• Welcome to the 2021 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge! Just read a book and submit your first Death Certificate to join.

• Your goal as Medical Examiner is to issue as many Toe Tags as you can during 2021, by reading murder mysteries and documenting the cause of death of the unfortunate victim(s).

• Here is Mystillery Newsletter #7 for March.

Morgue:

Welcome to the Morgue. We have a full staff of competent Medical Examiners ready to dissect your mystery readings. You may refer to their autopsy notes by clicking on their clipboards below.

Who else dissected my book? Enter Author or Title:

BUREAU of VITAL STATISTICS updated WED MAR 3 2021 @ 5 PM EST convert sorted by toe tags issued. highest stats highlighted in green.
Medical Examiners 28		Toe Tags tied 1450	/ Books read 339	= TPB*	Autopsy notes	Personal effects
	Laura Marlane Nebraska	233	24	9.70
	C0NTENTH0MEB0DY USA	176	23	7.65
	OutsmartYourShelf United Kingdom	107	26	4.11
	Bev Hankins Indiana	105	26	4.03
	Avid Series Reader New Mexico	102	17	6.00		<-- books for you!
	Sanacrow Tennessee	93	22	4.22
	Susan Jensen Arizona	86	15	5.73
	Jen Alaska	86	14	6.14
	Jjean Missouri	77	19	4.05
	Rick Mills Maine	68	23	2.95		<-- books for you!
	SueC Utah	66	19	3.47
	Tracy New York	41	13	3.141592
	Kirstin B. Massachusetts	33	27	1.22
	Traci L. Illinois	23	13	1.76
	Shannon The Netherlands	22	4	5.50
	Erika California	20	5	4.00
	Guatemala Paula Texas	18	8	2.25
	Tara Illinois	18	6	3.00		<-- books for you!
	sk888888 New Jersey	17	2	8.50
	Penelope Piebaker Ohio	15	5	3.00
	Tari Hann Ohio	11	6	1.83
	Dr. Kate Michigan	11	6	1.83
	Anna Marten Wisconsin	10	4	2.50
	BobbeyM Texas	7	2	3.50
	Angel Nebraska	6	1	6.00
	Rachel Roy Vermont	5	2	2.50
	Karen Baroness Montana	3	2	1.50
	Cheyenne McQuain Upstate New York	3	2	1.50
	Sharon Angle-Boyer North Carolina	3	1	3.00
	DrDoom Alberta	3	1	3.00
	Laura United Kingdom	2	1	2.00
	Brandi Wyoming	1	1	1.00

Key:

Moved up

New / updated

High column stat

* TPB = Toe Tags Per Book (average). This is a measure of how lethal your reading preferences are.

How to:

1. No advance signup necessary.
2. Read a murder mystery. Note the victim(s) and cause(s) of death. If unsure what counts, see the FAQ page.
3. Submit one Death Certificate per book, identifying the Cause(s) of Death of the victim(s). Any death (accidental, natural causes, homicide, suicide) counts, as long as the person is significant enough to be named in the book.
4. This page does not update in real time. Your submission generates an email to the Chief Medical Examiner, who will review the data and submit it to the Bureau of Vital Statistics; as summarized above.

Rules:

1. This challenge is open from Jan 1 2021 - Dec 24 2021.
2. Genres: You get to decide what is a 'mystery'. Traditional murder mysteries, thrillers, police procedurals, romances, all are welcome.
3. Formats: Print books, audio books, radio dramatizations, or e-books may be used.
4. You get one Toe Tag per victim. What counts? If the person is significant enough to be given a name, and includes a cause of death you can cite, then it counts. For more details on what counts and what doesn't, see the FAQ page.
5. Reviews: You do not need to write reviews, but you are welcome to. If you supply a link to your blog or Goodreads review, I will link to it.
6. Bloggers are welcome to copy the toe tag image from the header (or any image that catches your fancy) for your blog.

Prizes!

• At the close of the challenge, five active participants (chosen at random) may select a book from the prize list.

• Prizes awarded from Beachcomber, Medical Examiner, and Six Shooter will be mutually exclusive - that is, you can't win a prize from more than one challenge.

Archive:

• 2019 Medical Examiner's Reading Challenge
• 2020 Medical Examiner's Reading Challenge

Today's inspirational quote:

The last arrival of the evening was Dr. Sackett, the coroner's physician, grumbling at being summoned at so outlandish an hour; but he began his examination of the body without any comment. Milton M. Propper, writing in The Boudoir Murder, 1931.

Need more challenges?