Although Parisian Shadows makes use of interesting subject matter, the story itself fell short of riveting for me. The mystery described in the synopsis takes up perhaps 10% of the book; the rest is one man's coming-of-age/coming-of-middle-age/coming-of-old-age tale, reading more like a memoir than a novel. There may be an audience for this, but unfortunately I wasn't it.

To the good, I found the French/Welsh background, multilingual families, and history of occupied Paris intriguing. Particularly with regard to the languages, it was clear the author was writing from experience. Readers from a similar background might appreciate the puns and references more than I did.

However, there is a great amount of detail in this book which seems extraneous and banal, neither illuminating character nor moving the plot forward. The hero's pursuit of the central mystery, conducted over the course of 40 or 50 years, feels half-hearted and lacking in urgency. In between the major plot points are vast deserts of anecdotal detours and daily life, and a panoply of minor characters who appear for a scene and then disappear. Those characters who did stick around for more than a scene or two, I felt I could not relate to.

Perhaps this mundane, impressionistic narrative was intentional. Even so, it would have benefited from a great deal more attention to the plot. The author is clearly a capable wordsmith and knowledgeable with regard to local color; the story had potential, but in my opinion, it wasn't fully realized.

Thank you to NetGalley and Troubador for the complimentary ebook version.

An excellent read for any and all readers! Author comes at you with both barrels and knocks you out of your shoes! Great job fleshing out all the characters. I give this book FIVE stars! Definitely recommend!

Parisian Shadows by Brian Jarmon was not quite what I expected when reading the summary. I had a difficult time staying with the novel and following the plot development. The timeline occurred over a span of 50+ years with many family secrets revealed during that span. Told from the male main character's point of view although interspersed with third person. Maybe it was just my mood in reading this book at this time.

Released Mar. 28th. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.