Civil Blood: A Civil War Mystery (Civil War Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Ann McMillan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 21, 2001 | Series: Civil War Mysteries

This is a book you'll have trouble putting down," said the Richmond Times-Dispatch of Ann McMillan's Dead March, the opening installment in a series that blends vivid suspense, elegant period detail, richly developed characters, and the political and cultural tensions of its time. Set against the backdrop of 1860s Richmond, Virginia, the adventures of Narcissa Powers, a well-to-do young widow-turned-war nurse, and Judah Daniel, a freed slave and herbalist, are compelling reading for Civil War buffs and lovers of historical fiction. Civil Blood, the third book, opens in the spring of 1862 as the war escalates and troops move in for battle. But in Richmond, an even greater threat looms: smallpox. As Narcissa, Judah, and their friend, the British journalist Brit Wallace, soon suspect, this is more than microbial contagion. It is a deadly crime, a plague intentionally planted on "tainted" money, and they must race to halt a killer more lethal than the cannons on the blood-soaked fields of combat.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In May 1862 the Confederate capital, Richmond, Va., faces both Yankee encroachment and the spread of slow murder from paper money tainted with smallpox, in McMillan's third well-researched historical (after Dead March and Angel Trumpet). Abetted by Judah Daniel, a former slave and herbal healer, and Brit Wallace, a jaunty English journalist, war nurse Narcissa Powers must search for answers under the eyes of plug-uglies from Baltimore, hired to maintain martial law over the city. They snoop in all levels of Richmond society from waning Cavalier families to newly rich opportunists, from freed blacks to household slaves and even, with some understandable horror, into dens of vice populated by perfumed cyprians. McMillan begins with a tour de force as one of Narcissa's patients, an amputee, dies a blistering death, but soon abandons this graphic mode for a lighter touch, bringing in rival gangs of young boys as a main focus for the mystery. The investigation loses momentum as each sleuth brings the others up to date on interviews ("Aurelia told me: Josiah Harrald was Coffin's father. Josiah was paying Cassie Terry to keep the boy. Cassie Terry called on Aurelia to ask for money. Aurelia was too shocked by the news to respond"), but fortunately rallies by the end, as McMillan confounds expectations and pulls off more than one surprise. Sure to satisfy fans of the series, with a solid handling of the era for Civil War buffs. 5-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After members of a child gang steal a dying Confederate major's uniform jacket from a smallpox ward in 1862 Richmond, Narcissa Powers, a young widowed nurse of means, and Judah Priest, an older free black healer, attempt to find them and prevent an epidemic. The murder of a slave boy connected with the hospital, visits to the major's family and others, and input from a British reporter and Narcissa's sister-in-law lead the pair to the truth. This third installment of McMillan's Civil War series (Dead March) is an exciting, authentic, and affecting depiction of wartime hardships made personal. A wonderful historical; for all collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1st ptg. edition (June 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670899976
• ISBN-13: 978-0670899975
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,311,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ann McMillan was born in Columbus, Georgia, and lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Ann's Civil War mystery short story, Castle Thunder, is now available on Kindle. Like her novels, the story tells a dramatic story of what might have happened against a scrupulously researched historical background -- in this case, the infamous Confederate prison.

"Please Dispose Of Properly" -- a short story with a modern setting (inspired by a trip to the Hanover County dump) -- appears in They Had It Comin' (Chesapeake Crimes IV).

Ann's four Civil War mystery novels set in Richmond weave together three points of view: Narcissa Powers, a white widow who becomes a Confederate nurse; Judah Daniel, a free black doctoress; and Brit Wallace, a British war correspondent.

Each novel has a medical theme. Dead March tells what happens when the "sack-'em-up boys" who rob graves to supply the medical school with cadavers dig up a murder victim. Angel Trumpet involves the hallucinogenic effects of datura poisoning. In Civil Blood, smallpox-tainted money wreaks havoc on those too greedy to destroy it, as well as the innocent with whom their lives intersect. Chickahominy Fever infects its heroine with malaria.

For more information, including a bibliography, see Ann's website, civilwarmystery.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teriffic Civil War Mystery, July 29, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Civil Blood: A Civil War Mystery (Civil War Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In 1862 the American Civil War heats up with the Northern Army nearing the Confederate capital of Richmond. However, a greater threat to the lives of military in the area and the citizens of Richmond occurs when small pox is the cause of a death. Soon other deaths and accusations of germ warfare follow.

Southern nurse Narcissa Powers, English reporter Brit Wallace, and former slave healer Judah Daniel look for the source of the deadly disease. As they separately dig deeper, each one shares the findings with the other. No segment of the city from the elite to the slums or of the two armies escape their evaluation as the trio tries to prevent an epidemic from happening.

Fans of Civil War novels will, upon reading CIVIL BLOOD, play trumpets in tribute to the author for an entertaining historical who-done-it. The story line starts off very powerfully as a vividly graphic opening hooks the audience while introducing the lead characters. The tale slows down a bit during the investigation because the key players literally exchange notes from their respective interviews even though that technique smoothly blends into the main theme. However, the story line ends with an incredible finish that will fully satisfy the audience, sending them marching to the nearest bookstore to purchase Ann McMillans previous historical mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Look out! Smallpox!, November 27, 2002

By 

A. Y. Smittle (Winchester, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Civil Blood: A Civil War Mystery (Civil War Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I was dying, ha ha, to read Ms. McMillan's book and got tired of waiting for the paperback, so I ordered online, used, from Amazon.[com] I was not disappointed. Her Civil War mystery series is getting more in depth.
This time the story seemed to focus more on Narcissa and less on Judah; it seems like the last book had more of Judah and less Narcissa; which I suppose is as it should be. Poor Brit Wallace isn't mentioned in the attempts to get you to interested in these mysteries (jacket cover, publisher summaries, etc)---however, as the newspaperman from Britain in Richmond, he is just as much a "detective" as the other two.
I kept going back and forth between Brit and Cameron Archer; which would be the better suitor for Narcissa? Theres plenty of tentative romance to keep us on tenterhooks for a few more books; do we have to wait that long?
The story does have more of the hospital and nursing aspects; we learn about smallpox in the city of Richmond and the possible threat of an outbreak when a contaminated jacket is stolen.
Ms. McMillan kept me guessing but I was grateful that I could actually figure out "whodunit" before she let us in on it.
Isn't that the goal of every mystery reader? To figure it out before the author lets you in?
Anyways. Very good. She has a way of writing that makes you feel like you're really there. I don't know what it is. Thats why I was a bit out of sorts at the end---I thought it ended abruptly.
Is that another typicality of a mystery series?
Looking forward to buying a used hardback of the next book! :)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant mystery of substance, November 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Civil Blood: A Civil War Mystery (Civil War Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Smallpox breaks out in an American city. The country is at war, and the ethics of combat in question. Has the horrid disease been loosed intentionally? And by which side? Have children been enlisted in this war? The plot lines in "Civil Blood" could be lifted from today's headlines, but this is a mystery about Civil War Richmond (published months before 9/11/01). For all its eerie relevance to the present, this book is rooted unerringly in its era. Ann McMillan's well-drawn characters never warp out of the 1800s. They deal with the anguish of their own war and their own time. A mystery of substance. Another brilliant installment in McMillan's series.