While pigs need daily attention, producers still need to find time for some leisure, so why not read a good book – especially if the book has a porcine connection?
Certainly the teaser to Fifty-Four Pigs: A Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery by Philipp Schott seems likely to hook the interest of pig producers.
“A swine barn explodes near a lakeside town, putting veterinarian Dr. Peter Bannerman on a collision course with murder and a startling conspiracy,” it notes. “. . . 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 author, himself a veterinarian said he had long wanted to right a mystery series one which would extend beyond a single volume which would allow him “to develop characters, setting location, over a period of time.”
While subsequent books have more ‘exotic’ critters as the central element of a mystery; ostriches and Bengal kittens, the first one has pigs dying in a barn explosion and fire to kickstart the mystery.
Schott, who was born in Germany but grew up in Saskatoon where he eventually went to veterinary school, said it wasn’t a case of pigs holding any special place in his mind – nor his veterinary practice.
“The only way I touch pigs is in processed edible form,” he admitted in a recent interview.
But, an image of a swine barn exploding, the veterinarian arriving just as it happened, was the germ of an idea Schott said he had to pursue.
And he does manage to make it feel real as when he mentioned some of the pigs lost were the heritage breed Red Wattle which were valuable because of the heritage status.
That said, Schott whose career was based in Winnipeg says farm visits the character Dr. Bannerman must make was challenging to write about.
“As a veterinarian you pick up a lot by osmosis. . . colleagues talking and reading journals,” he said, adding that even hen there were times he was still “winging it” as to exactly how a rural vet went about the daily procedures.
The author also reminds Fifty-Four Pigs – and subsequent titles in the serious – are not deeply serious mysteries.
“It’s meant to be a fun read,” he said.
Even the title in the first book is something of an inside joke for Schott, who said he was 54 when he began writing the novel.
The book, released a few years ago is the debut Dr. Bannerman mystery which will see the release of its fourth book — Three Bengal Kittens – releasing in April, and a fifth book written and a sixth idea germinating in the author’s mind.
You can find Fifty-Four Pigs via ecwpress.com •
— By Calvin Daniels