Welcome to the Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge for 2026! Your goal as Medical Examiner is to read murder mysteries and attach toe tags to the unfortunate victim(s). Just read the obscure General Information page and then file your death certificate. M U R M U R S from the M O R G U E: The Gold Gurney, Silver Scalpel, and Bronze Body Bag honorary badges (for most toe tags, titles, and authors, respectively) will begin posting on February 1! Jan 30: OutsmartYourShelf (United Kingdom) grips the garish Garnet Gloves for gaining 50 toe tags! Jan 30: Tina Hilbert (Ohio) and JenneB (Pennsylvania) finagle the Fuschia Forceps for fastening 200 toe tags!   Review previous challenges: 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 • 2025

Who else examined my book? Enter Author or Title:

BUREAU of VITAL STATISTICS updated FRI JAN 30 2026 @ 7.00 PM EST
Medical Examiners 2 3		Authors	Titles 1 5 1	Toe Tags 1 2 3 5	Autopsy notes	Personal effects
	JenneB Pennsylvania Fuchsia Forceps (200 Toe Tags) @1/29	14	17	252
	Tina Hilbert Ohio Lavender Lab Coat (100 Toe Tags) @1/22 Fuchsia Forceps (200 Toe Tags) @1/30	12	21	239
	Susan Jensen Arizona Garnet Gloves (50 Toe Tags) @1/24	9	10	96
	Tracy House New York Garnet Gloves (50 Toe Tags) @1/25	6	9	90
	Beth M North Carolina	4	4	79
	Vallery Louisiana Garnet Gloves (50 Toe Tags) @1/29	8	8	72
	Rick Mills Maine Chief Medical Examiner Garnet Gloves (50 Toe Tags) @1/21	9	11	66
	OutsmartYourShelf The United Kingdom Garnet Gloves (50 Toe Tags) @1/30	8	9	63
	Linda B Kentucky	7	7	48
	Bev "Quincy" Hankins Indiana	7	7	35
Medical Examiner		Authors	Titles	Toe Tags	Notes	Personal effects
	Horror Girl Texas	7	7	34
	Colleen Illinois	6	8	33
	Jjean Texas	6	6	28
	Tara Taylor Illinois	5	5	27
	batkat West Virginia	2	2	20
	Erika Morris California	3	4	13
	SueC Utah	2	3	10
	Shannon The Netherlands	2	3	9
	Traci L. Illinois	4	4	9
	Jace Boyer .	2	2	6
	Tari Hann Ohio	2	2	4
	Dianne Lebold Ontario	1	1	1
	Jules Vandemberg Italy	1	1	1
2025 morgue staff resting below this line
	Sanacrow Tennessee	0	0	0
	Karen A New Mexico	0	0	0
	Terry M. Minnesota	0	0	0
	AfterPlague Florida	0	0	0
	Karen Baroness Texas	0	0	0
	Jen McFarren Texas	0	0	0
Medical Examiner		Authors	Titles	Toe Tags	Notes	Personal effects

Ambiguous instructions and arbitrary rules are found on the General Information page.

Key to symbols Moved up a position(s) New or updated today Update pending Goodreads librarian Kill-o-tag, 1000+ toe tags High column stat 2nd place column stat Tracker page Blog Goodreads profile Mystillery group on Goodreads Instagram Paperback Swap

Chief Medical Examiner's journal Mystillery Morgue Friday, January 30 : It was almost midnight, and the pathology room in the basement of All Saints Hospital was deserted except for Masuto, Dr. Sam Baxter, and Dr. Alvin Levine, the resident pathologist whom Masuto had dragged out of bed and pressed into service. Naked and white and sliced open, Saunders's corpse lay on the table. Baxter, washing his hands, said to Levine, "You don't have to close. Just put him on ice. He'll hold." "You'll be back tomorrow to close him?" "Why? He's dead, isn't he? Any damn fool can sew him up." E.V. Cunningham (pseudonym of Howard Fast), writing in The Case of the Sliding Pool, 1981.

Honorary badges Gold Gurney Most Toe Tags Silver Scalpel Most Titles Bronze Body Bag Most Authors Magenta Magnifier 500 Toe Tags Scarlet Sponge 400 Toe Tags Brass Bone Saw 300 Toe Tags Fuchsia Forceps 200 Toe Tags Lavender Lab Coat 100 Toe Tags Garnet Gloves 50 Toe Tags

A Mystillery challenge hosted by Rick Mills rickmills9@gmail.com