For readers of The Thursday Murder Club comes a lighthearted mystery with an incredible sense of place

A swine barn explodes near a lakeside town, putting veterinarian Dr. Peter Bannerman on a collision course with murder and a startling conspiracy.

Peter is an odd duck, obsessed with logic and measurable facts, an obsession he puts to good use in his veterinary practice. When a murder is connected to the swine barn explosion and his friend Tom becomes the prime suspect, Peter feels compelled to put his reasoning skills, and his dog Pippin’s remarkable nose, to use to help clear him.

The situation darkens with a second murder and a series of break-ins, including at Peter’s house and clinic, but Peter has a hard time knowing when he is out of his depth, despite warnings from his brother-in-law Kevin, an RCMP officer.

Ultimately Peter finds himself out in the middle of a frozen lake during a blizzard, fighting for his life and confronting a horrifying realization he had been blind to all along.

Philipp Schott's profile page

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Philipp Schott was born in Germany and grew up in Saskatoon. He now lives in Winnipeg, where he practises veterinary medicine, writes, and shares an old house on the Assiniboine River with his wife, two teenagers, three cats, and a dog. His first book, The Accidental Veterinarian, was a bestseller and was translated into four languages. The Willow Wren is his quasi-fictional account of his family before, during, and after World War II.

“Original, well-constructed, with a cast of interesting characters — I hope this isn’t the last we’ll read about Dr. Peter Bannerman and Pippin.” — Ian Hamilton, author of the Ava Lee series

“With Dr. Peter Bannerman, Philipp Schott has created a unique brand of amateur detective, one who is as amiable as he is enigmatic, as inquisitive and old-timey as Sherlock Holmes, yet thoroughly modern, and believes that detective work and veterinary medicine are a perfectly logical pairing. The reader can’t help but be entranced and embraced by Schott’s charming and saucily unusual first book in what should be a long-running series.” — Anthony Bidulka, author of the Russell Quant Mystery series

“Meet a very welcome addition to Canada’s fictional crime-busters; amateur sleuth Peter Bannerman, beloved veterinarian and tea connoisseur, with his clever sniffer-dog associate, Pippin. Philipp Schott’s small town Manitoba characters are wonderfully engaging and entertaining, and his writing is almost as Nordic as the town, spare, humorous and gripping by turns. Deadly and delightful, Fifty-Four Pigs is a delicious read with some of the most beautiful descriptions of a prairie winter anywhere.” — Iona Whishaw, author of the Lane Winslow Mystery series

“So compelling and it is clear that Schott is setting us up for what could be a most satisfying series. Bring on book two!” — First Clue newsletter