The Iris Deception by Bernard Schopen (review)

B o o k R e v ie w s Francisco’s ordinary folk; and once young Kevin himself appears, a boy walking across a northern California bridge. Meanwhile the clouds contin­ ue to gather, and we await Starr’s description of the wartime changes to the economy, population, and landscape of California; those changes will sweep away this moment of consummation. The Iris Deception. By Bernard Schopen. Western Literature Series. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1996. 285 pages, $15.00. Reviewed by Leslie H . Edgerton University of California, Los Angeles, Extension Writer’s Program Schopen earns high marks in his latest Jack Ross mystery. He touches on many of the usual western themes in the subtext— pollution, loss of the independent spirit, the encroachment of civilization into a heretofore unspoiled and almost-Edenic landscape— but he does so without being heavy-handed or preachy. The novel begins slowly, but stay with it! It’s worth getting through the first few pages. A t first, P. I. Ross is disinclined to reopen a case abandoned eighteen years ago, but he ends up succumbing to violet-eyed Patsy M cLeod’s plea to search once more for her missing daughter, Heather. There’s a personal reason behind his reluctance to search for the girl who is now in early mid­ dle age . . . if she is even still alive. The Iris Deception is much more than a detective novel. It is as much an exploration of Ross’s character as it is the solving of a complex mystery. He carries around with him the kind of baggage that makes him a differ­ ent sort of detective than one usually encounters in this genre, and the story of how he confronts his personal demons is as well developed as the plot itself, which is masterful. Surprises abound, not only in the piecing together of the puzzle of Heather’s disappearance but also in how the sleuth deals with obstacles to his own personal fulfillment and how he comes to grips, emotionally, with fellow investigator Martha Reedy, who competes for the same prize. What I liked about this book in particular was that every time I thought I had a particular step of the mystery figured out, Schopen came up with a twist that took the narrative in an entirely different direction. And, amaz­ ingly, the turns didn’t seem as contrived. In retrospect, the story’s surprises came across as the only possible way it could have turned out. This is the stuff of good writing, good fiction. W A L 3 3 (1 ) SPRING 1 9 9 8 A densely written book, multilayered and faceted, The Iris Deception is one of the best reads I’ve had in this last year. It transcends the genre and earns the title of good literary fiction. As a bonus, you get a darned good mystery. The Wichita Poems. By Robert Headley and Rafael Zepeda. Long Beach, California: Pearl Editions, 1997. 42 pages, $6.00. Reviewed by Tom Lynch New Mexico State University the bob and ray show begins precisely at 8:30 a.m. on the first day of the western literature conference in wichita, kansas So begins this collection of vignettes of the 1993 W LA conference. All poems are jointly composed by Robert Headley (“bob” ), English pro­ fessor at Southern State Community College in Ohio, and Rafael Zepeda (“ray”), an English professor at California State University, Long Beach. The reference to the Bob and Ray comedy duo suggests something of the book’s serio-comic mockery scattered profusely at themselves and others. Bob and Ray are miffed but undaunted that only two people— “nice, unsuspecting ladies”— show up for their early morning session on Charles Bowden, but they depart cheerfully for more serious endeavors: a 10 A .M . beer and a nap. Indeed Bob and Ray seem to spend most of their time at the conference drinking good beer (Sam Adams) and looking for good, greasy eats. Academic conferences, it would seem, serve mainly as a place to meet old drinking pals. But for Bob and Ray this conference is unsatis­ factory, and the book is tinged with nostalgia because most of their...