2024 Vintage Scavenger wrapup

This is my wrap up post for Bev Hankins' 2024 Vintage Scavenger Hunt challenge. I participated in the Gold (pre-1960) version. Bev lists 90 items to be on the hunt for during the year.

During 2024, I read 147 books. Most of the books I read came from my own shelves, with a scattering of Kindle titles. Of that 147, I found 50 had cover images that met the challenge (exactly the same amount as in 2023! )

 Most of my books do not have dust jackets, so I look online to find them if needed. My best resource is dustjackets.com or Goodreads.

Then I put the book details on this spreadsheet which I invite you to check. The green lines indicate a book matching the challenge. The "Cover" links will take you to either my review (with a cover image) or just the cover image alone if I did not review it.

I enjoyed the 2024 gold challenge - and will be back for the 2025 version, and hoping we have more challengers this time around for this fun challenge! Thanks, Bev, for hosting!

Rick Mills

The Mystillery blog

The Mystillery Reading Challenges at Mystillery Manor

2025 Vintage Scavenger Hunt

 

Bev Hankins at My Reader's Block is sponsoring the 2025 Vintage Scavenger Hunt. The challenge page is located here. 

The goal is to find as many objects on the scavenger hunt list as possible on the covers of the mystery books you read. I am working the Golden Age era. Here is the list:

 Progress will be recorded on this spreadsheet.  

Wrapup: (January 2026): I managed to find 42 of the items on the list this year. See the link above.  Since most of my GAD books lack dustcovers, I found using dustjackets.com a valuable resource to find images of the corresponding covers. Thanks again Bev, for a fun challenge! - Rick

2023 Vintage Scavenger Hunt wrap-up

 

This is my wrap up post for Bev Hankins' 2023 Vintage Scavenger Hunt challenge. I participated in the Gold (pre-1960) version. Bev lists 90 items to be on the hunt for during the year.

During 2023, I read exactly 100 books, rushing a bit on the last one to get it in to my Goodreads challenge before it ended. Most of the books I read came from my own shelves, with a scattering of Kindle titles. Of that 100, I found 50 had cover images that met the challenge. 

I do not select titles to read just to satisfy challenges - I use my own haphazard way of picking titles off the shelves to read: When I finish a book, I slip a corner cut from an envelope over a page, and note the month/year. I have found after ten years I have generally forgotten the plot details and solution of any given book (except The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), so I look for a book which hasn't been under the reading lamp for ten years!

Then I check it against the challenge requirements. Most of my books do not have dust jackets, so I look online to find it. My best resource is dustjackets.com.

Then I put the book details on this spreadsheet which I invite you to check. The green lines indicate a book matching the challenge. The "Cover" links will take you to either my review (with a cover image) or just the cover image alone if I did not review it.

I enjoyed the 2023 gold challenge - and will be back for the 2024 version. Thanks, Bev, for hosting!

Rick Mills

The Mystillery blog

The Mystillery Reading Challenges at Mystillery Manor

Mystery Marathon 2024

Mile / Pages / Author / Title

1 / 167 / Anthony Gilbert / A Case for Mr. Crook

2 / 182 / Margery Allingham / Flowers for the Judge

3 / 327 / Edgar Wallace / Blue Hand

4 / 192 / Manning Coles / No Entry

5 / 167 / Rex Stout / Silent Speaker

6 / 307 / Mignon Eberhart / The White Dress

7 / 153 estimated / Herman Petersen / The House in the Wilderness

8 / 303 / Frank L. Packard / The Gold Skull Murders

9/ 311 / Edgar Wallace / The Green Ribbon

10 / 100 / Edgar Wallace / The Red Aces

11 / 214 / Carter Dickson / The Curse of the Bronze Lamp

12 / 171 / Erle Stanley Gardner / The Case of the Blonde Bonanza

13 / 290 / Mignon G. Eberhart / The Pattern

14 / 184 / Leslie Charteris / The Saint in Pursuit

15 / 324 / Frances Noyes Hart / The Bellamy Trial

16 / 315 / Helen Reilly / Murder in the Mews

17 / 272 / John Rhode / Murder at Bratton Grange

26.2 / 14 / Arthur Conan Doyle / The Case of Black Peter

2024 Vintage Scavenger Hunt

Bev Hankins at My Reader's Block is sponsoring the 2024 Vintage Scavenger Hunt. The challenge page is located here. 

The goal is to find as many objects on the scavenger hunt list as possible on the covers of the mystery books you read. I am working the Golden Age era. Here is the list:

Progress will be recorded on this spreadsheet.  

2024 Color Coded Reading Challenge

This challenge, hosted by Bev Hankins,  is located here.  

Read in previous challenges

Planned

Completed

Read nine books in the following categories:

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue in the title/on the cover.

Blue Hand by Edgar Wallace, 1925

Mystery of the Blue Train - Agatha Christie

The Blue Horse of Taxco by Kathleen Moore Knight

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red in the title/on the cover.

Red Aces by Edgar Wallace, 1929

Case of the Crimson Kiss - Erle Stanley Gardner

The Red Mass by Valentine Williams

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow in the title/on the cover.

The Case of the Blonde Bonanza - Erle Stanley Gardner

The Case of the Lame Canary - Erle Stanley Gardner

The Yellow Room by Mary Roberts Rinehart

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green in the title/on the cover.

The Green Ribbon - Edgar Wallace (1930)

Case of the Green Eyed Sister - Erle Stanley Gardner

The Jade Venus by George Harmon Coxe

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown in the title/on the cover.

The Curse of the Bronze Lamp - Carter Dickson

Case of the Borrowed Brunette - Erle Stanley Gardner

The Bronze Hand by Carolyn Wells (1925)

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black in the title/on the cover.

The Adventure of Black Peter by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903-4

Black Orchids - Rex Stout

The Ebony Bed Murder by Rufus Gillmore (1932)
Acts of Black Night by Kathleen Moore Knight (1938)

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White in the title/on the cover.

The White Dress by Mignon G. Eberhart

The White Cockatoo by Mignon G. Eberhart

White Rider by Leslie Charteris

8. A book with any other color in the title/on the cover (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, etc).

The Gold Skull Murders - Frank L. Packard (1931)

Case of the Gold Diggers Purse - Erle Stanley Gardner

The False Purple by Sydney Horler (1932)

9. A book with a word/image that implies color in the title/on the cover

The Pattern - Mignon G. Eberhart

 (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Shadow, Paint, Ink, etc).

Miss Paisley on a Diet by John Pierce (1969) 

Haycraft-Queen Cornerstones Challenge

This is just a personal challenge, to see how many of the Haycraft Queen Cornerstone mysteries I have (highlighted in yellow) and those I have read (highlighted in green). RM