Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

The Shingle Weaver’s Picnic by P.C. Smith is a sweeping murder mystery told through the eyes of a young girl as she and her younger brother sort out the effects of their late mother. Annie Elizabeth Jordan, Cricket to her friends, was just a child when the U.S. was dragged into war in late 1941. With her pilot father stationed at Pearl Harbor and killed in the first wave of Japanese bombers, her family was shrouded in grief. With her mother expecting their second child, Cricket would make their annual summer visit to her beloved grandparents in the U.S. Northwest on the train by herself this year. But this summer was to be like none she had experienced before as violence and brutality were to visit the small town of Everett, Washington State when a young girl is murdered and one of Cricket’s summer friends is arrested as the culprit. It is up to Cricket’s elderly grandfather, a retired lawyer and judge, to try to unravel the mystery and defend her friend from an unjust prosecution. It is a year in which Cricket has to try to understand the adult world and what could motivate adults to perpetrate such evil actions as war and murder.

The Shingle Weaver’s Picnic is a beautifully written and charmingly endearing account of how a young girl can come to terms with the seemingly senseless violence and brutality perpetrated by adults in this world. Author P.C. Smith has found a perfect balance between a young girl’s innocence and naiveté, with an understanding of the greed and motivation that drives some people to commit heinous acts. I particularly appreciated the descriptive flow of the narrative and was able to picture perfectly the small-town, petty-minded, and nosy neighbor environment of Everett as well as its glorious nature and beauty of the location. For me, the absolute highlight of the story was Cricket’s conversations with God. The innocence and sweetness of her requests and the manner of her prayers were just gorgeous and while displaying her naïve nature, they also showed her mature understanding of the events taking place around her. The author’s choice to present Cricket’s most challenging experience at the event that should have been the highlight of her annual visit, the annual fair, was inspiring. What should have been the event that she carried back home as a highlight would become the day she would never forget for all the wrong reasons. I thoroughly enjoyed this page-turning adventure and can highly recommend it.