Sunday, January 6, 2019

2019 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge


Okay...so I lied. Here's another one...because I'm quite sure that Rick is determined to tempt me into signing up for an even 40 challenges this year. He's put together another dandy little mystery challenge that I can't resist. For full details, check out his post on the Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge. Basically, just read mysteries and log the murder methods on his handy form. Compete for prizes!

Rick doesn't require a sign-up post, but in order to claim this one as complete on my own personal challenge tally sheet, I must submit at least 20 death certificates. With the number of mysteries I read per year, this shouldn't be too difficult.

List of Books Read and Deaths Recorded:
1. The Winter Women Murders by David A. Kaufelt (3 murders: 1 shoved down staircase; 2 strangled) [1/5/19]
2. Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh (1 murder = strangled/asphyxiated) [1/10/19]
3. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (1 death = shot) [1/12/19]
4. The Dead Shall be Raised by George Bellairs (4 deaths = 2 shot and 2 poisoned)
5. The Murder of a Quack by George Bellairs (2 deaths = one strangle and one drowned in the well) [1/13/19]
6. A Whiff of Cyanide by Guy Fraser-Sampson (2 deaths = one poisoned; one hit on the head) [1/15/19]
7. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (one poisoned) [1/18/19]
8. The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes by June Tomson (4 deaths = 2 fell from great heights; 2 drowned) [1/25/19]
9. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (2 deaths, both poisoned) [1/25/19]
10. Blind Corner by Dornford Yates (2 deaths = one stabbed; one shot) [1/27/19]
11. A Death in the Night by Guy Fraser-Samspon (one death = smothered) [1/30/19]
12. Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh (2 deaths = poisoned) [2/14/19]
13. Blood of the North by James B. Hendryx (4 deaths = one drowned; three shot) [2/15/19]
14. Where the Snow Was Red by Hugh Pentecost (3 deaths = one hit on the head; 2 poisoned) [2/16/19]
15. Night of the Fox by Jack Higgins (4 deaths = 2 shot; 1 stabbed; 1 drowned) [2/19/19]
16. No Patent on Murder (one death = strangled) [2/21/19]
17. Monsieur Lecoq by Emile Gaboriau (five= two shot; one hit on head; one poisoned; one stabbed)
18. The Lucky Stiff by Craig Rice (eight = six shot; two blown up) [3/1/19]
19. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie (two = one stabbed; epileptic fit) [3/9/19]
20. A Wreath for Rivera by Ngaio Marsh (one = stabbed) [3/11/19]
Commitment Complete! Still Reading.
21. Murdered: One by One by Francis Beeding (five: 2 shot, 1 stabbed, 1 hit over head, 1 poisoned) [3/16/19]
22. Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal (five: 2 shot, 1 stabbed, 1 hit over head, 1 strangled) [3/23/19]
23. Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (one = hit over head) [3/24/19]
24. A Knife in the Back by Bill Crider (two = 1 stabbed; 1 hit over head) [4/2/19]
25. Opening Night by Ngaio Marsh (two = poisoned) [4/4/19]
26. The Man int he Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (two = one fell on electric train tracks; one strangled) [4/13/19]
27. Gallows Court by Martin Edwards (Deaths= 18 (two strangled; two shot; one poisoned; three burned to death; two stabbed; one drowned; one gassed; one hit by a car; one beaten to death; one car crash; three tortured to death)  [4/13/19]
28. Murder at the Mardi Gras by Elisabet M. Stone (Deaths = 4: one gassed; one strangled; one stabbed; one shot) [4/20/19]
29. Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L Sayers (Deaths = 5: two strangled; two drowned; one stabbed) [4/23/19]
30. The March Hare Murders by Elizabeth Ferrars (Deaths = 3: one shot; one shoved off cliff; one poisoned) [4/23/19]
31. Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd (Deaths = one, stabbed) [4/26/19]
32. Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers (Deaths = 5: one hit on head; three run over [train and car]; one throat slit) [4/28/19]
33. Is Skin Deep, Is Fatal by H.R.F. Keating (Deaths = 2; one poisoned; one stabbed) [5/1/19]
34. Behold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer (Deaths = 2 poisoned--what a surprise!) [5/3/19]
35. Spinsters in Jeopardy by Ngaio Marsh  (Deaths = one stabbed) [5/6/19]
36. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (Deaths = one poisoned) [5/8/19]
37. Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie (Deaths = ten: 3 shot; 1 stabbed; 4 poisoned; 1 hit on head; 1 drowned; 1 fell/pushed) [5/12/19]
38. Miss Agatha Doubles for Death by H.L.V. Fletcher (Deaths = three: 1 drowned; 1 poisoned; 1 death in fire) [5/16/19]
39. The Lover by Laura Wilson (Deaths = three: 2 strangled; 1 stabbed)
40. The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers (Deaths = one; pushed and hit head) [5/19/19]
41. Beverly Gray's Island Adventure by Clair Blank (Deaths = one; natural causes/heart attack) [5/21/19]
42. The Cream of Crime edited by Jeanne F. Bernkopf (Deaths = ten: 7 shot; 1 poisoned; 1 hit on head; 1 stabbed) [5/26/19]
43. The Barrakee Mystery by Arthur W. Upfield (Deaths = one; hit on head) [6/1/19]
44. River of Darkness by Rennie Airth (Deaths= sixteen; 14 stabbed; 2 strangled) [6/3/19]
45. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie (Deaths =  two, both shot)
46. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Deaths = 2; two scared/attacked by hound; one drowned in Grimpen Mire) [6/13/19]
47. Scales of Justice by Ngaio Marsh (Death = one; hit on head) [6/16/19]
48. The Father Hunt by Rex Stout (Death = one; run over]) [6/18/19]
49. Killing the Goose by Frances & Richard Lockridge (Deaths = four; two stabbed, one hit on head, one shot) [6/24/19
50. Mystery of the Emerald Buddha by Betty Cavanna (Death = one; fell from great height) [6/29/19]
51. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers (Death = one; shot) [7/1/19]
52. Death of a Fool by Ngaio Marsh (Death = one; neck broken) [7/7/19]
53. The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Adams Warren (Deaths = 3; two poisoned, one through sympathetic reactions between twins) [7/12/19]
54. Tenant for the Tomb by Anthony Gilbert (Deaths = 3; two shoved from a height, one shot) [7/28/19]
55. 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie (Deaths = 3; one strangled, two poisoned)
56. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Deaths = 11; 21 if you count those caused by the current murder victims) (4 poisoned; 1 strangled; 1 stabbed; 2 shot; 1 drowned; 2 hit); Those caused by our current murder victims (10+): 2 run over; three neglect/medical malpractice; one shot (war); two drowned; one hung; one overdose [and a bunch of unnamed natives that Philip Lombard left to die in the jungle] (8/2/19)
57. Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes by J. R. Campbell & Charles Prepolec, eds. (8/5/19) Deaths = 15 (4 mauled to death; 3 shot; 3 stabbed; 1 explosion; 2 devoured; 2 crushed)
58. Family Affair by Ione Sandberg Shriber (8/6/19) Deaths = 2 (one smothered; one hit on head)
59. Murder in the Maze by J. J. Connington (8/10/19) Deaths = 2 (poisoned)
60. Death After Breakfast by Hugh Pentecost (8/10/19) Deaths = 3 (stabbed, shot, poisoned)
61. Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh (8/17/19) Deaths = 4 (all strangled)
62. The Swimming Pool by Mary Roberts Rinehart (8/21/19) Deaths = 5 (1 drowned, 3 shot, 1 strangled)
63. Dr. Fell, Detective & Other Stories by John Dickson Carr (8/24/19) Deaths = 6 (3 shot; 3 stabbed)
64. The Spanish Cape Mystery by Ellery Queen (8/28/19) Deaths = 2 (one strangled; one fell from height)
65. Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (8/31/19) Deaths = 4 (3 injected w/air into bloodstream; one strangled)
66. The Holmes-Dracula File by Fred Saberhagen (9/4/19) Deaths = 7 (one stabbed; three struck by objects; one run over by carriage; one strangled; one neck broken)
67. Black Aura by John Sladek (9/9/19) Deaths = 3 (one poisoned; one stabbed after a fall from height; one strangled)
68. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (9/11/19) Deaths = 3 (all hit with object)
69. The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat by Claudia Bishop (9/14/19) Deaths = 2 (one hit with object; one drowned in milk)
70. False Scent by Ngaio Marsh (9/15/19) Deaths = 2 (one poisoned; one heart attack)
71. Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh (9/19/19) Deaths = two; one strangled and one drowned
72. The Fate of the Immodest Blonde by Patrick Quentin (9/22/19) Deaths = 2 (both poisoned, though one looks like fell from height)
73. The House on Downshire Hill by Guy Fraser-Sampson (9/23/19) Deaths = 2 (one hit on head; one strangled)
74. The Murder Book of J. G. Reeder by Edgar Wallace (9/28/19) Deaths = 4 (three poisoned; one hit on head)
75. The Restless Corpse by Alan Pruitt (9/29/19) Deaths = 2 (one hit on head; one shot)
76. Let's Kill George by Lucy Cores  (10/1/19) Deaths = 2 (hit on head)
77. Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh (10/8/19) Deaths = 1 (suffocated)
78. The Dutch Shoe Mystery by Ellery Queen (10/13/19) Deaths = 2 (strangled)
79. The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie/Charles Osborne (10/17/19) Deaths = 1 (shot)
80. The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall (10/22/19) Deaths = 1 (stabbed)
81. Blueprint for Murder by Roger Bax (10/25/19) Deaths = 3 (one hit on head; two drowned)
82. Ellery Queen's Challenge to the Reader edited by Ellery Queen (11/5/19) Deaths = 19 (one drowned; five poisoned; eight shot; two stabbed; three suffocated/strangled)
83. Dead Water by Ngaio Marsh (11/9/19) Deaths = one (drowned)
84. The Eel Pie Murders by David Frome (11/13/19) Deaths = 2 (two drowned; one shot)
85. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (11/19/19) Deaths = 3 (one natural--but important to plot; one poisoned; one shot)
86. The Noel Coward Murder Case by George Baxt (11/20/19) Deaths = 4 (two poisoned; two stabbed--one beheaded by a machete actually)
87. Tragedy at the Unicorn by John Rhode (11/23/19) Deaths = 1 (poisoned)
88. Eyes at the Window by George Selmark (11/25/19) Deaths = 4 (poisoned)
89. Said With Flowers by Anne Nash (11/26/19) Deaths = 2 (one stabbed; one fell off cliff)
90. The Case of the Second Chance by Christopher Bush (12/4/19) Deaths = 3 (one hit with poker; one strangled; one shot)
91. Death Knell by Baynard Kendrick (12/5/19) Deaths = 2 (one shot; one stabbed)
92. Death Breaks Trail by Eunice Mays Boyd (12/15/19) Deaths = 3 (all stabbed)
93. Killer Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh (12/18/19) Deaths = one (hit on head)
94. The Bells of Old Bailey by Dorothy Bowers (12/22/19) Deaths = 8 (two strangled; one shot; three drowned; one hit on head; one poisoned)
95. Unholy Dying by R. T. Campbell (12/29/19) Deaths = 4 (three poisoned; one shot)



2 comments:

Cuddle Up with a Cozy Mystery and a Dachshund said...

I couldn't resist either, lol. This one is just too much fun. I keep saying I'm done signing up for challenges...then this one came along ;) Have fun!

LuAnn @ BackPorchervations said...

Very inventive! (I can already feel my resolve weakening.) :D