Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge 2026

Today's highlighted author: George Bellairs writer of the Thomas Littlejohn mystery series. Click Toby 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. However ... unlike most 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: May 11: Karen A (Arkansas) carves her sixth notch with the K-9 Unit multi-author series! See Rule 10 on the General Information page for details on how a multi-author series is scored. May 10: Shannon (The Netherlands) carves her second notch with target Ellie Alexander ! May 10: Colleen (Illinois) carves her third notch with target J.L. Hyde !   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 MON MAY 11 2026 @ 7.00 PM EDT
Gunslingers 2 5		Shots 3 9 0	Notches 5 4	TCP chart	+ bonus	= score	Targets	FMI
	Avid Series Reader New Mexico	17	5	1.764	0.400	2.164
	Erika Morris California	11	3	1.636	0.200	1.836
	Karen A Arkansas	27	6	1.333	0.500	1.833
	Traci L. Illinois	45	8	1.066	0.700	1.766
	SueC Utah	13	3	1.384	0.200	1.584
	Tina Hilbert Ohio	51	7	0.823	0.600	1.423
	Beth M North Carolina	10	2	1.200	0.100	1.300
	YalondaReads Germany	12	2	1.000	0.100	1.100
	OutsmartYourShelf The United Kingdom	30	4	0.800	0.300	1.100
	Colleen Illinois	21	3	0.857	0.200	1.057
Gunslinger		Shots	Notches	TCP	+ bonus	= score	Targets	FMI
	Sanacrow Tennessee	6	1	1.000	0	1.000
	JenneB Pennsylvania	6	1	1.000	0	1.000
	Rick Mills Maine	28	3	0.642	0.200	0.842
	Shannon The Netherlands	21	2	0.571	0.100	0.671
	Jjean Texas	9	1	0.666	0	0.666
	Bev "Annie Oakley" Hankins Indiana	9	1	0.666	0	0.666
	Linda B Kentucky	13	1	0.461	0	0.461
	Vallery Louisiana	30	1	0.200	0	0.200
	batkat West Virginia	19	0	0	0	0
	Dianne Lebold Ontario	8	0	0	0	0
Gunslinger		Shots	Notches	TCP	+ bonus	= score	Targets	FMI
	Jace Boyer	2	0	0	0	0
	Tari Hann Ohio	1	0	0	0	0
	Lynn Pennsylvania	1	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

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