Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

"The February holiday, Timmie agreed, was not much cop."  - Dick Francis in Flying Finish.

(Neither Timmy nor Conker had had a scintillating holiday, by the sound of it.  Conker, was the much harassed small father of seven large hooligans, and he'd done nothing but cook and wash up while his malingered in bed with the flu.  Timmie had sinuses, catarrh.)

Seems to me like not much cop is a UK expression, but Dictionary.com includes the Collins (UK) dictionary, and it's no joy looking up cop there.  Could it be cockney rhyming slang?  Is this perhaps the same cop as to cop a plea, or to cop merchandise without paying for it, suggesting that vacations are no guarantee of a pleasant change from the usual routine? 

Anybody else observe this use of cop in their reading?