Well of Deception (Stoney Creek Publishing 2025), by the multi-award-winning author Cynthia Leal Massey, is a new take on the classic small town murder mystery. A bullet shot in broad daylight seemingly out of nowhere kills turkey-breeder Maggie Schneider, and the prime suspect is missing. Everyone thinks they know who shot Maggie, but they can’t prove it for certain. This fact is what sets Well of Deception apart from other mysteries: we know the killer, but we don’t know the motive.
Taking place in 1950s south-central Texas, this historical fiction novel is inspired by a real murder in the area. Massey explains in her author’s note that her inspiration came from a serendipitous conversation at her local bar. The bartender told her the story behind a rifle hung on the wall as decoration. She was so interested in the story that she dove head-first into it, and readers will be glad that she did.
I recommend this novel to those that enjoy historical fiction, murder mysteries, and novels centering family connections.
As stated above, unlike typical murder mysteries, everyone knows who the killer is in Massey’s novel. They just don’t know why. Massey captures the frustration of being sure that someone is guilty but having to wait for consequences because law enforcement doesn’t have enough evidence to say for sure. The story is told through this “he-said-she-said” speculation mixed with police investigation surrounding two families—the Schnieders and the Beckers.
As with any family that has had their history ingrained in the same place for over a century, the Schneider and Becker families have plenty of secrets and opinions about each other. This slow drip of information from different people and flashbacks throughout the story is the novel’s real strength. In exploring how familial bonds can result in both intense loyalty and tension at the same time, Massey weaves a narrative grounded in a reality that many of us can relate to. What lengths will a family go to in order to protect those they love most—or even those they’ve lost?
The character’s voices in the story add to their realism. Massey writes southern dialect seamlessly into the dialogue, further strengthening the location of the story. Her characters feel like real people, though the story is only loosely based on the real events that occurred. Their anger and sadness read true. The connections between the characters feel just as real. I could feel the sibling love and protective nature among the main family in their words and decisions, not to mention the difficulty that those relationships can provide.
Massey also showcases the very specific connections among women in a time when men had far more rights, legally and socially. She showcases the conversations that only close women could have away from their husbands and the strength these women had to have to endure love and loss in this climate. She also represents both the outspoken women who challenged the men in their lives and their place in the world, as well as the women who found control in keeping the peace in their home and were very skilled at it.
Her descriptions are just as lifelike as the characters. I felt grounded in every scene she described without feeling that the details slowed the progression of the novel. Instead, she uses those descriptions to move the story forward, making every piece important—a must for a mystery that the readers are trying to solve along with the characters. Additionally, these details tell a great deal about the characters without her saying these traits directly, showing the care she took in crafting this story.
Overall, Well of Deception is a unique take on the mystery genre mixed with the lens of historical fiction. From her descriptions to her dialogue, Massey’s writing makes the novel feel as real as the story it’s inspired by. Family expectations and loyalty give the novel its tension and suspense. These interpersonal connections between the characters are at the core of the narrative, creating a complex web around the question looming over the pages. Again, this is not a question of who, but a question of why: Why would someone kill Maggie Schneider?
Cynthia Leal Massey
Cynthia Leal Massey is an award-winning author of historical fiction and nonfiction, focusing on Texas and Mexico. She was born and raised in San Antonio, and has resided in Helotes, Texas, since 1994. A former corporate editor, college English instructor, freelance journalist, and magazine editor, she has published hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles and stories, and several books. Her first novel, Fire Lilies, a saga of the Mexican Revolution, was the winner of the Independent E-book Award for Best Romance, and its sequel, The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas, was a WILLA Literary Award Finalist for Best Original Softcover Fiction. Her book, Death of a Texas Ranger, A True Story of Murder and Vengeance on the Texas Frontier, won the 2015 Will Rogers Silver Medallion Award for Best Western Nonfiction and a 2015 San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award. Her book, What Lies Beneath, Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards has won the 2023 San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award.
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