Your host:
- Welcome! I am a mystery enthusiast and pleased to serve as your host for this challenge. Here is my personal web page and my Mystillery blog. You can email me at rickmills9@gmail.com - Rick Mills
Instructions:
- Advance signup is not needed.
- Obtain a set of four Beachcomber beach bags. Use one of these:
- Here is a one page grid in PDF with all four categories ready to fill in.
- Here is a plain text list which is easy to copy/paste onto a blog tracking page.
- Here is a Google Sheet which is View-only, but you can open it and do FILE>DOWNLOAD to make your own spreadsheet.
- Mark the items on the beach bags as you find them in your books. This is on the honor system - no need to submit any author/title information.
- For Crime Scenes, find a letter which occurs anywhere in the word. The crime scene could be a specific room, building, outdoor area, street, city, state, or country. You are not limited to the author's exact words. For example, if you need a "P", and someone uses a "trail", feel free to replace that with a P for "Path".
- For Detectives, find a letter which occurs anywhere in the detective's name.
- Titles do not count. For example, "Inspector Closeau" could count for A, but not for T.
- You can use anyone who has the detective role in the story, it need not be an 'official' detective.
- You may find more than one detective per book, but use each one only once, however...
- You can reuse a detective by reading additional books - for example, if you read two Nero Wolfe books, you can use Nero Wolfe for both F and O.
- For Victims, find a letter which occurs anywhere in the victim's name. Victims must be dead. You may find more than one per book, but use each one only once.
- For Weapons , find a letter which occurs anywhere in the word. You are not limited to the author's exact words. For example, if you need a "G", and someone uses a "pistol", feel free to replace that with "Gun".
- WILD CARDS! You are allowed four WILD CARDS total. These are freebies to replace those last hard-to-find items. Just write in "Wild Card". You can use them on any beach bag, even all four on one beach bag if that is needed.
as you fill each beach bag. Honor system - you need not list nor document your books.
- You will get a cabana on the beach upon filling your first beach bag!
Rules:
- Challenge is open Jan 1 to Dec 31 2023.
- Print books, audio books, radio dramatizations, short stories, or e-books may be used.
- Beach bags may be filled in any order.
- You can use any book as many times as you like.
- You can work the beach bags simultaneously.
- Bloggers are welcome to any images for your blog.
FAQ:
- Can I repeat the Beachcomber? Yes, once you complete a set of four beach bags, you can begin another set.
Archive:
Messaging:
If you wish to contact another challenger, first try the Goodreads message system:
- Click on the Goodreads icon on the challenger's line on the main page. This brings you to their Goodreads profile.
- Click the MORE button (with the down arrow)
- Click MESSAGE. This - hopefully - brings up a message form. Just fill it out!
- If the challenger does not have Goodreads, or is not accepting Goodreads messages, send an email to me (rickmills9@gmail.com) indicating who you wish to message. I will inquire of that challenger if they wish to message with you.
Privacy:
- Your name: You can choose how you wish your name to appear. If you wish to change it, just let me know.
- Your preferred pronouns will be honored if provided.
- Your image: You can choose your icon image. Initially, this is set to a publicly available image if I can find one (Google account, Goodreads profile, etc.) If you do not wish your image to appear, a generic icon may be used. Just email it to me. Keep in mind they are tiny (50 px wide).
- Your location is optional.
- Your email address is never posted, and is not shared with other challengers unless you specifically allow.
Back to the challenge page Revised June 1 2023