Peter Bannerman, veterinarian and amateur detective, deserves a summer vacation. Peter and his family head to a remote fishing lodge in northern Manitoba for a canoeing trip with his champion sniffer dog, Pippin. But a series of incidents color their plans. The lodge’s sled team of huskies has been poisoned and, at the same time, a floatplane crashes into the lake, killing the pilot and both passengers. While Peter works to save the huskies, it is discovered that the plane crash wasn’t an accident. It was murder.

It’s been a hot and dry summer, and one morning the Bannerman family wakes up to find a forest fire spreading quickly. They manage to dodge the conflagration, making it back to the lodge before it becomes cut off from the outside world. Peter soon figures out that the murderer, who probably also poisoned the huskies, must be among the other guests or staff trapped with them at the lodge. The power fails. The now-enormous fire draws nearer. Can Peter discover the culprit in time?

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Philipp Schott lives in Winnipeg where he practices veterinary medicine, writes, and shares a creaky old house on the river with his wife, kids, cats, and dog. His first book, The Accidental Veterinarian, was a bestseller and was translated into five languages. Six other books have followed. This is his third Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery.

“Wonderful, unique characters (including Peter’s sniffer dog, Pippin), a dramatic setting, and a brisk plot all make for an excellent mystery.” — firstClue Reviews

“Even though the series is cozy — quiet in tone, cast with quirky personalities, including a sleuth-helping pet, and all violence off-stage — there’s a lot of humanity to enrichen the plot.” — The New York Journal Review of Books