Well of Deception

By Cynthia Leal Massey

2026 Spur Award-Winning Finalist for Best Western Contemporary Novel

Everyone knows who killed Maggie Schneider. But why?

On the morning of March 14, 1958, breeder Maggie Schneider, the Poultry Queen of Lipan County, is shot and killed while feeding her prize-winning, White Holland turkeys on her farm in south central Texas. Everyone knows who did it, but finding the killer isn't so easy. The search uncovers a troubled family history of insanity, accidental deaths, and suicides. Was Maggie Schneider's murder the result of a tainted bloodline, a family feud gone too far, or something more sinister?
Inspired by true events, novelist Cynthia Leal Massey weaves an intricate tale that spans the decades from the Great Depression to the crippling drought of the fifties. This is not a whodunnit. The mystery here is more profound: Why did he do it?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1965766269
• ISBN13: 9781965766262
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Stoney Creek Publishing Group
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.5"