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. U P D A T E S Dec 1: Here is Mystillery Newsletter #16 for December. Nov 29: Susan Jensen (Arizona) ties her 400th toe tag to slip the Squishy Scarlet Sponge away from Avid Series Reader. Susan still holds the Bent Brass Bone Saw for most recent 300th as well. Nov 27: Tina Hilbert (Utah) and Jjean (Missouri) jointly take the new Massive Magnesium Magnifier award, just instituted for most recent 500th toe tag! Nov 22: At our current average rate of 869 Toe Tags written per month, we are expecting to exceed 10,000 for this year! Last year only 2719 were written.

Morgue:

Welcome to the Morgue. We have a full staff of 37 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
• NEW: Massive Magnesium Magnifier: Most recent 500th Toe Tag
• 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 DEC 1 2021 @ 9.00 am EST convert sorted by toe tags issued. highest stats highlighted in green. 2nd highest in yellow.
Medical Examiners 3 7		Toe Tags tied 9 7 0 6	/ Books read 1 7 8 0	= TPB* 5. 4 5	Autopsy notes	Personal effects
	Sanacrow Tennessee Groaning Golden Gurney (most toe tags @ 1243)	1243	121	10.27
	C0NTENTH0MEB0DY USA	1219	123	9.91
	Laura Marlane Nebraska	1140	102	11.17
	Bev Hankins Indiana Slippery Silver Scalpel (most books @ 185) Bulging Bronze Body Bag (most authors @ 124)	778	185	4.20
	OutsmartYourShelf The United Kingdom	752	133	5.65
	Tracy New York	661	103	6.41
	Jjean Missouri Massive Magnesium Magnifier (500th toe tag)	573	105	5.45
	Tina Hilbert Utah Massive Magnesium Magnifier (500th toe tag)	549	103	5.33
	SueC Utah	464	101	4.59
	Avid Series Reader New Mexico	448	73	6.13
	Susan Jensen Arizona Squishy Scarlet Sponge (400th toe tag) Bent Brass Bone Saw (300th Toe Tag)	401	74	5.41
	Rick Mills Maine	355	114	3.11
	Scott Nickels Nebraska	343	61	5.62
	Traci L. Illinois Floppy Fuschia Forceps (200th toe tag)	205	115	1.78
	Erika California Lavender Lab Coat (100th toe tag)	184	34	5.41
	Guatemala Paula Texas	112	30	3.73
	Jen Alaska	101	15	6.73
	sk888888 New Jersey	96	24	4.00
	Simone C Alabama	70	32	2.18
	Tara Illinois	55	18	3.05
	Karen Baroness Montana	46	34	1.35
	BobbeyM Texas	36	10	3.60
	Kirstin B. Massachusetts	33	27	1.22
	Shannon The Netherlands	22	4	5.50
	DrDoom Alberta	20	4	5.00
	Sarah Whitten Texas	19	2	9.50
	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 Nebraska	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: At this moment Doctor Dorenus, the Medical Examiner, a brisk, nervous man with a jaunty air, was ushered in by one of the detectives I had seen in the drawing room. "What are your friends trying to do, Sergeant?" he asked, eyeing the inert body in the chair. "Wipe out the whole family?" Without waiting for an answer to his grim pleasantry he went to the windows and threw up the shades with a clatter. "You gentlemen all through viewing the remains? If so, I'll get to work." S. S. Van Dine, writing in The Greene Murder Case, 1928

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