Welcome to the 2021 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge! 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). Just read a book and submit your first Death Certificate to join. 15 days remain until the Abra Cadavers game closes for the 2021 season (Sep. 30) We know you are all anxiously awaiting the unveiling of the great new Mystillery game on October 1. It is only 16 days away! Here is something you can do to prepare! Without revealing too much yet, the game requires submissions of books you have read (since Jan 1 2021) which have numbers in their titles. You can go through your Medical Examiner Clipboard and your Six Shooter Gallery and note down any such titles, so you will be all ready on Day One! Here is Mystillery Newsletter #13 for September.

Morgue:

Welcome to the Morgue. We have a full staff of 36 competent Medical Examiners ready to examine your mystery readings. You may refer to their autopsy notes by clicking on their clipboard icons.

Honorary badges are conferred to autopsy leaders as follows. Each badge is handed off from person-to-person as earned.

• Groaning Golden Gurney: Most Toe Tags Issued
• Slippery Silver Scalpel: Most Books Read
• Bulging Bronze Body Bag: Most Authors Read
• Squishy Scarlet Sponge: Most recent 400th Toe Tag
• Bent Brass Bone Saw: Most recent 300th Toe Tag
• Floppy Fuschia Forceps: Most recent 200th Toe Tag
• Lavender Lab Coat: Most recent 100th Toe Tag

Who else examined my book? Enter Author or Title:

BUREAU of VITAL STATISTICS updated WED SEP 15 2021 @ 11.00 am EDT convert sorted by toe tags issued. highest stats highlighted in green. 2nd highest in yellow.
Medical Examiners 3 6		Toe Tags tied 7 2 6 6	/ Books read 1 3 8 9	= TPB*	Autopsy notes	Personal effects
	C0NTENTH0MEB0DY USA Groaning Golden Gurney (most toe tags @ 996)	996	103	9.66
	Laura Marlane Nebraska	949	85	11.16
	Sanacrow Tennessee	730	93	7.84
	Bev Hankins Indiana Slippery Silver Scalpel (most books @ 152) Bulging Bronze Body Bag (most authors @ 106)	680	152	4.47
	OutsmartYourShelf United Kingdom	518	101	5.12
	Tracy New York Squishy Scarlet Sponge (400th toe tag)	455	74	6.14
	Jjean Missouri	447	85	5.25
	Tina Hilbert Utah	372	72	5.16
	SueC Utah	366	77	4.75
	Avid Series Reader New Mexico Bent Brass Bone Saw (300th Toe Tag)	330	53	6.22
	Scott Nickels Nebraska	273	45	6.06
	Rick Mills Maine	273	89	3.06
	Susan Jensen Arizona Floppy Fuschia Forceps (200th toe tag)	213	40	5.32
	Traci L. Illinois	174	98	1.77
	Guatemala Paula Texas	112	30	3.73
	Erika California Lavender Lab Coat (100th toe tag)	110	22	5.00
	Jen Alaska	101	15	6.73
	sk888888 New Jersey	82	20	4.10
	Simone C Alabama	70	32	2.18
	Tara Illinois	55	18	3.05
	BobbeyM Texas	36	10	3.60
	Karen Baroness Montana	33	25	1.32
	Kirstin B. Massachusetts	33	27	1.22
	Shannon The Netherlands	22	4	5.50
	DrDoom Alberta	20	4	5.00
	Tari Hann Ohio	17	8	2.12
	Cheyenne McQuain Upstate New York	16	6	2.66
	Leonie Koch New York	16	5	3.20
	Penelope Piebaker Ohio	15	5	3.00
	Dr. Kate Michigan	11	6	1.83
	Anna Marten Wisconsin	10	4	2.50
	Angel 4Nebraska	6	1	6.00
	Rachel Roy Vermont	5	2	2.50
	Sharon Angle-Boyer North Carolina	3	1	3.00
	Laura United Kingdom	2	1	2.00
	Brandi Wyoming	1	1	1.00

Key to symbols
	Moved up
	New or updated today
	Honorary badge
	High column stat
	2nd place column stat
	Tracker page
	Blog
	Goodreads profile
	Paperback Swap bookshelf

* 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 Frequent Autopsy Questions (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. See the Frequent Autopsy Questions (FAQ) page for examples.
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. Generally, you should see your submission posted within 24 hours. If you do not see it, click the REFRESH button on your web browser to reload the page.

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 Frequent Autopsy Questions (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

M.E.'s notebook: Christopher Bennett, Coroner for Eastrepps, was seated at his office table in Church Street, a thin little man with greying hair and pendulous cheeks which gave him a very odd appearance, owing to the slightness of his body. But a man is as large as he feels, and Mr. Bennett was being called upon as Coroner to inquire into the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Miss Mary Hewitt. Francis Beeding, writing in Death Walks in Eastrepps, 1931

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