Rating: 
Summary: First-rate (even if you're not a Civil War buff)
Review: "Faded Coat of Blue" is masterful. It's a historical mystery that grabs you from the first sentence ("A sentry with troubled bowels discovered the body.") But it's much, much more than that. Owen Parry has painted an exquisite portrait of America--especially Washington and Phildelphia--at the start of the Civil War. He tells the story through the eyes of one of the best protagonists I can remember in fiction--the wounded but irrepressible Captain Abel Jones--and he describes setting, character, and dialogue with a richness of language I haven't read since "Cold Mountain." It's like watching a movie with a really great director and cinematographer. Nevertheless, despite the depth and quality of the narrative, the pace of the story never flags--it is a page-turner, complete with chapter-ending cliffhangers. Parry intersperses real-life characters--from George McClellan to Allen Pinkerton to others I shouldn't reveal--that give the story both period authenticity and the delight of hearing historical characters brought to life with thought, action, emotion and voice. You do not have to be a Civil War "buff" or mystery fan to enjoy this novel--it deserves broader and more serious consideration than that. Also, take note that the rich characters and dialects in the novel--Irish, German and Asian immigrants, for example--and Parry's ability at setting scene and narrating dialogue and action make this a particularly good book to try on audio. I listened to it in my car over a one-week period, and upon finishing, I almost inserted the first tape and started over again. I can't think of a work of fiction in the past several years that I enjoyed more than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful history but light on the mystery
Review: Historical mysteries are gaining in popularity and this book is a good example of how well this genre can be done. A beguiling main character, Captain Abel Jones is a recent immigrant to the United States. His past army career has led to an position in the United States army. Due to injuries, he is sidelined but called upon one day to investigate the murder of a young, well known abolitionist. His investigation unearths the secrets of many but ultimately finds the truth concerning the death of the young man. The Civil War element is very well done but the mystery itself seems too inconsequential. I was not particularly surprised at the uncovering of the real killer. However, I would read the second in the series because of the great writing and character development presented in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Mystery
Review: This story was an engaging mix of historical fiction and the "who done it" you find with a mystery. I have read many civil war stories but this mix made it interestingly different. I especially liked the chapters about the main character's time spent fighting English wars in India, something I knew little about. I look forward to reading the future adventures of Abel Jones.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Feelings About Our Past
Review: I was very impressed by the content and style of this Civil War mystery that turned out to be so much more. Captain Abel Jones, the engaging hero and narrator, is hired as a secret agent to investigate the murder of a young Northern volunteer. During the process of his investigation, the reader is exposed to a diversity of characters living in Civil War America. They are faced with several social issues, especially slavery, miscegenation, and prejudice as America of the 1860's is brought to life. The story immerses the reader into a culture and society that is our heritage and I, for one, am left with mixed feelings. On one hand it's embarrassing and shameful to know that some Americans behaved the way they did; on the other hand it's reassuring and with gratitude to know we recovered as a nation and continue to work towards unity. Any writing that can stimulate reflection upon our past is worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: this book doesn't stink!
Review: A Civil War mystery? I thought to myself when I pulled "Faded Coat of Blue" out of my Christmas stocking. You must be joking, surely. Talking about marketing to a niche. You'll get both the Civil War buffs and the mystery lovers. This guy's gonna make a mint, but his book probably stinks.So I finally read the thing...and...it's great! It doesn't stink! This is a good, well-written, well-researched book with interesting characters and some depth, despite all the thriller junk! I hope Parry - or whoever he really is - does make a mint! This is a rare crossover book, combines low-brow thriller plot with high-brow character development. Normally I dislike mysteries and thrillers. The plots are homogenous. The characters too stereotypical. And "Faded Coat of Blue" does suffer somewhat from these deficiencies. C'mon, the guy's a nobody and he meets General McClellan AND Abraham Lincoln! He witnesses the last meeting of McClellan and Scott, like some sort of "We Were There" book!.... But Captain Abel Jones makes up for the book's deficiencies. The book is told from a first-person standpoint, an unreliable narrator with a rich and complex past he's ashamed of, which leaks out during the course of the book. Filled with contradictions - the loving husband and professional soldier, the pious Samaritan and cold-blooded killer - aching with emotional conflicts - duty versus domesticity, etc. - Jones unveils the details of the story's murder along with the details of his life, both stories are intertwined and interdependent. Great characterization, this. The book also feels authentic. Jones' voice feels like that of a 19th-century Welshman. Historical characters that appear in the book feel like their historical selves, contain the contradictions their actual selves contained. Parry also manages to capture the feel of Washington DC with all its corruption and decay. I found only one overt historical inaccuracy, that of Thanksgiving, which wasn't a national holiday until after the Emancipation Proclamation. Can't until the sequel hits paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Greater story and greater writing
Review: This book is out of the ordinary. I delighted in the idioms of the day used on nearly every page. The similes and metaphors simply delight. And the story moves right along. Do we care about the characters? I should say we do.Abel is an admirable person and through him we gain insight into the mind of a person of integrity and honor. So if you want a crackling good story, plot that doesn't ever become unbelievable--not even close- and writing that includes idioms that amuse and elucidate and that moves you into the time and place, you can't go wrong here.
Rating:
Summary: John O'Hara would like this book!
Review: Owen Parry brings into view the hidden agendas behind the forces of war. He depicts Washington, Philadelphia, and even Pottsville (my home town) in 1861 with the unique perspective of the quietly heroic Abel Jones, a man whose past experience and happy home life argues against his joining the Army. But also a man whose moral (albeit somewhat rigid) code and sense of responsibility for others brings him back into the battle. One sees from Jones' eyes the many sides of prejudices (including his own) characteristic of the time; the hypocrisy, degradation and moral bankruptcy of those who seek to use war to satisfy their own ends, and the vulnerability of the innocents. I highly recommend this book to those looking for a more realistic portrait of behind-the-scenes Civil War America, and for a rather good Victorian mystery. I think John O'Hara (the late author) would like Parry's book very much - and would recognize some of the antecedants to the characters so vividly portrayed in his mid-twentieth century novels and short stories about society in Philadelphia and Pottsville (or, as he called it, Gibbsville). I look forward to Parry continuing to follow Abel Jones' life after the Civil War. The mention of Pinkerton and the Molly Maguires offers me hope that in the futureI will be able to revisit the sad history of the war between Anthracite coal miners and mine owners and see, through Abel's eyes, the underlying agendas of those involved.
Rating:
Summary: A "Dickens" of a book
Review: Reading this wonderful historical novel took me back to the days of my youth when I devoured Charles Dickens. Parry, like Dickens, excels in drawing characters that lodge in the mind. The Welshman Abel Jones, whose language is a haunting blend of Celtic melancholy and memory; the lovable ne'er-do-well Malloy, as ready to lend a helping hand as he is to pinch your purse; Cawber, the tycoon from the wrong side of the tracks who punches his way through high-bred and old-monied society: these and a couple of other characters come across with pulsating vividness. There's another similarity to Dickens here: Parry is much better at drawing characters and weaving beautiful language than he is at plot. The mystery that Captain Jones sets out to crack is a bit implausible, and the novel ends too breathlessly. Yet when weighed against Parry's marvellous characters and poetic prose, this seems a piddling sin. Who really remembers the plot of *Great Expectations*? But who can forget the characters of Pip, Joe, Miss Havisham, or Magwitch (Pip's criminal benefactor)? The same can be said about "Faded Coat of Blue*. Long after the details of the rather thin plot are forgotten, Parry's characters will remain in our memory. And for my money, that alone makes this novel well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, real historical fiction!
Review: I grew up reading C.S. Forester, Kenneth Roberts, Neil Swanson, F. van Wyck Mason, Conrad Richter, Robert Lewis Taylor and many, many other fine historical fiction writers. Then, in the 1970s the genre seemed to disappear. (With one or two exceptions, Patrick O'Brian's wonderful Aubrey/Maturin series foremost.) In its place came these awful Gothic historical romance things. Today, my large local bookstore has a big section called "Historical Fiction" that is filled with these Fabio-on-the-cover novels that surely must please someone, but not me. Those are not historical fiction, in my book, excuse the pun. But I picked up FADED COAT OF BLUE by Owen Parry and found excellent writing, good historical fact, an interesting protagonist and a great read. I would recommend this book to anyone who remembers the good old days of fictional history. Abel Jones is an unusual and perhaps unlikely hero, but he's got guts and determination. I look forward to more in this series.
Rating:
Summary: a civil war detective story
Review: a civil war detective story. got my attention with the dedication. that was the hook. you have to read it to believe it. well researched, well written and when i finished--well read. special kudos for mr. parry.
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