Hi, I’m Cleo Cooper, a cross cultural psychology professor. I live and work in Hilo, Hawaii. My life is so good right now, it’s an embarrassment of riches. Don’t believe me? Well, let me tell you what a typical day is like. I wake up snuggling with my live-in boyfriend, Ben, and my dog stretched out, taking up all the floor space on my side of the bed. I listen. No pitter-patter of rain drops on our tin roof. Yay! Today is a paddle day. Outrigger canoe paddling is always amazing, but even better when it isn’t raining.

I disentangle myself from Ben and maneuver around my sweet dog without stepping on her. She lifts her head to watch me, but then lays it back down as I go to the kitchen. Coffee, I take it seriously. It is one of the seven wonders of the world as far as I’m concerned. And here on the Big Island, we have some of the best coffee beans on the planet. After my first coffee in my favorite mug and a handful of macadamia nuts, I drive five minutes down the hill to Hilo Bay where my crew waits for me. If it is winter, we look for whales while we paddle. If it’s summer we greet the sea turtles as we pass them.

After paddling for an hour, we head back to shore to shower and change for work. Picking up another coffee on the way to the University. And I love my job. Teaching psychology is so much fun. My students love the topics I cover and we get great class discussions. Well, most of the time. And okay it isn’t always fun, like grading papers. I gotta admit I don’t enjoy that. But… thanks to my boyfriend Ben, who is a marine scientist, he lets me hang out on the University research vessel. When he will take it out for his lab today, he said I could tag along and grade papers while we float on the ocean and his students collect samples. Am I lucky or what?

I’ve got the perfect life and I plan to keep it that way. Yes siree, I will appreciate what I have and keep it on track.

What could go wrong?

Cue foreboding soundtrack…

Just about everything!


Evil Alice and the Borzoi, A Cleo Cooper Mystery Book #1
Genre: Traditional
Release: March 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Paradise is shaken when the body of a young woman is dragged onto a university research vessel during a class outing in Hilo Bay. Cleo Cooper is shaken when she finds her favorite student is on the hook for the murder. Danger lurks on land and sea as Cleo and her friends are enticed to search for the true killer. In between paddling, swimming, and arguing with her boyfriend, Cleo discovers all is not what it seems on the Big Island of Hawaii. But will she figure out the truth before she becomes the next victim?


Meet the author
DK Coutant graduated from Davidson College with a Psychology degree, and applied her behavioral training at Sea World, training dolphins and whales. Realizing that scrubbing fish buckets might get old, she went back to school and earned a Ph.D. in Psychology. Her academic career began at the University of Southern Maine before DK made the jump to the University of Hawaii at Hilo rising to Department Chair of the Psychology Department. After many happy years in Hawaii, DK made the move out of academics to become a professional geopolitical forecaster for GJP, Inc (goodjudgment.com) and INFER (infer-pub.com). Evil Alice and the Borzoi is her first work of fiction published by The Wild Rose Press.

All comments are welcomed.

Giveaway: DK is giving away Cleo’s favorite mug to one lucky commenter. To enter, please leave a comment below and tell us what’s your favorite place to relax. One entry per person and the giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends March 8, 2023. Good luck everyone!