Here are 7 books that Crumbs of Defeat fans have personally recommended if you like Crumbs of Defeat. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Seagull

Our-town-book-reviews

From Our-town-book-reviews' 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Unknown Author Why Our-town-book-reviews loves this book

It had action, but feeling, and wonderful descriptive writing. Like a movie.

By Wes Snowden ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Seagull as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the turbulent years leading up to the American War of Independence, one man’s journey will redefine his destiny and the future of a nation.Jeremy Whitehall, a privileged young man from London, suddenly finds himself stripped of wealth and thrust into the hands of his ruthless uncle. Forced into an unwelcome mission to Nantucket, Jeremy’s task is clear: manipulate the burgeoning New England candle industry to serve his uncle's greed. But as the Atlantic swells beneath him, Jeremy’s conscience awakens, leading him to question the path laid out for him. Upon arrival in Nantucket, Jeremy crosses paths with the spirited…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Mission Target

Our-town-book-reviews

From Our-town-book-reviews' 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Unknown Author Why Our-town-book-reviews loves this book

This action/thriller series has great characters. In fact, that's why I keep up with the series...its characters.

By Mark Nolan ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mission Target as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Covert operative Jake Wolfe faces his deadliest enemy yet when he is called upon to stop a terrifying threat to America.. Jake and his highly-intelligent dog, Cody, are pulled into a twisted maze of crimes, secrets, lies, and murders—at the end of which awaits Jake’s life-or-death battle with a ruthless all-powerful global criminal organization.. Jake is known to improvise acts of shocking violence when stakes are high. In his desperate race against time, he will stop at nothing to save innocent lives, and may have to go rogue while seeking his own version of justice.. From the shores of Key…


Book cover of Gaudy Night

Melanie M. Jeschke Author Of Inklings

From my list on novels set in Oxford, England.

Why am I passionate about this?

Whenever in Oxford, I feel I’ve come “home.” It’s a magical city steeped in beauty, history, literature, culture, and fascinating people. I’ve been blessed to have taken graduate courses at the University, participated in numerous conferences, brought tour groups, lived “in college,” and conducted walking tours of the town. My familiarity with the city enabled me to write the original chapter on Oxford for Rick Steves’ England guidebook, and it’s where I set my fictional series, The Oxford Chronicles. When I can’t be there in person, I love to visit vicariously through good books. I hope these novels will enable you to experience some of the magic of Oxford too.

Melanie's book list on novels set in Oxford, England

Melanie M. Jeschke Why Melanie loves this book

I’ve always been fascinated by the “dreaming spires” of Oxford University and enjoy Gaudy Night because it immerses me in the world of a (fictional) women’s college set in 1930s Oxford.

As a former professor, I’m intrigued by the internecine political and personal battles in the Senior Common Room (SCR), or college faculty lounge, as well as the friction between those professors devoted entirely to an academic career versus those trying to maintain the challenging balance of work and family, the same issues women struggle with today, nearly one hundred years later.

Sayers weaves together these tensions with a mysterious “poltergeist” who torments the college with poison-pen letters, pranks, vandalism, and violence into a compelling mystery under the dreaming spires.

By Dorothy L. Sayers ,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked Gaudy Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The twelfth book in Dorothy L Sayers' classic Lord Peter Wimsey series, introduced by actress Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE - a must-read for fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot and Margery Allingham's Campion Mysteries.

'D. L. Sayers is one of the best detective story writers' Daily Telegraph

Harriet Vane has never dared to return to her old Oxford college. Now, despite her scandalous life, she has been summoned back . . .

At first she thinks her worst fears have been fulfilled, as she encounters obscene graffiti, poison pen letters and a disgusting effigy when she arrives at sedate Shrewsbury…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of Death and the Dancing Footman

Jo A. Hiestand Author Of Black Moon

From my list on closed circle mystery.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write mysteries set in England and Scotland. That might not seem unusual, but I’m an American, born in and living in Missouri. I’ve loved Britain since my childhood, though I didn’t know why. It wasn’t until a decade ago that I discovered I have many centuries of Scottish, English, Welsh, and Irish in my ancestry. Perhaps that contributed to my choices of reading material (history and mystery novels) as well as the series I write that is based in Derbyshire, England⎯The McLaren Mysteries. Despite my passion for writing, I need police procedural help. I get that from police detective friends in Derbyshire.

Jo's book list on closed circle mystery

Jo A. Hiestand Why Jo loves this book

It is World War Two in England. In Ngaio Marsh’s Death and the Dancing Footman a small group of people has been invited to a country house. One of them is killed. The remoteness of the house contributes to the limited group of people as possible killers, making it a classic closed-group story. It’s a good mystery. It also offers a thought-provoking contrast to the real-world event raging at the time, for in the book an English woman is saved by the German doctor. Marsh is not pro-Axis. She’s merely showing our universal dependency on each other to get through a terrifying situation. I loved this idea and thought it quite brilliant of Marsh. And something I think is rather unique in mystery novels.

By Ngaio Marsh ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Death and the Dancing Footman as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A winter weekend ends in snowbound disaster in a novel which remains a favourite among Marsh readers.

It began as an entertainment: eight people, many of them enemies, gathered for a winter weekend by a host with a love for theatre. They would be the characters in a drama that he would devise.

It ended in snowbound disaster. Everyone had an alibi - and most a motive as well. But Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn, when he finally arrived, knew it all hung on Thomas, the dancing footman...


Book cover of House of Storm

Jo A. Hiestand Author Of Black Moon

From my list on closed circle mystery.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write mysteries set in England and Scotland. That might not seem unusual, but I’m an American, born in and living in Missouri. I’ve loved Britain since my childhood, though I didn’t know why. It wasn’t until a decade ago that I discovered I have many centuries of Scottish, English, Welsh, and Irish in my ancestry. Perhaps that contributed to my choices of reading material (history and mystery novels) as well as the series I write that is based in Derbyshire, England⎯The McLaren Mysteries. Despite my passion for writing, I need police procedural help. I get that from police detective friends in Derbyshire.

Jo's book list on closed circle mystery

Jo A. Hiestand Why Jo loves this book

House of Storm features a group of sequestered people who live on a Caribbean island. A murder occurs, pointing to one of the residents as the killer. To increase the story’s feeling of danger and urgency, a storm is headed for them. The house must be secured, shutters put up. Will clues be destroyed in the rain? Is the killer lurking outside or has he sneaked inside, as the unlocked door suggests? I liked the tension created by the heroine’s approaching marriage to a man she doesn’t love, the murder investigation centering around the man she does love, and the storm. I also liked the contrast with Society’s current label of “Paradise”—a leisurely life on a sunny, tropical island.

By Mignon G. Eberhart ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked House of Storm as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On a storm-ravaged Caribbean isle, a woman confronts love and murderAfter her father’s death, there is nothing for Nonie to do but come to Beadon Island. Royal Beadon, plantation owner and descendent of the man who first settled this windswept spit of tropical land, was her father’s closest friend, and he asks Nonie for her hand. As she prepares for her wedding, though, Nonie feels uneasy. The marriage is rational, but there is nothing rational about her sudden feelings for Jim Shaw. The heir to one of the neighboring plantations, Jim is the only person who makes Nonie feel at…


Book cover of Wildfire at Midnight

Jo A. Hiestand Author Of Black Moon

From my list on closed circle mystery.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write mysteries set in England and Scotland. That might not seem unusual, but I’m an American, born in and living in Missouri. I’ve loved Britain since my childhood, though I didn’t know why. It wasn’t until a decade ago that I discovered I have many centuries of Scottish, English, Welsh, and Irish in my ancestry. Perhaps that contributed to my choices of reading material (history and mystery novels) as well as the series I write that is based in Derbyshire, England⎯The McLaren Mysteries. Despite my passion for writing, I need police procedural help. I get that from police detective friends in Derbyshire.

Jo's book list on closed circle mystery

Jo A. Hiestand Why Jo loves this book

This book concerns vacationers at a small hotel in the Scottish Hebrides. A murder is committed. Due to the island and the hotel’s remoteness, the location creates a closed community. Everyone has reasons to be annoyed with others, adding tension and motives for murder. I particularly like the enveloping mood of the wild mountains and fog. Radio broadcasts of real-life events (Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation preparations and Sir Edmund Hillary’s climb of Mount Everest) add a strange link to the outside world for this group of isolated hotel guests. I felt it also underscored the contrast between their forced solitude and stay at the hotel as opposed to Elizabeth and Hillary’s freedom to do what they wished.

By Mary Stewart ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wildfire at Midnight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The tense, twisty murder mystery which will have you on the edge of your seat, from the author of Madam, Will You Talk?/font size>

'Mary Stewart is magic' New York Times

Following a heart-breaking divorce, Gianetta retreats to the Isle of Skye hoping to find tranquillity in the island's savage beauty.

But shortly before her arrival a girl's body is found on the craggy slopes of the looming Blue Mountain, and with the murderer still on the loose, there's nothing to stop him from setting his sights on Gianetta next . . .

Praise for Mary Stewart:

'There are few…


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Book cover of Head Over Heels

Head Over Heels by Nancy MacCreery,

A fake date, romance, and a conniving co-worker you'd love to shut down. Fun summer reading!

Liza loves helping people and creating designer shoes that feel as good as they look. Financially overextended and recovering from a divorce, her last-ditch opportunity to pitch her firm for investment falls flat. Then…

Book cover of Green for Danger

Mark McCrum Author Of The Festival Murders

From my list on classic whodunnits with great plots and no gratuitous violence.

Why am I passionate about this?

I came to writing crime late after reading a P.D. James novel on my honeymoon. Previously a travel and ghostwriter, I became fascinated by the challenge of creating a whodunnit plot that fools the reader while simultaneously playing fair by giving them plenty of juicy clues. Agatha Christie said you should get to the end of your book and then choose the least likely person as the murderer. Quite often, I don’t know who the killer is myself until the end. If I’m kept guessing, hopefully my readers are too. I love the fact that whodunnits are a way of writing about all sorts of worlds within a compelling structure.

Mark's book list on classic whodunnits with great plots and no gratuitous violence

Mark McCrum Why Mark loves this book

This book was published in 1946, at the end of the 2nd World War, by a writer who had been a model, a dancer, a shop assistant, and a governess, as well as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse in a rural hospital, which is where this wartime story is set.

For me, it’s the ultimate "closed circle" whodunnit, where an ever-decreasing group of suspects is trapped together, in this case surrounded by wounded and dying soldiers. It’s brilliantly claustrophobic, and you know it has to be one of the main characters, however unlikely that seems. The solution and the perpetrator are in plain sight. But I didn’t get it till the end.

By Christianna Brand ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Green for Danger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This Golden Age masterclass of red herrings and tricky twists, first published in 1944, features a tense and claustrophobic investigation with a close-knit cast of suspects.

"You have to reach for the greatest of the Great Names (Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen) to find Christianna Brand's rivals in the subtleties of the trade."

—Anthony Boucher in The New York Times

It is 1942, and struggling up the hill to the new Kent military hospital Heron's Park, postman Joseph Higgins is soon to deliver seven letters of acceptance for roles at the infirmary. He has no idea that the…


Book cover of The Seagull
Book cover of Mission Target
Book cover of Gaudy Night

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