Cop Out

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