Evil Alice and the Borzoi by D K Coutant Book Review

About the Book:

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?

My Review:

Coutant has provided readers with a luscious setting in Hawaii. Her descriptions of the locale, events, celebrations, customs and people were great. She captured the local dialect well. That was a major strength of the novel. The mystery itself, while present, takes a back seat to Cleo's life. There is much more about her personal life than there is solving the mystery. We are taken into her relationship with Ben, her love for her dog, and her teaching. This is definitely a novel for readers who like a deep dive into the life of the amateur sleuth. The murder mystery does get solved in the end with a dose of suspense too. We are left with more of Cleo's life to experience. I am interested in Cleo's character so I have already scheduled reading the sequel.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

DK Coutant graduated from Davidson College with a Psychology degree and initially applied her behavioral training to animals at Sea World, working with dolphins and whales. After a couple of years, she realized that scrubbing fish buckets might get old, and went back to Graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in Psychology, specializing in Cross-Cultural Issues. She began her academic career in Maine. A few years later, she made the jump to Hawaii and worked at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, rising to Department Chair of the Psychology Department. After many happy years in Hawaii,  her love for travel led her to make the move out of academics. She accepted positions as a professional geopolitical forecaster with GJ Inc. and Rand Forecasting Initiative. She splits her time between Olympia, WA, Santa Fe, NM, and France, with her husband and an Old English Sheepdog, Beasley. Evil Alice and Borzoi was released by the Wild Rose Press in 2023.

Wild Rose Press, 350 pages.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)