Faded Coat of Blue - Hardcover

Parry, Owen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0380976420 ISBN 13: 9780380976423

Publisher: William Morrow, 1999

Synopsis

A British immigrant to the United States is hired to serve as a confidential agent to Union General George McClellan and quickly finds himself investigating the death of a Union officer while the Civil War rages all around him. 25,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author:

Owen Parry turned his back on a successful career to write. From early childhood, he was told of his ancestors who fell in Union blue, and each years his parents took him to our great battlefields. His own military service taught him about the unreported valor of the common man.

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0380976420
• ISBN 13: 9780380976423
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352