What Lies Beneath: Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards

I have long been fascinated by cemeteries and gravestones. Growing up in the South, I was expected to attend funerals and graveside services from an early age, and I always liked walking around cemeteries to see what interesting tidbits I might find on the grave markers. So when I had a chance to review What Lies Beneath, I jumped at it.
The book is divided into ten sections, based on the ten Texas Heritage Trails established by the Texas Historical Commission. That makes it easy to read in smaller chunks (if you can bear to put it down – I found it quite engrossing!), and if you're interested in traveling to see any of these places in person, the book's structure will make it easy to find and visit several in one area.

I lived in Texas for a time, and while I didn't grow up there, I appreciate its history and culture. Massey doesn't just give you a coffee table book full of pretty pictures. She really digs into the pioneer stories, the life and times of the folks whose grave markers she's writing about. I learned a lot of things I didn't know and was introduced to some fascinating characters. Some of the people whose burials she highlighted were lawmen. While many were good, honest men who strove to uphold the law, a couple turned out to be just about as bad as the criminals they were supposed to go after!

I've said before how much I enjoy books that both entertain and educate. What Lies Beneath does both admirably. It's not a dry historical read at all. Massey's prose brings the people she writes about to life, and I particularly enjoyed the sidebar facts. For instance, did you know that a “cemetery” is not the same thing as a “graveyard”? I'd never given it much thought. The terms have always been used interchangeably in my experience. But there is a difference. I also learned how women were identified on their tombstones if they died before or after their husbands. I had really never given that any thought at all.

We'd like to travel more, and I hope we can see at least some of the locations mentioned in the book. I'd love to go take pictures and share them on the Find A Grave site.

This is a great read for “the spooky month,” as my kids call October, and one I'd highly recommend for any student of history and anyone who, like me, feels the pull of the past coming from a graveyard.

Five stars as bright as the ones you'll see in an old country cemetery on a moonless night.