Rating: 
Summary: Good, Solid Characters and Period Detail
Review: Probably one of the most historically accurate dectective novels to arrive in 1999/2000. 'Faded Coat of Blue' has well developed characters, acting consistently within their historical settings. The murder setting and initial investigation is quite good and well paced; but introduction of McClellan and the motivation of the killers is a bit outlandish. Though McClellan is well done his interference in the case a bit implausible. The investigation by Abel Jones is on the mark but the introduction of the hero to Lincoln at the end of the book is a bit of a stretch. The character of Abel Jones is very strong and a personal favorite of mine. The descriptions of Washington D.C. during wartime rings true, much like 'Locust Alley' does with wartime Richmond, VA.
Rating: 
Summary: Faded Coat of Blue
Review: Who is Owen Parry? and where has he come from? He has brought us a novel that captures the essence of life during the civil war period. The book has an excellent story line while it also allows the reader to feel the period, the tension, the political atmosphere and the confusion of a period in which everyone believed the war would end quickly. Excellent read. I recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good detective story and is curious about life during the civil war era 1860's.
Rating:
Summary: great storytelling, and historically accurate
Review: Never have I seen reviews which all agree. As a Civil War buff, I'd expected a historic novel. But I enjoy a mystery also. The social side of war is rarely seen, and Washington DC was and is a seedy town. Great story, and good potrayals, esp G McClellan.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Mix of Civil War and Mystery
Review: I read this book with some trepidation. It was givento me by a friend and I loved it. Mr. Parry has a great future ahead of him. He does a wonderful job of mixing historical charachters and the feel of a historical era with a murder mystery. The inroduction of a sidekick as it were and other interesting people including the surgeon who first examines the body and seems to know more about medicine than the standard sawbones makes for a great book.
Rating: 
Summary: A parry to Parry
Review: I wonder what book the rest of these reviewers read. I personally found this novel to be semi-atrocious. Yes, the author writes well, yes, the plot is semi-intriguing. But, the plot is also quite predictable! Furthermore, I read a third of it then stopped. Why? I realized that I didn't care about the characters. Why read a book if your heart is not in it? If you love the Civil War, and don't mind mindless boredom then by all means read this book. If you love the Civil War, and want a good novel, write one.
Rating:
Summary: Great book! Great character! Worthy of more attention.
Review: I look forward to more Abel Jones from Owen Parry. Other reviews here are quite thorough, so I won't try to say any more other than this is a book that deserves to be a best seller.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and intimate tale of one man's integrity
Review: Practicing living history, I find getting really close to people of the past a great challenge. I will feel succesfull if I can represent Americans of the 1860s in as compelling and intimate a manner as Owen Parry has done in Faded Coat of Blue.The characters (even those briefly dealt with) come off the page as flesh and blood individuals of physical and emotional reality. In this way, history comes alive through what really matters: the human experience of honor, struggle, deceit, courage, anguish, sacrifice, and triumph. Please, oh please send us another one like this!
Rating:
Summary: He's done it!
Review: No doubt about it. Owen Parry could never fake it this convincingly. He is a former soldier(as his brief bio betrays), a keen student of history, and one who has somehow embraced the investigator's art. Add to these qualifications a gifted pen that enables Parry to craft page after page of captivating prose, and you have the ingredients of the best fiction I've seen in years--historical or otherwise. "Faded Coat of Blue" is a thoroughly delightful, page-turning work, made even more valuable by its skilled embodiment of every literary trick in the book, combined with remarkable historical accuracy. (Parry's detailed, visceral description of the streets of Washington during the Civil War is nothing short of masterful.) As a career investigator, armchair historian, and writer, my hat is off to Parry. In creating the continuing adventures of Captain Abel Jones, he is giving us the literary equivalent of the Ken Burns PBS series, "The Civil War." Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Just Wonderful!
Review: I haven't read an historical novel this good in years. Aside from being delightful to experience, this book is chock full of painless history and sociology lessons of the period. Mr. Parry, if reading someone's novel is shaking hands with his soul, I am honored to shake yours. Can't wait for the next one!
Rating:
Summary: War comes and we are there
Review: Reading Owen Parry's very human account of events in 1861 America provided me with one of those special experiences that only comes along in a great while. Spend an hour with Abel Jones in his world and you'll feel intruded upon your computer, the TV, and the traffic outside your window. With extraordinary skill, Parry takes you right back to an America of long ago that seems very real today. He is a special guide, a man who understands men and women and war. I'll try to be first in line to buy a copy when he brings us the next chapter in Major Abel Jones'service to his adopted country.
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