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Jill Smith #10
Cop Out
In a city of rule breakers, she's the law. But in a hunt for a killer, she's breaking all the rules....
In Berkeley, people don't just disagree, they make careers out of it. And in a city where anything goes, where burned-out sixties hippies haunt the shadows along Telegraph Avenue, no one can outrun the past. Now police detective Jill Smith is plunged into a case that's pure a tangled tale of sins and retribution that has led to one man's disappearance, and another man's murder.
The missing man is Jill's friend, countercultural private eye Herman Ott, who always wears yellow and always offends. The murder victim was a flamboyant mediator of civic disputes, found shot to death in Ott's office. Now, fearing for Ott's safety, and defying the wishes of her own male-dominated department, Jill is about to wade into the wild, woolly world of Berkeley's most contentious citizens. For somewhere among the passionate, the poseurs, and the pranksters lurks a killer--and one very good reason why Herman Ott is running for his life....
In Berkeley, people don't just disagree, they make careers out of it. And in a city where anything goes, where burned-out sixties hippies haunt the shadows along Telegraph Avenue, no one can outrun the past. Now police detective Jill Smith is plunged into a case that's pure a tangled tale of sins and retribution that has led to one man's disappearance, and another man's murder.
The missing man is Jill's friend, countercultural private eye Herman Ott, who always wears yellow and always offends. The murder victim was a flamboyant mediator of civic disputes, found shot to death in Ott's office. Now, fearing for Ott's safety, and defying the wishes of her own male-dominated department, Jill is about to wade into the wild, woolly world of Berkeley's most contentious citizens. For somewhere among the passionate, the poseurs, and the pranksters lurks a killer--and one very good reason why Herman Ott is running for his life....
- GenresMystery
343 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 7, 1997
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Susan Dunlap
98 books46 followersSusan Dunlap is best known for her Jill Smith detective series, but she is a prolific and much loved writer of crime and mystery fiction, including award-winning short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 14, 2017
Terrible ending to the series. After seeing Smith begin to come to terms with things on her life, enter a relationship, etc., this book seemed to perfectly match its title - a cop out. Not just for the character, but for the author. The ambiguous ending - will Smith stay on the force or won't she? will she and Howard work it out or won't they? - felt like a writer who was bored with her characters and just wanted to be done.
November 1, 2020
I have been jumping around in this series and Jill is no longer a Homicide Detective, but does get one final murder investigation thanks to PI Herman Ott.
It is Halloween and as usual Jill is handling a lot of police inquiries, but when Herman Ott goes missing and there is a dead guy in his office, Jill worms her way into the investigation. Apparently everybody has keys to his office so she must determine what ties Herman Ott to Bryant Hemming.
This leads to interviews with the staff and board of directors of ACC (Arts and Creativity Council) where Hemming led an investment group in addition to his mediation business, and to other Berkeley citizens, such as his ex wife Daisey.
We learn a bit about the tattoo industry here, as well as the process of mediation and just how devoted the Telegraph Avenue denizens are protective of their local PI.
Jill also uncovers Herman's family background and the reasons he is such a defender of the underdog. For that reason alone one should read this last in the series.
I own a copy.
It is Halloween and as usual Jill is handling a lot of police inquiries, but when Herman Ott goes missing and there is a dead guy in his office, Jill worms her way into the investigation. Apparently everybody has keys to his office so she must determine what ties Herman Ott to Bryant Hemming.
This leads to interviews with the staff and board of directors of ACC (Arts and Creativity Council) where Hemming led an investment group in addition to his mediation business, and to other Berkeley citizens, such as his ex wife Daisey.
We learn a bit about the tattoo industry here, as well as the process of mediation and just how devoted the Telegraph Avenue denizens are protective of their local PI.
Jill also uncovers Herman's family background and the reasons he is such a defender of the underdog. For that reason alone one should read this last in the series.
I own a copy.
August 16, 2018
Great series and a wonderful ride through Berkeley!
August 19, 2022
The book really was too long.
August 28, 2022
A fairly good mystery.
January 24, 2015
I read several of Susan’s novels when I was doing homework for one of my own books set in Berkeley, CA. I did it for the memory jog and the creative inspiration. None of her books disappointed on this score. She’s quite good at bringing the counterculture types of Berkeley to the fore and portraying this colorful part of the world, making the town of Berkeley itself very much a character of her stories, one might even say the lead character. Which is just what I wanted. Having spent more than fifteen years in Berkeley myself, I can attest to the fact that any story set in Berkeley would almost have to make the town one of the major players.
Add to the rich tapestry of the storytelling the fact that our heroine is on the outs with her own Berkeley police force owing to her lack of respect for authority (as with any true card carrying Berkeley-ite, save perhaps for the cops themselves) and it makes the investigation that much more fun and harrowing at the same time. The complications of political intrigue and subterfuge, competing agendas, and all the stuff of our current modern world makes this as timeless a tale as it is a snapshot of Berkeley in the 1990s. If there ever was a place frozen in time, moreover, it’s Berkeley. I was there in the 70s and 80s and the flavor was much the same.
Add to the rich tapestry of the storytelling the fact that our heroine is on the outs with her own Berkeley police force owing to her lack of respect for authority (as with any true card carrying Berkeley-ite, save perhaps for the cops themselves) and it makes the investigation that much more fun and harrowing at the same time. The complications of political intrigue and subterfuge, competing agendas, and all the stuff of our current modern world makes this as timeless a tale as it is a snapshot of Berkeley in the 1990s. If there ever was a place frozen in time, moreover, it’s Berkeley. I was there in the 70s and 80s and the flavor was much the same.
February 9, 2012
Berkeley police officer Jill Smith finds herself at a loss when a tipster summons her, then refuses to talk and disappears, leaving behind a murder victim. Will Smith find her source before more bodies turn up, and before her lover and/or her boss decide they've had enough of her refusal to be a team player?
Cop Out was reasonably entertaining, although I found it overly baroque and not really credible. Anyone who doesn't live in or near Berkeley might find it quite confusing.
Cop Out was reasonably entertaining, although I found it overly baroque and not really credible. Anyone who doesn't live in or near Berkeley might find it quite confusing.
May 8, 2012
Read while staying at Victoria House, San Pedro, Belize on our 40th wedding anniversary.
March 4, 2015
Cop Out is an apt title as this, the last in the series, is just that. Smith, as usual, 'cop's out' when it comes to her life. The series ends with a wimper.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews