Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge 2026

Today's highlighted author: Robert Van Gulik writer of the Judge Dee mystery series. Click Lan-Fang Owl to see is targeting this author !

Welcome to the Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge for 2026! Your goal is simple: shoot (read) six mysteries by the same target (author). That gives you a notch on your gun, and a perfect 1.000 score; and you can call it done. But wait, there's more! You get bonus points for each additional notch. Unlike many reading challenges, reading more books may not necessarily help your score. Scores are not based upon quantity, but rather focus in completing your target(s). No advance signup needed. This is a family friendly challenge - young series readers are encouraged to get some safe target practice here! Just read the General Information page and then take a shot to begin. R I C O C H E T S from the S H O O T I N G   G A L L E R Y: Jan 15: Colleen (Illinois) knocks off her first target (Freida McFadden ), pushing her score above 1.000; to put her at Sharpshooter level! Jan 14: Erika Morris (California) knocks off her first target (John Sandford), her score rises above 3.000, earning Ammonuensis level! Jan 14: YalondaReads (Germany) knocks off her first target (Heather Graham), her score rises above 2.000, earning Booksniper level!   Review previous challenges: 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 • 2025

Who else took a shot at my book? Enter Author or Title:

SHOOTING GALLERY updated SAT JAN 17 2026 @ 7.30 PM EST
Gunslingers 1 7		Shots 4 6	Notches 0 8	TCP chart	+ bonus	= score	Targets	FMI
	Erika Morris California	2	1	3.000	0	3.000
	Traci L. Illinois	5	2	2.400	0.100	2.500		x
	YalondaReads Germany	3	1	2.000	0	2.000		x
	JenneB Pennsylvania	4	1	1.500	0	1.500
	Karen A New Mexico	5	1	1.200	0	1.200
	Tina Hilbert Ohio	5	1	1.200	0	1.200
	Colleen Illinois	6	1	1.000	0	1.000
	Shannon The Netherlands	6	0	0	0	0
	Rick Mills Maine	5	0	0	0	0
	Avid Series Reader New Mexico	2	0	0	0	0
	batkat West Virginia	1	0	0	0	0
	Jjean Texas	1	0	0	0	0
	Linda B Kentucky	1	0	0	0	0
	SueC Utah	1	0	0	0	0
	Tari Hann Ohio	0	0	0	0	0
	Bev "Annie Oakley" Hankins Indiana	0	0	0	0	0
	Lynn Pennsylvania	0	0	0	0	0
2025 gunslingers reloading below this line
	Beth M North Carolina	0	0	0	0	0
	Sanacrow Tennessee	0	0	0	0	0
	OutsmartYourShelf The United Kingdom	0	0	0	0	0
	Terry M. Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0
	Vallery Louisiana	0	0	0	0	0
	Dianne Lebold Ontario	0	0	0	0	0
	Morgan H Australia	0	0	0	0	0
	Karen Baroness Texas	0	0	0	0	0
	Jen McFarren Texas	0	0	0	0	0
Gunslinger		Shots	Notches	TCP	+ bonus	= score	Targets	FMI

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

Key to symbols
Notch	Sets of six books by one author completed
TCP	Target Completion Percentage. This is similar to a baseball batting average. Ratio of notches achieved to the number of shots taken. The formula is (notches/shots)*6. See the chart (PDF). Shots which complete a target will increase your TCP. Shots which do not complete a target will decrease your TCP. A perfect TCP is 1.000 or any multiple.
Shots	Number of books read
Bonus	Each notch (beyond the first one) directly adds a 0.100 bonus
Score	TCP + bonus
	Moved up
	New or updated today
	Update pending
	Goodreads librarian
	Perfect (1.000 or multiple)
	Sharpshooter level (score 1.000+ at some point)
	Booksniper level (score 2.000+ at some point)
	Ammonuensis level (score 3.000+ at some point)
	High column stat
	2nd place column stat
	Shooting Gallery
?	Tracker page
	Blog
	Goodreads profile
	Mystillery group on Goodreads
	Instagram
	Paperback Swap bookshelf

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