Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge 2026

Today's highlighted author: Alafair Burke writer of the Ellie Hatcher mystery series. Click Samantha McOwl 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). Jump right in! 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: Your host will be out of the office from TUE SEP 29 through FRI OCT 2 and Mystillery challenges will not be updated during that period. Please continue your submissions as usual during the interim. As your host will be away on October 1 and not able to rent you those ugly shoes, Mystillery Lanes has opened a bit early for the bowling season! Make note of your 2026 reads with numbers in the titles, and start rolling! Sep 27: Avid Series Reader (New Mexico) carves notch #11 with target James Lee Burke ! Sep 28: Beth M (North Carolina) carves: notch #4 with target Kelley Armstrong , notch #5 with target William Kent Krueger , and notch #6 with target Nnedi Okorafor !   Review previous challenges: 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 • 2025

Who else took a shot at my book in 2026? Enter Author or Title:

SHOOTING GALLERY updated MON SEP 28 2026 @ 7.00 PM EDT
Gunslingers 2 5		Targets 1 1 2 2	Shots 7 5 2	Notches 9 5	TCP chart	+ bonus	= score	Gallery	FMI
	Avid Series Reader New Mexico	29	46	11	1.434	1.000	2.434
	Traci L. Illinois	125	58	11	1.137	1.000	2.137
	Karen A Arkansas	71	70	11	0.942	1.000	1.942
	SueC Utah	9	35	6	1.028	0.500	1.528
	Colleen Illinois	50	40	6	0.900	0.500	1.400
	YalondaReads Germany	4	16	3	1.125	0.200	1.325
	Beth M North Carolina	54	44	6	0.818	0.500	1.318
	Tina Hilbert Ohio	326	63	7	0.666	0.600	1.266
	OutsmartYourShelf The United Kingdom	23	37	5	0.810	0.400	1.210
	Erika Morris California	16	18	3	1.000	0.200	1.200
Gunslinger		Targets	Shots	Notches	TCP	+ bonus	= score	Gallery	FMI
	Linda B Kentucky	9	55	6	0.654	0.500	1.154
	Jjean Texas	6	22	3	0.818	0.200	1.018
	Bev "Annie Oakley" Hankins Indiana	1	22	3	0.818	0.200	1.018
	Rick Mills Maine	46	51	5	0.588	0.400	0.988
	Shannon The Netherlands	9	29	3	0.620	0.200	0.820
	Sanacrow Tennessee	7	17	2	0.705	0.100	0.805
	JenneB Pennsylvania	5	9	1	0.666	0	0.666
	Karen Baroness Texas	51	11	1	0.545	0	0.545
	Tari Hann Ohio	20	12	1	0.500	0	0.500
	Vallery Louisiana	143	30	1	0.200	0	0.200
Gunslinger		Targets	Shots	Notches	TCP	+ bonus	= score	Gallery	FMI
	batkat West Virginia	28	36	1	0.166	0	0.166
	Dianne Lebold Ontario	21	11	0	0	0	0
	Jen McFarren Texas	63	15	0	0	0	0
	Lynn Pennsylvania	2	2	0	0	0	0
	Jace Boyer	2	2	0	0	0	0
Gunslinger		Targets	Shots	Notches	TCP	+ bonus	= score	Gallery	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
	Chat line
	Instagram

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