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:

1. No advance signup necessary.
2. Read a murder mystery. Note the number of named victims.
3. Submit one Death Certificate per book, indicating the number of 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. Ready?
5. Please note there is a checkbox at the bottom of the Death Certificate form which, if checked, will simultaneously submit your entry to the Six Shooter Challenge, and save you typing everything all over again.
6. The challenge does not update in real time. Your submission generates an email to me, then I post it. Generally, you should see your submission posted within 24 hours. Some days the pages are updated frequently. If you do not see your submission, click the REFRESH button on your web browser to load the latest version.

Rules:

1. This challenge is open January 1 to December 31 2022.
2. Genres: You get to decide what is a 'mystery'. Traditional murder mysteries, thrillers, police procedurals, romances, true crime, 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, then it counts.
5. Reviews: Writing reviews is optional. If you supply a link to your blog or Goodreads review, the title of your submission 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.
7. Honorary badges are conferred to autopsy leaders as follows. An examiner holds a badge only until someone else qualifies for it. Multiple challengers may share a badge in case of simultaneous achievement.
   • Gold Gurney: Most Toe Tags Tied
   • Silver Scalpel: Most Books Read
   • Bronze Body Bag: Most Authors Read
   • Garnet Gloves: Most recent 50th Toe Tag
   • Lavender Lab Coat: Most recent 100th Toe Tag
   • Fuschia Forceps: Most recent 200th Toe Tag
   • Brass Bone Saw: Most recent 300th Toe Tag
   • Scarlet Sponge: Most recent 400th Toe Tag
   • Magenta Magnifier: Most recent 500th Toe Tag

Get Your Own Toe Tag:

• If you would like a nice official Medical Examiner's Toe Tag (complete with string) to use as a bookmark (or tie to the victim of your choice), juse send your mailing address to me at rickmills9@gmail.com.

Archive:

• 2019 Medical Examiner's Reading Challenge
• 2020 Medical Examiner's Reading Challenge
• 2021 Medical Examiner's Reading Challenge

Search:

• The title/author search engine function is only indexed on the first day of each month. Any submissions you make cannot be found by the search engine until the next first day of the next month passes.
• The search engine is provided free by a third-party service, in exchange for displaying a banner ad on the results page. The content of the banner ad is determined by the provider, not by your host.
• While we use this search engine as a title/author search, it actually searches every word on this site; so you can use other terms or names as well.

Messaging:

To contact your host, just email to rickmills9@gmail.com

If you wish to contact another challenger, first try the Goodreads message system:

1. Click on the Goodreads icon on the challenger's line on the main page. This brings you to their Goodreads profile.
2. Click the MORE button (with the down arrow)
3. Click MESSAGE. This - hopefully - brings up a message form. Just fill it out!
4. If the challenger does not have Goodreads, or is not accepting Goodreads messages, send an email to me indicating who you wish to message. I will inquire of that challenger.

Privacy:

• Your name: You can choose how you wish your name to appear. If you wish to change it, just let me know.
• 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 preferred pronouns will be used if provided.
• Your email address is never posted, and is not shared with other challengers unless you specifically allow.

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Back to the challenge page • Revised Dec 7 2022