

HAVE BEEN KEPT FOR SO MANY YEARS?

Police Chief Greg Adams was out on patrol. Christmas was coming to Saxonburg, Pennsylvania-a quaint borough of just 1,300-in three short weeks. The winter air was crisp. Colored lights sparkled on houses. He was only a block and a half from the Police Department, and this was just an average traffic stop.

Until it wasn't.

The devoted husband and father of two little boys was about to meet any law enforcement officer's nightmare. Moments later, he would lay dying in a pool of his own blood on that white winter snow, while his killer vanished like an apparition into thin air.

Despite his many aliases, the true identity of the murderer was quickly found. The killer himself, was not. As State Police and FBI investigators peeled back the twisted layers of low-level mobster Donald Webb's life, the path to the killer would wind through decades ... toward a shocking conclusion. After all, secrets can only be kept for so long.

Eleven women went missing over the spring and summer of 1988 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, an old fishing port known as the Whaling City, where Moby Dick, Frederick Douglass, textile mills, and heroin-dealing represent just a few of the many threads in the community's diverse fabric. In Shallow Graves, investigative reporter Maureen Boyle tells the story of a case that has haunted New England for thirty years. The Crimes: The skeletal remains of nine of the women, aged nineteen to thirty-six, were discovered near highways around New Bedford. Some had clearly been strangled, others were so badly decomposed that police were left to guess how they had died. The Victims: All the missing women had led troubled lives of drug addiction, prostitution, and domestic violence, including Nancy Paiva, whose sister was a hard-working employee of the City of New Bedford, and Debra Greenlaw DeMello, who came from a solidly middle-class family but fell into drugs and abusive relationships. In a bizarre twist, Paiva's clothes were found near DeMello's body. The Investigators: Massachusetts state troopers Maryann Dill and Jose Gonsalves were the two constants in a complex cast of city, county, and state cops and prosecutors. They knew the victims, the suspects, and the drug-and-crime-riddled streets of New Bedford. They were present at the beginning of the case and they stayed to the bitter end. The Suspects: Kenneth Ponte, a New Bedford attorney and deputy sheriff with an appetite for drugs and prostitutes, landed in the investigative crosshairs from the start. He was indicted by a grand jury in the murder of one of the victims, but those charges were later dropped. Anthony DeGrazia was a loner who appeared to fit the classic serial-killer profile: horrific childhood abuse, charming, charismatic, but prone to bursts of violence. He hunted prostitutes in the city by night and served at a Catholic church by day. Which of these two was the real killer? Or was it someone else entirely? Maureen Boyle first broke the story in 1988 and stayed with it for decades. In Shallow Graves she spins a riveting narrative about the crimes, the victims, the hunt for the killers, and the search for justice, all played out against the backdrop of an increasingly impoverished community beset by drugs and crime. Drawing on more than one hundred interviews, along with police reports, first-person accounts, and field reporting both during the killings and more recently, Shallow Graves brings the reader behind the scenes of the investigation, onto the streets of the city, and into the homes of the families still hoping for answers.

HOW COULD SUCH A DARK SECRET

HAVE BEEN KEPT FOR SO MANY YEARS?

Police Chief Greg Adams was out on patrol. Christmas was coming to Saxonburg, Pennsylvania-a quaint borough of just 1,300-in three short weeks. The winter air was crisp. Colored lights sparkled on houses. He was only a block and a half from the Police Department, and this was just an average traffic stop.

Until it wasn't.

The devoted husband and father of two little boys was about to meet any law enforcement officer's nightmare. Moments later, he would lay dying in a pool of his own blood on that white winter snow, while his killer vanished like an apparition into thin air.

Despite his many aliases, the true identity of the murderer was quickly found. The killer himself, was not. As State Police and FBI investigators peeled back the twisted layers of low-level mobster Donald Webb's life, the path to the killer would wind through decades ... toward a shocking conclusion. After all, secrets can only be kept for so long.

Boyle's luminous poems are int imate portraits of confined and unsung lives, furnishedwith a sensuous exactness. The outcast Hermione, mourning her lost children, is cheered by the blushing crimson tips appearing in her winter garden. Birds are significant reminders of life, color, and wry defiance in these self-assured poems of hard-won sustenance.

Boyle's luminous poems are intimate portraits of confined and unsung lives, furnished with a sensuous exactness. The outcast Hermione, mourning her lost children, is cheered by the blushing crimson tips appearing in her winter garden. Birds are significant reminders of life, color, and wry defiance in these self-assured poems of hard-won sustenance.

Supporting readers to perform effectively in urgent or emergency situations that can occur in a hospital, at a birth centre or at home, this fully updated fourth edition presents the necessary knowledge and skills for student and practising midwives.

With contributions from highly experienced midwives, this practical guidebook incorporates a new chapter on legal issues for safe practice, as well as additional content on professional issues. It also includes an essential new chapter on cardiac problems, recognising that midwives are often the lead professional caring for women with cardiac anomalies, as many are undiagnosed until the emergency. The book continues to provide key, up-to-date information on high-risk medical and obstetric situations, from serious infection to uterine complications to resuscitation.

Emergencies Around Childbirth is essential reading for practising and student midwives and those who teach them.

Supporting readers to perform effectively in urgent or emergency situations that can occur in a hospital, at a birth centre or at home, this fully updated fourth edition presents the necessary knowledge and skills for student and practising midwives.

With contributions from highly experienced midwives, this practical guidebook incorporates a new chapter on legal issues for safe practice, as well as additional content on professional issues. It also includes an essential new chapter on cardiac problems, recognising that midwives are often the lead professional caring for women with cardiac anomalies, as many are undiagnosed until the emergency. The book continues to provide key, up-to-date information on high-risk medical and obstetric situations, from serious infection to uterine complications to resuscitation.

Emergencies Around Childbirth is essential reading for practising and student midwives and those who teach them.

Over the last ten years, critical care units have been set up in many maternity units. This textbook is a comprehensive introduction to this emerging area of practice. It gives an overview of specific aspects of care which may be required by a woman undergoing a complicated pregnancy, or experiencing an illness or emergency which requires her to receive high dependency or critical care. Covering the context of care, relevant pathophysiology, signs and symptoms, specific assessment in detail, relevant drugs, assessment of the fetus, summaries of management, psychosocial support, and the specific professional responsibilities of the midwife, this is an essential guide for all midwives.

Over the last ten years, pregnancy has not only become more complicated for many women, but the traditional provision of general intensive care units has been reduced. To bridge this gap, critical care units, usually staffed by midwives, have been set up in many maternity units. This textbook is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to this emerging area of practice.

Critical Care Assessment by Midwives also notably sets out a template for assessment of women that will enable early identification of deteriorating health. Serious illness can arise subsequent to an emergency, a pre-existing illness or a complication of pregnancy but can also occur in the context of what appears to be a low risk pregnancy. For this reason, all midwives need to be skilled in assessment that facilitates timely, appropriate referrals and saves lives.

It covers:

• ABCDE assessment tailored for midwives;
• assessment of cardiac conditions;
• aassessment of respiratory conditions;
• assessment of neurological conditions;
• pre-eclampsia;
• haemorrhage;
• shock, including hypovolaemia, sepsis and anaphylaxis;
• haemodynamic monitoring;
• fluid replacement and balance;
• ketoacidosis, hypoglycaemia and sickle cell crisis.

Covering the context of care, relevant pathophysiology, signs and symptoms, specific assessment in detail, relevant drugs, assessment of the fetus, summaries of management, psychosocial support and the specific professional responsibilities of the midwife, this is an essential guide for all midwives and midwifery students.

Designed to enhance the confidence, knowledge and skills needed to perform effectively in urgent or emergency situations that can occur in a hospital, at a birth centre or at home, this fully updated third edition provides an accessible resource for all practising midwives.

With contributions from highly experienced midwives, this practical handbook incorporates an all-new chapter on serious infections and continues to provide key, up-to-date information on high-risk medical and obstetric situations. It also covers relevant information on litigation and the conclusions arising from the reports from the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths.

Emergencies Around Childbirth is essential reading for practising and trainee midwives, and those who teach them.