Review: "Faded Coat of Blue" by Owen Parry

This is a page turning work of fiction by Ralph Peters written under his pen name, Owen Parry. A golden boy of the Union Anthony Fowler, has been murdered. He was a volunteer captain and a famed abolitionist. He was found, deceased, along the picket lines outside of Washington leading everyone to believe it was a southern assassin. It is up to the hero of the story, Captain Abel Jones, to discern the truth. His pursuit of justice takes him from Washington to Pottsville where he interacts with a host of characters, some straight out of our history books. The plot twists and turns and you are guessing until the last page.

I picked up this book because I really enjoyed Ralph Peters’ books, “Cain at Gettysburg” and “Hell or Richmond”. Both are hard hitting stories about battles in the Civil War and I had assumed that this was also about the battles. Although it does tell of the Battle of Bull Run, it is primarily a mystery set in early 1861. It is a well written, who done it filled with facts from that time era. It is historically correct and when he deviates from history, he notes this at the end of the book.

I highly recommend this. It is one in a series of six books and because I found it so enjoyable, I will be reviewing the other five eventually. Mr. Peters is a master at telling a great story woven around the historical events of that time period. For anyone who enjoys historical fiction set in the Civil War era, these are must read books.