Cop Out (Jill Smith Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: Susan Dunlap keeps getting better and better.
Review: Berkley Police Detective Jill Smith prefers to work with the outcasts of society. That is why she is just about the only cop who gets along with Herman Ott, a private eye for the counterculture. This time Jill must help Herman when a corpse of a prominent person is found in the man's office and he has seemingly disappeared. ......The police believes that Ott is guilty, especially when he fails to show up in a reasonable amount of time. Jill is not so sure that her friend is the culprit. She begins to investigate the case only to learn that the case is much more complex than a simple killing. It seems that fraud is the underpinning behind the murder and no one is what they appear to be at first, including the justice loving Ott. With her superiors irate with her not by the book investigation and her romance causing additional problems, Jill still digs deeper into the case, only she seems to be digging herself into a deeper hole. If Jill does not solve the case soon, she probably will be yanked off the investigation. ......COP OUT is the fabulous Jill Smith at the top of her game in the tenth entry in this charming and very eccentrically brilliant series. Berkley has never seemed livelier with its rebels. riffraff, bums, and yes middle class police officers. Readers will not tire of reading about Susan Dunlap's heroine, a woman strong enough in her self-worth to get the job done despite the cost. .......Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Good addition to the genre
Review: If this book is indicative of the whole Jill Smith series, then it is a good addition to the genre. The protagonist is an uncompromising police officer in a world where compromise is survival. While the plotting in this book is not compelling, and Jill's dedication to getting to the bottom of the problem is not readily understandable, I would nevertheless recommend this. It has certainly made me want to hunt out and read the rest of the Jill Smith series, and other books written by the same author.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable for Berkeley ambience and characters
Review: Narrative drive is strained when policewoman heroine persists in the case - her altruistic devotion to the repulsive Ott is confusing, as is the response of her department to her. But creative handling of secondary characters and the setting make this a diverting read.