Fifty-Four Pigs: A Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery

Fifty-four Pigs is the first book in the Dr Bannerman Vet Mystery series by Canadian veterinarian and author, Philipp Schott. Due to his hyperrational brain and his eye for detail, veterinarian Dr Peter Bannerman has a bit of a reputation in his Manitoba hometown of New Selfoss. He quite likes being thought of as a quasi-PI, and has solved a mystery or two, to the occasional embarrassment of the local RCMP. So an explosion and fire, practically in front of his eyes, at his friend Tom Pearson’s pig barn has him intrigued. Tom believes it’s the animal liberationists who have been sending threatening emails about his bear hunting activities, but Peter’s brother-in-law, RCMP corporal Kevin Gudmundurson reveals there was a human corpse in with Tom’s fifty-four pigs. They come up with theories about it, but soon after, Peter and Laura’s house is broken into. Some valuables are gone, but the bizarre aspect is that the thieves emptied their freezer of meat. Is this somehow related to Tom’s fire? Outside of his usual work at the New Selfoss Veterinary Services clinic, Peter likes to drink perfectly-brewed tea, forest bathe, walk the frozen lake and scent train Pippin, his lab-husky-border-collie mix, who has proved himself as a champion scent dog in various competitions. Even though the RCMP mark Tom as a suspect, especially when he suddenly disappears, Peter is convinced his friend is innocent of any wrongdoing, actually surprising himself by leaning away from his usual logic and towards loyalty, to try to prove this. It turns out that body in the barn is murder victim and, in fairly quick succession, another break-in, a brutal murder, and a pursuit through the forest by the probable killer, result in warnings by Kevin and pleas from Laura to leave the investigating to the police. But when he’s objective, Peter can see it’s like an addiction for him, stubborn intellectual pride, “a compulsion to solve a problem himself and reaffirm to the world that Peter Bannerman was indeed the cleverest boy in the class”. Pippin (via nose) ably assists in proving a few of his suspicions, but it’s when he and Pippin are out on the frozen lake in a blizzard, being chased over ice and snow by a gunman, that he realises the error of an early assumption. In a cleverly-plotted cosy mystery that stars a quirky protagonist with an equally quirky cast of support characters, Schott manages to include a pair of bear poachers, a mystery watcher, an elusive black F150 truck, an enigmatic scrap of paper filled with Hangul, a number of interesting veterinary consults, and a smart, heroic dog. Plenty of intrigue and a good helping of humour lead up to an exciting climax. Schott does include a soapbox moment on boutique grain-free dog food, a subject about which he is clearly passionate. More of Peter Bannerman and Pippin is most definitely welcome: luckily Dr Bannerman Vet Mystery #2: Six Ostriches will follow. hopefully soon. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and ECW Press