I enjoyed this book. The recurrent characters are great as are the new ones. The story is fast-paced and really held my attention. Importantly, the book works well as a stand-alone. There were a couple of things that I particularly appreciated. Some of the characters had accents, but instead of using phonetic spelling to convey the accent, Schott used non-syntactic sentence structure to convey the accent. The other thing Schott did well was when he made pop culture references, he smoothly worked in a quick explanation which I found helpful. I found this book to be well worth reading. Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for the advance reader copy.

4 stars

This book is a great addition to the Dr. Peter Bannerman series. Peter is a veterinarian who practices in beautiful Manitoba where he lives with his creative wife Laura and their sniffer dog, Pippin. I am absolutely positive that the author, Dr. Schott loves animals as much as his character Peter. He is a vet I would like to take my assortment of animals to.

I really like the descriptions of the scenery that backgrounds every story in the series. I like the mixture of English, French and First Nations speech. It makes the dialogue so much more authentic. I also appreciate the made up words in the novel such as “Canicide.” (chuckle).

Peter is an amateur detective, aided of course, by Pippin. I like reading about his adventures and near-misses. He seems like such a kind person. And his relationship with his wife is endearing. I will certainly continue to read Dr. Schott’s books!

I want to thank NetGalley and ECW Press for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

I really enjoy the Dr. Peter Bannerman series. Dr. Peter is a veterinarian with a wonderful dog Pippen who has one of the best sniffing noses in the province. Dr. Peter is a bit quirky, but he knows it and embraces it. (If we could all be so wise to embrace our quirkiness.) I also love that his wife knits custom items with hobbits and other interesting items, probably pushing infringement rights ... but at such a small scale that its under the radar. When ever an advance read by Philipp Schott is available, I try to put it at the top of my list.

So ... back to the story. Dr. Peter is called in because someone's sled dogs have all become sick (at the same time). As Dr. Peter arrives, he finds out that a float plane crashed the prior day and is being investigated. Interesting. Coincidence? Or not?

I really enjoyed this story. (One chapter in particular needed a bit more detail in my opinion, but giving that info to the publisher.)

Even though i really like the Dr. Bannerman series, I really like Philipp Schott's book The Willow Wren. It has a really different perspective of WWII and is based on one of Philipp Schott's relatives.

Many thanks to NetGalley, first for introducing me to Philipp Schott. And thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Eleven Huskies in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 14 May 2024. (So glad that my 500th NetGalley review is a Philipp Schott novel. And another good one.)

A very enjoyable mystery! Dr Bannerman, a vet, is called to investgate the poisoning of eleven huskies at the same time as a small plane crash nearby. He's a very methodical, orderly and precise man which leads him eventually to conclude the two incidents must be related. And so starts his investigation into the two incidents, together with his wife, his dog Pippin, and his RCMP brother-in-law. This was more than a cosy mystery but less than a heavy thriller. A comfortable, easy reading mystery. This is the third book in the series. I haven't read the first two books but I was able to pick up the characters and references quite easily. The only thing that isn't mentioned is what type of dog Pippin is! Maybe that's in the other two books! All round good read!
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Eleven Huskies by Dr. Philipp Schott. Having enjoyed the two previous books featuring Dr. Peter Bannerman, veterinarian and amateur detective, I immediately moved it to the top of my reading list. Recently, I have been struggling with finishing several books and even not completing a couple. I felt this would be an entertaining remedy for my reading slump due to my experience reading about Dr. Peter's compelling exploits. I found this compelling mystery even better than the previous two crime books in the series.

The author, Dr. Schott, lives in Winnipeg and has many years of clinical practice in veterinary medicine. Before starting this fictional series, he wrote popular books of anecdotes and essays about his clinical experiences as a vet. His fictional series, starring Dr. Peter Bannerman, describes a man involved in criminal cases due to the animals connected, much to the dismay of his wife, who fears for his safety. His brother-in-law, Kevin, is a member of the RCMP and regards Peter's investigations as interference in police procedures.

Pet owners admire and respect Dr. Peter as a capable and caring veterinarian, but he is regarded as odd in the community. He has obsessive-compulsive traits and minor characteristics of autism. He has displayed some difficulty in socializing and in reading people. He does feel emotions but submerges them with rational, logical thought guided by order, numbers, lists, and his love of puzzles. In this book, his unusual thought patterns and problems conversing with people are not as noticeable. He has been following advice and making a great effort to socialize and talk to people.
Dr. Peter makes a quick trip to the north of Manitoba before a family camping holiday. The remote area is noted for visitors who hunt in the forests and fish in the lakes. The writing is descriptive and atmospheric, and the characters are intriguing and believable. He discovers that a lodge owner has eleven husky sled dogs that have fallen sick. It is believed that someone poisoned their food. Dr. Peter arranges to have the sick animals transported south to Winnipeg for further diagnosis and vet care. He also learns that a floatplane has been shot down, and three people on board have been killed. He feels that the two crimes must be more than a coincidence.

After a quick flight home, he returns for the camping adventure with his champion sniffer dog, Pippin, his wife, her brother, RCMP officer Kevin and Kevin's significant other. Peter is obsessed with the well-being of the sled dogs now in Winnipeg, and a way the plane shot down may be connected. The situation surely won't interfere with a pleasant camping vacation in the wilderness. A raging forest fire approaches, and the group must run for their lives. The firestorm rapidly surrounds them, and Peter's eyes are temporarily damaged. Some unexpected help saves their lives and gets them back to the lodge.

The complex plot now shifts to a locked room mystery. There are twenty-four inside the lodge, and one may be a killer. There is a former guide and trapper that Kevin suspects. He resembles Santa Claus and is friendly and jovial, but he is considered a loony and wanders around outside with a gun. Did he set the fires? Among the guests are American fishermen and three Belorussian men gathering mushrooms. Why would they come all the way for mushrooms? Kevin suspects a nefarious purpose. It is known that one of the staff members has a criminal record. Peter believes he has worked out a motive involving a deranged, frustrated romantic obsession. The generators go out in the blizzard, and the fire approaches the lodge. The radio has been broken. Who is sabotaging the equipment?

Everything is thrown into darkness. A shot rings out, and someone is seriously wounded. The people gathered in the darkened room are terrified. Who will be the next victim? Physical fights break out as they struggle to save themselves from the gunman. Have Peter or Kevin come closest to figuring out the solution to the crime spree, or is it too late? Will the lodge catch on fire amid all the terror and chaos?
Recommended to readers who like complex crime stories, especially ones involving animals. The publication date will be in May.

The Dr. Bannerman series has been some of my favorite books I’ve ever read, they bring me immense joy. I don’t typically read mysteries, but the series has completely captured my heart and I hope for more of these novels. Eleven Huskies is a fantastic addition, I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a lighter read or is into mysteries.

In short summary the series are cozy mysteries that follows Dr. Peter Bannerman, a veterinarian, and his dog Pippen as they attempt to solve animal and human crimes in and around the Manitoba town of New Selfoss. Eleven Huskies is a wonderful addition to the series, keeping the tone consistent but relocating the action to a hunting lodge in Northern Manitoba. The stakes are high, as a mushing team of huskies has been poisoned, there’s been a plane accident murder and a fire has locked the occupants of the hunting lodge in with the murderer. Can Peter figure out the poisoner?

Eleven Huskies has many of the hallmarks of the series – Prairie landscapes and people, the high stakes of animal lives and the somewhat hapless investigations of Dr. Bannerman. The story keeps with my expectations of the series, it was jaunty, easy to follow and held my interest well. I was pleased with the pacing and found the ending similarly satisfying to the other books of the series.

The strength of the series is in their wonderful sense of place, there is a granularity that is really beautiful in the setting. It’s a lot of fun to have a novel set like this in the Canadian prairie. Almost all of the characters are very well drawn and feel like full individuals. Even people met in passing have an interiority that is appealing.

Part of the fun is these books are told through Dr. Bannerman’s perspective, whose limited social skills, slight obliviousness and mild superiority complex often prevent him from seeing the full extent of the situation. You are seeing the world through Peter’s scope and you are along for the ride with him, for all his powers and flaws.

I hope this series continues and would love for Pippen and Peter to cast farther abroad in other Canadian provinces!