Shallow Graves

The Hunt for the New Bedford Highway Serial Killer

By: Maureen Boyle

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

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 30 years.

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 100 interviews, along with police reports, first-person accounts, and field reporting both during the killings and more recently, Shallow Graves brings the listener behind the scenes of the investigation, onto the streets of the city, and into the homes of the families still hoping for answers.

Contains mature themes.

©2017 Maureen Boyle (P)2018 Tantor

Death on the Highway

The New Bedford Highway Serial Killer ran rampant for several years. The police had plenty of suspects, but no clear evidence pointing to any one person.

The search for justice continues, while the police do everything in their power to identify each body, and bring closure to the families.

This was a good read. I enjoyed it!

Good true crime listen

A fascinating case that I knew nothing about before listening. Story moved along nicely but did seem to wander toward the end.

excellent

loved it excellent narrtor. keep on doing great adioublebook. true crime.thank you so much excellent.

Wrong Narrator

The narrator was not familiar with the area. She misses pronouncing the characters' names, towns, and even streets.

Narrator cannot pronounce Names!

Struggled to tolerate the narrator... she should have prepped with the writer. Gonsalves and Andrade, make the final vowel silent??? Ugh!

Compelling and sad

This is an amazing piece telling of a set of homicides that took place during my childhood. It’s incredibly sad that it continues to be unsolved, and that it may never be solved.

Good story. Kept my attention

The only complaint I have is that the reader didn’t pronounce people’s names correctly. The world has plenty of people named Gonzalves.
It was difficult listening to how many times the word “prostitute” was used, rather than sex worker. It’s understandable since it was first released around the time “sex worker” replaced the term “prostitute”.
All in all, it was a good story that kept my attention

Who Was the Hyway Killer?

This book was good to listen to. I like the murders to be solved (my preference), this was not. Still, I liked it.

Really good listen.

I met Kenny Ponte a few times in 2002 when I was in my early 20's. He would hang around an auto repair shop my father and I rented lot space on to sell used cars. First time I met him he was dumping his trash in the lot dumpster. I didn't realize the property owner allowed him to before I confronted him. He completely freaked out on me yelling that he knew the owner and it was ok. He was a real asshole. He came in to my office a few times after that to talk to me kind of apologetic. He had really bad body oder and he used to leave cat food around the property. He came off kind of arrogant. We discussed history (I was majoring in history at the time) and he kept trying to educate me on topics I knew pretty well. Shortly after the guys told me he had killed some women. I took that as just some gossip, after all why wasn't he in prison? It wasn't until years later I put the pieces together when I became interested in serial killer topics. It blew my mind realizing I actually met the primary suspect in a serial killing investigation.

Great book. The narrator was painful

I am local to the Southcoast area and followed these events when they were happening and know a few of the people mentioned in this book. The coverage in this book is thorough. A great read.
It would have been easier to listen to if the narrator was local to the area. It was painful to listen to the mispronunciation of towns and the characters