Cozy Mystery Short Stories by Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

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Here are two short stories/cozy mysteries that you will enjoy, by mystery writer Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

Ding Dong Bell: The Kitten in the Well

Book beginning:

This story takes place in the fictional village of Knavesborough, Yorkshire, in the early 1990s.

"He won't get away with throwing me out of here! Not after forty years, he won't!" The old woman was so agitated that the words cascaded out of her mouth, and Reverent Gershwin took a quick step backwards, out of firing range. Ursula Abbot gave the large pot on the cooker an indignant shove on the cooker so the goulash slopped over, and flies rose in a dark formation above the food before settling down again. 

She grabbed a greyish dishcloth and dabbed it around haphazardly in the mess. Three cats came bouncing to help her remove the tempting pool of sauce on the kitchen floor.  

"Well, but I can't imagine Mr. Alnwick won't consider your age..., the vicar began.

A clean and cosy short story, featuring the popular Gershwin family in Knavesborough. It all begins quite innocently with a visit to an old cat woman, but no matter what the Gershwins stick their noses in, something sinister will happen. Revisit the 1990s and meet Rhapsody, Harmonia and Psalmonalla Gershwin, the spunky sisters and their curious kitten.
(goodreads)

Green Acres

Mrs Vanilla McVities, the former cook of Netherfield Manor, has bought an old mansion and converted it into an old people's home. Rhapsody Gershwin, librarian and amateur sleuth, pops in to visit a neighbour and finds herself on the business end of murder. A sheep dog also plays an important role in the story - you'd be barking to miss this one.  A short story in the Rhapsody Gershwin series, set in Knavesborough, a fictional Yorkshire village. First published in the anthology "The Red Shoes". Now you can find out what happened to a couple of the quirky inhabitants since we left them at the end of  the cozy mystery, "The Cosy Knave". 
(goodreads)

Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen is a teacher from Denmark. In her spare time she reads and writes crime fiction in English and Danish, and in 2010 she sold her first flash stories to American magazines and publishers.

Since then she has published two collections of flash fiction, "Candied Crime" (humour) and "Liquorice Twists" (a bit darker). Her most popular story is "The Cosy Knave" - a humorous and cosy novel featuring village constable Archibald Penrose and the librarian Rhapsody Gershwin.

LATEST NEWS: "The Red Shoes" - four irreverent short stories characterized by dark humour, quirky characters and severed limbs.

Author of "Heather Farm", bestselling ghost story on Amazon.com in 2011.

COMING SOON: "Anna Märklin's Family Chronicles" - a historical mystery, set in Denmark and Sweden. Published in Denmark in 2011.

E-Book Review: The Cosy Knave by Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

Title: The Cosy Knave: (Gershwin and Penrose Mystery)

Author: Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

Format: Kindle Edition, self-published July 20, 2011

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

Genre: cozy mystery

Source: review e-copy from author

Objective rating: 4/5 

I was amused that this humorous cozy mystery, written by a Danish writer, was pulling the leg, so to speak, of the English, in this novel set in Yorkshire. The names of the characters reminded me of food - Rose Walnut-Whip, Olivia Cadbury-Flake, Sir Mars-Wrigley, Thomas Lipton - and are amusing in other ways - Kendall Mint-Romney and Mr. and Mrs. Kickinbottom for instance. The writer doesn't hesitate to bring in as many references to cozy English customs as possible - tea served with milk and sugar and scones in every other scene, steak and kidney pie in the pub, the obsession with football. I confess that my mind wandered from the mystery of the murder and what looked like a suicide or accident, so intent was I on the English names and customs. The mystery picked up however at the end and a good one it is!

Product description: 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?  

About the author: Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen was born in Denmark and is a teacher of English. In her spare time she reads, writes and reviews crime fiction. Her other publications are Candied Crime, DJ's Daim Stories volume I, and Liquorice Twists, DJ's Daim Stories volume II. Her blog is http://djskrimiblog.wordpress.com/