Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge 2026

Today's highlighted author: Susan Wittig Albert writer of the China Bayles mystery series. Click Dahlia 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). 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 in court (facing a charge of willfully tearing the tag off his mattress) on SUN AUG 23 and Mystillery challenges will not be updated during that day. Please continue shooting at various targets during the interim. Aug 22: Avid Series Reader (New Mexico) carves notch #9 with target Kate Morton! Aug 11: SueC (Utah) carves notch #5 with target Laura Childs!   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 SAT AUG 22 2026 @ 6.00 PM EDT
Gunslingers 2 5		Targets 1 1 1 7	Shots 6 3 3	Notches 8 0	TCP chart	+ bonus	= score	Gallery	FMI
	Avid Series Reader New Mexico	29	37	9	1.459	0.800	2.259
	Karen A Arkansas	70	62	11	1.064	1.000	2.064
	Traci L. Illinois	128	49	8	0.979	0.700	1.679
	Erika Morris California	15	13	3	1.384	0.200	1.584
	SueC Utah	8	26	5	1.153	0.400	1.553
	YalondaReads Germany	4	16	3	1.125	0.200	1.325
	Tina Hilbert Ohio	326	63	7	0.666	0.600	1.266
	Colleen Illinois	50	35	5	0.857	0.400	1.257
	Bev "Annie Oakley" Hankins Indiana	0	18	3	1.000	0.200	1.200
	Tari Hann Ohio	19	6	1	1.000	0	1.000
Gunslinger		Targets	Shots	Notches	TCP	+ bonus	= score	Gallery	FMI
	OutsmartYourShelf The United Kingdom	24	35	4	0.685	0.300	0.985
	Beth M North Carolina	54	26	3	0.692	0.200	0.892
	Shannon The Netherlands	9	27	3	0.666	0.200	0.866
	Rick Mills Maine	45	43	4	0.558	0.300	0.858
	Sanacrow Tennessee	7	17	2	0.705	0.100	0.805
	Jjean Texas	7	19	2	0.631	0.100	0.731
	Linda B Kentucky	10	38	3	0.473	0.200	0.673
	JenneB Pennsylvania	5	9	1	0.666	0	0.666
	Karen Baroness Texas	51	11	1	0.545	0	0.545
	batkat West Virginia	24	26	1	0.230	0	0.230
Gunslinger		Targets	Shots	Notches	TCP	+ bonus	= score	Gallery	FMI
	Vallery Louisiana	143	30	1	0.200	0	0.200
	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
	Group mini-blog
	Instagram

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