Review: CRYSTAL NIGHTS, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

• available for Kindle
• File Size: 820 KB
• Print Length: 187 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Candied Crime; 1 edition (May 6, 2015)
• Publication Date: May 6, 2015
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00XAM5LXG

Synopsis (Amazon)

Kristallnacht in Berlin, 1938.
A Jewish family flees from persecution, the mother desperate to assure her children freedom is within their grasp.

Thirty years later, ten-year-old Lars-Ole disappears from a sleepy village in Denmark.
After months of investigation, the police have no leads. Creeping unease thickens when another boy disappears, and Lars-Ole's best friend is determined to act. Will Niels succeed when the police have given up? Or will he pay with his life?

CRYSTAL NIGHTS is the story of the violence and evil that rips through a cosy and peaceful Danish village in the 1960s.
The psychological mystery is Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen's third standalone. 

My Take

I have watched the writing career of Dorte Jakobsen with interest, and I think CRYSTAL NIGHTS is her best yet, demonstrating a maturity of plotting, structure and character creation.

One interesting feature is that the author writes in both Danish (her native tongue) and English. Her fluency in the latter is admirable.

I recently saw the film Woman in Gold and so the events of the persecution of the Jews in Germany just before World War Two were fresh and I think CRYSTAL NIGHTS does an excellent job of showing how those events impacted on the Jews who became refugees. For me to be able to see how it worked out for  Jews who went to Sweden and Denmark was something a little different.

A good read.

My rating: 4.4

I've also reviewed
CANDIED CRIME
LIQUORICE TWISTS
THE COSY KNAVE
ANNA MARKLIN'S FAMILY CHRONICLES 

The Danish edition of the book, Krystalnætter, won a national competition in 2013. Judge and editor Lene Dalmejer explains her choice:

”Crystal Nights” is a highly commendable historical suspense novel that captures the reader from the opening phrase. It opens in Berlin in 1938 on the Night of the Broken Glass, and a Jewish family is preparing for a perilous escape to Scandinavia. Subsequently the story moves 30 years ahead to 1967, to the small town Kalum in Northern Jutland.
... and soon tales of destiny emerge, much larger than tiny Kalum. The novel is well-turned, and the plot is spot-on. Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen writes in a fashion that almost makes you forget you are reading. This is in itself a huge achievement. The language breathes freely, and we delve into the Denmark of the 1960s without any discord whatsoever. It is, in short, a first-rate novel!

Review: ANNA MARKLIN'S FAMILY CHRONICLES, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

• Published: Dec. 17, 2012
• Words: 76,073 (approximate)
• Language: British English
• ISBN: 9781301698127
• Format: Kindle (Smashwords or Amazon)
• Source: Review copy provided by the author

Synopsis (Smashwords)

A psychological mystery, set in Scandinavia.

This is the story of a young Danish woman, whose life is in a rut. Anna Storm is unemployed, her father is seriously ill, and her best friend and neighbour receives mysterious threats. Anna is a very ordinary antihero, so even when her friend dies unexpectedly, she keeps burying her head in the sand.

Then she finds her Swedish grandmother's old notebooks, however. Anna is spellbound by the beautiful drawings and the sweet story of her grandmother's everyday life. Finally, she has found a worthy project to engage in. As she reads her grandmother's words, it dawns on her that the books are not suitable for children at all, but that the sinister story which is hidden between the lines may give Anna a much needed push. Anna wakes up - but is it too late? 

My Take

Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen cleverly juggles several plot lines in her first "serious" crime fiction novel.
The novel begins with a Prologue which is in fact some text pulled from the middle of the novel. I must confess that at first this text confused me just a little. You can in fact read this Prologue online here and on Amazon.

Chapter One then jumps back in time about 2 months. 
The first of the novel's threads is about Anna Storm's neighbour Karin who appears to go missing on a regular basis. Anna is not unduly alarmed at first because she and Karin have been good friends for so long. But she becomes concerned when Karin is gone for a week.

The second thread is Anna's relationship with her parents. Her father has refused to give her much detail about his side of the family until now. But now he is seriously ill and seems to understand Anna's need to know her family history. Anna is unemployed and generally has a bit of time on her hands and so goes off to Sweden to find the village her father's family came from.  Anna learns that there is quite a bit of sinister mystery attached to her father's family history.

The third thread is a journal written at the beginning of the twentieth century by Anna Marklin, Anna Storm's father's Farmor. Excerpts from the journal begin to appear in the novel even before Anna Storm becomes aware that it exists.

The fourth thread is that of Anna's marriage to Lars. 

Although Jakobsen is a Danish author, this novel is written in English with a few Danish words thrown in for good measure. Hymns and poetry are translated for the reader by the author and a glossary is provided of some Danish terms at the beginning of the novel.

There are at least two mysteries to be solved and the author does well to keep us on tenterhooks and not to reveal too much.  

ANNA MARKLIN'S FAMILY CHRONICLES is self-published and only available as an e-book. The Smashwords version caters for all formats at $3.99 while the Amazon one is of course for your Kindle at $2.99.

My rating: 4.3

I've also reviewed
4.4, CANDIED CRIME
4.1, LIQUORICE TWISTS
4.2, THE COSY KNAVE  

About the Author

About the author   Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen was born in Denmark in 1961. She works as a teacher, and in her spare time she reads and writes crime fiction in Danish and English.   

One of her stories appeared in "Discount Noir", a collection of flash fiction stories, in 2010 (editors Steve Weddle & Patricia Abbott).   In 2011 she published a couple of short stories plus two anthologies of flash fiction, "CANDIED CRIME, DJ's Daim Stories volume I" and "LIQUORICE TWISTS, DJ's Daim Stories volume II".   
Her first English novel, THE COSY KNAVE  (alternative title "Murder deLight") is a humorous and cosy mystery which takes place in Yorkshire.

Review: THE COSY KNAVE, Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen

An e-novel that is available from both Amazon and Smashwords.
See my earlier post which was part of a baton relay to launch the book.

My copy came from Smashwords.
The book is available from Smashwords in a variety of eBook formats and here’s a coupon code, provided by the author, which brings the price down to $2.99US: PN22N

Publisher's blurb (Smashwords)

A cosy Yorkshire mystery. 
The vicious attacks begin when the prodigal son of Knavesborough returns to the sleepy village after forty years in Argentina with fame and fortune. No wonder that spiteful Rose Walnut-Whip is killed, but when the violence escalates, Constable Penrose knows he needs help from his fiancée, librarian Rhapsody Gershwin.

My take

As the author knows, humorous cozies are not quite my thing, but there's a lot like about THE COSY KNAVE. 

The setting is the village of Knavesborough in Yorkshire and the various matches in the Soccer World Cup are being streamed onto a big plasma screen in Ye Cosy Knave the local tea shoppe. In fact the first murder takes place while locals are watching a match, and the victim is one of the audience. England's chances are still alive at this stage and Constable Archie Penrose's superior officer is determined that nothing will spoil his viewing of future matches.

If you enjoy traditional cozy mysteries with a touch of humour then you'll enjoy this carefully crafted, imaginatively written one. There are plenty of red herrings and the names of the characters have been carefully chosen, tickling the imagination at regular intervals.The threads are all resolved at the end with great panache.

My rating: 4.2

See also comment on Reactions to Reading

Do you like your cozies?

Then can I point you to a new novel by blogging friend Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen?
Dorte began publishing flash fiction and has this week published THE COSY KNAVE, an e-novel that is available from both Amazon and Smashwords.

Extended blurb

A humorous cosy mystery, set in Yorkshire 2010.

The vicious attacks begin when the prodigal son of Knavesborough, Mark Baldwin, returns to the sleepy village after forty years in Argentina, fully equipped with fame, fortune and effeminate butler.

Small wonder that the spiteful nosey parker Rose Walnut-Whip is stabbed, but how could the murderer get away with shattering the perfect, English tearoom idyll in front of twenty villagers?

Constable Archibald Penrose is in dire need of assistance as his superior, DI Mars-Wrigley, is preoccupied with England´s chances in the football world cup. Penrose´s enthusiastic fiancée, the mint-new librarian Rhapsody Gershwin, is more than willing to help as she sees this as Penrose´s route to promotion (and a welcome raise).

As she is the vicar´s daughter, Rhapsody´s treasure trove of local knowledge may come in handy, and to be perfectly honest, the young sleuth may also be a tad curious. And of course the crimes do not stop here. A dangerous criminal is on the lose in Yorkshire. Can the young couple stop the perpetrator in time?

Please make sure you check the post on Dorte's blog to see which way she would prefer you to buy it.

Passing the baton on

Today's post is part of a relay in which Dorte is answering questions about THE COSY KNAVE

Today's question was posed by Karen at How Mysterious
How would you introduce your detectives?

Dorte writes:

Village Constable Archibald Penrose first appeared in a Christmas story on my blog under the name Constable Prewitt. The poor, rather inexperienced officer had to solve the murder of Santa all on his own. Penrose is still young and inexperienced, but he is an honest and diligent policeman who struggles to learn the ropes. Besides, he does his best to live up to the very different expectations from people around him. Not quite easy as his superior is a silly twit, his aunt is very possessive, and his fiancée is more ambitious than he is. 

And Rhapsody Gershwin? Archie thinks she is a gem among women, but some of the words that spring to my mind are enthusiastic and practical. As a librarian, she has learnt to sort and arrange things, and besides she is fairly curious - all useful qualifications for an amateur sleuth. As a vicar´s daughter she is also well-behaved and has strong principles, but it soon dawns on her that when you are on a case, you may have to try unusual methods in order to get results. 

Of course Constable Penrose believes he is the detective and Rhapsody is his sidekick. I am less sure, but read the story if you really want to know.

Tomorrow's question:
What kind of plot can we expect in "The Cosy Knave"?
will be answered at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan

Review: LIQUORICE TWISTS: DJ's Daim Stories Vol II, Dorte Hummelskoj Jakobsen

Ebook Description

DJ´s Daim Stories volume II (Daim is a Scandinavian candy bar) A collection of 20 flash fiction stories (from 100 to 2500 words). While the first volume was crime for fun, these ones may be called ´her darker materials´. Cover art: Elisabeth & Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen.

Available from Smashwords as an ebook in a variety of formats
Source: a review copy sent to me by the author

My take:
This collection of twenty flash fiction snippets is available only as an e-book.
They range from very short to some that could almost be described as short stories.
In some the action is virtually resolved while in others it has been barely set in motion.

The stories I liked best:
In a Flash:
This is the opening story that illustrates the dangers of insecurity combined with an overwrought imagination.
Catastrophe:
Never allow your cats to multiply!
Cutbacks:
Beware of pushing your husband too far with your extravagant spending!

My rating: 4.1

Jakobsen's first flash fiction collection CANDIED CRIME was published on Smashwords earlier this year. 

About the author:
Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen was born in Denmark in 1961. She works as a teacher of English, but in her spare time she reads, writes and reviews crime fiction.   One of her stories appeared in "Discount Noir", a collection of flash fiction stories, in 2010 (editors Steve Weddle & Patricia Abbott).  See my post Published Friends.
Catch up with Dorte's blog:  DJ´s Krimiblog 

Review: CANDIED CRIME, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

e-book self-published through Smashwords, 31 Jan 2011
Words: 10203 (approximate)
Language: English
Source: I bought it.

Ebook Description
CANDIED CRIME, DJ´s Daim Stories (Daim/Dajm is a Scandinavian candy bar) vol 1, the first volume in a planned series. Thirteen flash fiction stories, a collection of cosy and humorous crime, some of which have been published earlier on Dorte's blog.

Table of Contents
 1.The Knitting Club
 2.Grammy
 3.Mushrooms and Toadstools
 4.The Princess on the Pea
 5.A Nightly Burger
 6.End of Christmas
 7.Spring Cleaning
 8.Shots
 9.Trick or Treat
 10.Tea for Ten
 11.Toffee´s Christmas
 12.Casualty
 13.The Red Shoes

My take:
I sincerely hope we see a lot more of Dorte Jakobsen's writing in publication in the near future. It is hard to write a review of this book as there is so much variety in the flash fiction stories, from vignettes which stir the imagination to longer pieces which introduce the residents of Knavesborough, the location of a cozy that Dorte is currently working on.
Humorous crime isn't usually my cup of tea but this is delightful reading, and I certainly want to read more of Dorte's writing.

My rating: 4.4

About the author:
Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen was born in Denmark in 1961. She works as a teacher of English, but in her spare time she reads, writes and reviews crime fiction.   One of her stories appeared in "Discount Noir", a collection of flash fiction stories, in 2010 (editors Steve Weddle & Patricia Abbott).  See my post Published Friends.
Catch up with Dorte's blog:  DJ´s Krimiblog

Other mentions to check:

• And interview with Dorte: Thoughts in Progress
• Scandinavian Crime Fiction
• Confessions of a Mystery Novelist
• Do You Write Under Your Own Name

Review: DISCOUNT NOIR, edited by Patricia Abbott and Steve Weddle

A e-collection of flash fiction, all around the central theme of Megamart. Each story is 800 words or less and so the collection is a quick read.

It contains stories by Patricia Abbott, Sophie Littlefield, Kieran Shea, Chad Eagleton, Ed Gorman, Cormac Brown, Fleur Bradley, Alan Griffiths, Laura Benedict, Garnett Elliot, Eric Beetner, Jack Bates, Bill Crider, Loren Eaton, John DuMond, John McFetridge, Toni McGeeCausey, Jeff Vande Zande, James Reasoner, Kyle Minor, Randy Rohn, Todd Mason, Byron Quertermous, Sandra Scoppettone, Stephen D. Rogers, Steve Weddle, Evan Lewis, Daniel B. O'Shea, Sandra Seamans, Albert Tucher, Donna Moore, John Weagly, Keith Rawson, Gerald So, Dave Zeltserman, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen, Jay Stringer, Anne Frasier, Kathleen A. Ryan, Eric Peterson, Chris Grabenstein and J.T. Ellison.

I bought my copy at  Untreed Reads Store (where you can choose your e-format) and then sent it off to Amazon for free conversion to Kindle. However Amazon now has a Kindle version available. 

My verdict:
Put a dozen writers in a room with a topic and you'll get a dozen entertaining stories, and this collection is no exception, except you've got over 40. Here are offerings by some well known names, including Donna Moore, alongside a debut published story by Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen.
It is a lovely anthology, very entertaining. I was fascinated by the common elements of the stories. Look particularly for the Megamart Greeters who appear in a variety of disguises. Well done to Patti Abbott and Steve Weddle for bringing all the stories together.

My rating: 4.4

Published friends

A post by Dorte at DJsKrimiblog today announced
An e-book anthology, Discount Noir, is not only in the shops, but also on the streets! More than forty dark or funny (or dark and funny) flash fiction stories which began as a flash fiction challenge hosted by Patti (she of Friday's Forgotten books notoriety on MiP).

It contains stories not only by Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen, but by Patti Abbott, Charles Ardai, Jack Bates, Eric Beetner,Fleur Bradley, Cormac Brown, Bill Crider, JohnDumond, Daniel Maddox, Chad Eagleton, Loren Eaton, Garnett Elliott, J.T. Ellison, Anne Fraiser, Ed Gorman, Chris Grabenstein, Allan Griffiths, Evan Lewis, Sophie Littlefield, John McFetridge, Toni McGee Causey, Kyle Minor, Donna Moore, Daniel B. O'Shea, Eric Peterson, Bryon Quertermous, Keith Rawson, James Reasoner, Stepeh D. Rogers, Randy Rohn, Kathleeen A. Ryan, Sandra Scoppettone, Sandra Seamans, Kieran Shea, Gerald So, Jay Stringer,  Albert Tucher, Jeff Vande Zande, John Weagly, Steve Weddle,  and Dave Zeltserman.


I bought my copy at  Untreed Reads Store and then sent it off to Amazon for free conversion to Kindle.




An announcement earlier this week came from Brian Kavanagh that A CANTERBURY CRIME, the latest in his Belinda Lawrence Murder Mystery series, is available both at BeWrite Books and Amazon.

The ancient walled city of Canterbury has held many secrets over the centuries but none more mysterious than the death of Professor de Gray.

Called in to evaluate the contents of his Tudor Manor House, Belinda and Hazel are confronted with a number of suspects who would benefit from the book the Professor was about to publish; a book he promised would re-write the history of St Thomas Becket who was murdered in the Cathedral in 1170.

The unfriendly secretary Miss Mowbray, the live wire student Tommy, the volatile amateur historian Peter, the respected publisher Sir Justin, and Quentin the upstart publisher prepared to obtain the book at any price. Add to them the local Doctor and Funeral Director and the cast of suspects is complete.

Confirming the Professor was murdered proves to be a challenge and gradually as they get to know those associated with the Manor House Belinda and Hazel discover another murder and an intricate web of secrets that leads them to life-threatening danger and finally to the killer.

This fourth mystery provides Belinda and Hazel with another exciting adventure; Hazel being larger than life yet again and Belinda shocked by an event that will change her life. 

Neither book is going to break the bank, so do support my friends!