Faded Coat of Blue: A Novel [Paperback]

Owen Parry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2002

In this "winning blend of history and mystery" (Booklist), Owen Parry brings to life the story of Abel Jones, a Welsh immigrant and Union army enlistee. Jones finds himself mysteriously chosen as confidential agent to General George McClellan, the "savior of the Union." No stranger to the cruel paradoxes of war, Jones is asked to investigate the death of Anthony Fowler, a young volunteer captain shot through the heart. Instantly, his murder is blamed on the Confederates. But whispers haunt the death of this fallen martyr, leading Abel Jones from the blood of the battlefield through the intrigues of Washington, D.C., and into a web of secrets and sinister relationships where evil and good intertwine . . . and where heroes fall prey to those who cherished them the most.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A colorful, scrupulous and unassuming sleuth named Abel Jones is the protagonist of this solid historical thriller set during the opening months of the Civil War. When a crusading abolitionist is found murdered in 1861 in a Union encampment near Washington, Jones, a convalescing casualty of First Manassas, presently assigned to desk duty, is tapped by the Union's newest general, George B. McClellan, to discover the killer and bring him to justice. Although Jones is the most modest of menAa teetotaling Welsh immigrant, a Methodist and stout moralistAhe's a veteran of some of the bloodiest battles of the century, as a former solider in Britain's Indian army. Modeled on the best qualities of such famous detectives as Hercule Poirot and Sherlock HolmesAwith a little Miss Marple thrown inAJones is small of stature and hampered by an injured leg, but he is a courageous man and seeker of truth. Decrying injustice everywhere, from child prostitution to military atrocities, the humble do-gooder proves a daunting foil for an assortment of villains, including McClellan himself. The first-person narrative is infused with ingeniously authentic and varied period patois, artfully drawn cameos and historical portraits. Whenever Jones issues a narrow assessment of people according to their national or racial background, he does so in accordance with typical period attitudesAno revisionist political correctness here.. Sometimes unwittingly funny, Jones's narrative voice is a feast of fine language and well-rendered dialectical precision. This splendid novel whets the appetite for the promised next volume and the continuing adventures of the modest hero. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In a winning blend of history and mystery, Parry brings to life Civil War Washington, D.C., and environs through the eyes of an exceptional Union soldier. Welsh immigrant Captain Abel Jones, who is keeping accounts in the War Department in Washington in late 1861, seems a mild-mannered man who'll follow orders. General McClellan personally enlists him to investigate the highly publicized murder of Anthony Fowler, a shining star of an officer and an ardent abolitionist. But Jones is more seasoned than he seems, having learned the horror of war in bloody hand-to-hand combat in India before being crippled at Bull Run. Suspicion for the murder rests first with the rebels, then with an industrialist making handsome profits from the war; but answers are to be found closer to home, and Jones turns out to be more tenacious and incorruptible than his seniors might have imagined. Parry shows corruption and hypocrisy on one hand and love of country on the other in this vivid glimpse of our past (which is also the first in a promised series). Michele Leber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (January 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060937661
• ISBN-13: 978-0060937669
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,118,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful novel, accurate history!, May 18, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (Bethlehem) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faded Coat of Blue (Abel Jones Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

As a reader with a lifelong interest in the Civil War, I was absolutely knocked out by this incomparable novel. I have never found the atmosphere and character of the Civil War era so accurately portrayed--beyond which, the writing itself is superb. Mr. Parry has a flawless ear for dialects--yet he never overdoes it. The book reads very quickly, and leaves the reader hungry for more--as all the best books do. From the portrayal of wartime Washington to the joys and sorrows of a soldier's life, this book rings truer than any other I've read. And Abel Jones is one of the most interesting characters I've encountered in a lifetime of reading. This book is also a mystery, of course, but I valued it just as a terrific story and a wonderful portrait of our past. I do, however, have to take issue with one of the other reviewers who criticized Mr. Parry for mentioning the Thanksgiving holiday a year before it became an official national holiday. In fact, it's Mr. Parry, the author, who's correct. Parry never said Thanksgiving was a national holiday at that point in 1861, only that it was widely celebrated, which was absolutely true. As a former history teacher myself, I can assure all readers that Thanksgiving was very widely celebrated prior to the Civil War, especially in the North. Parry's portrayal of the unofficial celebrations in the Army of the Potomac in 1861 are completely accurate, and the historical records support it. In New England, it was already an established family holiday, with reverential tones. In the Union Army, it was a great excuse for getting drunk. When Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday later in the war, he was simply formalizing a celebration that already had a long tradition. Overall, Mr. Parry's book is incredibly accurate--the details are marvelous and telling--and I personally could not find a single error in this very-well-researched novel. But, ultimately, what matters is just that this is a great read. Were I still teaching, I would use it to lure my students into the realms of history. Bravo!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He's done it!, March 1, 2000

By 

Stuart A. Herrington (Carlsbad, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faded Coat of Blue (Hardcover)

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!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "Dickens" of a book, December 28, 2000

By 

Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faded Coat of Blue (Abel Jones Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.