Well of Deception Reviews
“For murder mystery fans, Well of Deception, the latest offering from Cynthia Leal Massey, is certain to please. Massey’s phenomenal research skills and vast knowledge of South Texas history are highlighted throughout this effort. Language, local customs, and law enforcement procedures of the mid-twentieth-century Texas Hill Country are accurately depicted as the drama involving family and murder plays out. Don’t miss this one!” ~ William O. Gibson, Chief of Police (ret.), San Antonio Texas Police Department
“Well of Deception is a fast-paced re-imagining of the 1958 homicide of a Texas turkey rancher. Cynthia Leal Massey deftly evokes a bleak, isolated landscape, where murder seems the natural outgrowth of limited expectations, personal obsessions, and generational family feuds. Her hill country denizens are familiar and realistically portrayed, with enough flaws and motivations for a multitude of suspects.” ~ Susan Cummins Miller, author of My Bonney Lies Under& the Frankie MacFarlane, Geologist, Mysteries
“Well of Deception weaves an intriguing tale of not who, but why a murder was committed. It also frames an interesting picture of the life and culture of a close-knit Texas community in the early 20th Century. Massey captures not only a time period, but also the reader with this many-faceted novel.” ~ Irene Sandell, award-winning author of Beloved Over All
“Prolific Texas author and historian Cynthia Leal Massey offers readers an absorbing, evocative treat with her latest novel, Well of Deception, inspired by the real-life murder of an independent-minded, entrepreneurial turkey breeder. The identity of Maggie Schneider’s killer, who has disappeared off the face of the earth, is never seriously in question, but why he did it and what happened to him afterwards are a tangled mystery that takes the local sheriff years to unravel. Massey’s novel is an absorbing, spot-on evocation of a time and place, and a vivid portrayal of a tough, troubled, extended family dealing with the harsh realities of farm life in Texas in the late 1950s – drought, loneliness, obsession, and shameful secrets.” ~ Donis Casey, author of the Alafair Tucker Mysteries
“As a voyeur within this reading journey, my thoughts stuck to Massey’s narrative strands as she expertly webbed together various characters’ families, psyches, and motives. In this fictional retelling of a true Texas crime, I wanted to scream out the murderer’s name several times before another twist baffled my conclusions and reignited my mind’s sleuthing. Well of Deception is captivating from the start!” ~ Jane Little Botkin, multiple award-winning author and past vice-president of Western Writers of America
"Well of Deception is a top-notch historical mystery; Massey’s novel transported me back to southwest Texas from the Roaring 20s, through the Dust Bowl 30s, and into the WWII 40s. The puzzle was not just who did it, what happened and when, but why? The why propelled me through one of the most engrossing and satisfying reads I’ve had in years.” ~ Marvin “Mark” Stepp, published author, former newspaper and magazine editor, and owner and editor-in-chief of Old American Publishing
“In Well of Deception, a brutal murder disturbs the quiet of a small farming community in 1950s South Texas, exposing the strained ties of two families bound by marriage and simmering resentments. Author Cynthia Leal Massey masterfully crafts a haunting tale of secrets, lies, and betrayal, where truth comes at a cost—and nothing stays buried forever.” ~ Ann Parker, multiple award-winning author of the Silver Rush mystery series
Historical Novel Society review
Author Teddy Jones review
Author Mary Trimble review
The Art of Helotes - 2024
Order The Art of Helotes Here
What Lies Beneath TEXAS: Pioneers Cemeteries And Graveyards
Death of a Texas Ranger: A True Story Of Murder And Vengeance On The Texas Frontier
Death of a Texas Ranger: A True Story Of Murder And Vengeance On The Texas Frontier
Death of a Texas Ranger: A True Story Of Murder And Vengeance On The Texas Frontier
Death of a Texas Ranger: A True Story Of Murder And Vengeance On The Texas Frontier
Death of a Texas Ranger: A True Story Of Murder And Vengeance On The Texas Frontier
Helotes: Where The Texas Hill Country Begins (A Comprehensive History)
Death of a Texas Ranger: A True Story Of Murder And Vengeance On The Texas Frontier
Helotes: Where The Texas Hill Country Begins (A Comprehensive History)
Fire Lilies
The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas
Helotes: Where The Texas Hill Country Begins (A Comprehensive History)
DEATH OF A TEXAS RANGER
In a small settlement near San Antonio, Texas Ranger Minute Men Troop V of Medina County suffered the loss of one of their own, not by the Indian renegades they were after, but by another Ranger in the troop. Death of a Texas Ranger is the thrilling, action-packed story of the murder of Texas Ranger John Green by Cesario Menchaca, one of three Rangers of Mexican descent under Green’s command. Immediately word spread that the killing may have been the botched outcome of a contract taken out on Menchaca’s life by the notorious Gabriel Marnoch, a local naturalist who had run up against the law himself. But was it?
Much more than just a story about a tragic frontier killing, it is the story of an era. The events leading up to the murder and Green’s son’s decades’ long quest for justice for his father’s killer exemplify the chaotic frontier society in Texas after the Civil War, a time fraught with political turmoil and cultural clashes. Amidst that chaos, the virgin landscape of Texas was a magnet to those interested in the natural sciences in the nineteenth century, an era often referred to as the Age of Darwin. The clash between the seemingly pastoral landscape with its offerings for science and the brutal history of the region ties this very readable regional history into the larger American story.
Winner of the 2015 Will Rogers Silver Medallion Award for Best Western Nonfiction
Winner of a 2015 San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award
