Rating: 4.8

This cover absolutely sucked me in, and I scooped it up on the "Read Now" shelf on NetGalley. I was even more excited when I didn't get to read it before the publishing date but found it on the shelf at my library, and it sparked me to go pick it up right that second and read it – and I'm so glad I did! This is the perfect cozy vacation murder mystery, and I can 100% see why this has been picked up into a TV series and a series of books. I'm already anxiously awaiting another one!

Eleanor Dash is a famous author who has found herself in a bit of a pickle when she can only write about her former lover as the main male character, Connor. She finds herself in an even bigger pickle when she ends up on a book tour with him and several others in the literary circle, including her ex-boyfriend Oliver. When Connor thinks someone is after him and trying to kill him, after Eleanor mentions that she's looking to kill him off in her series, Eleanor thinks he's gone crazy. That is, until someone also tries to kill her and her friends – this trip is turning into a disaster!

Continuing on their trip like nothing is wrong proves to be even more difficult when one of their fellow travelers is killed, and they can no longer ignore what is happening. Will they make it through to the end of this trip? Will Eleanor finish writing her series? Will this be a love story too? Who's behind the threats, and can the killer be stopped?

This story was honestly written with such a fun tone, and the clever footnotes embedded in made me laugh out loud – I loved this type of writing where the narrator really just sounds like they are talking with a single train of thought. This type of writing may not be for everyone, but I knew it was for me, considering I write as my brain processes, which is similar to how this story read! I'm excited to read more of these and already setting up an alert to know when the TV show and second book are happening.

Thanks to NetGalley and Catherine Mack, in collaboration with St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a copy so that I could provide an honest review prior to the publish date (despite my inability to publish this review prior to release and physically reading the published copy)!

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack is a fun mystery about an author trying to get through her book tour. This is a very light-hearted murder mystery that was a lot of fun to read. The characters each have their own issues, but it's still a fun and entertaining story. Definitely recommend. And it's the first book in a new series, so I'll definitely be checking out the subsequent books. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

A fun cozy mystery that kept me interested throughout the entirety of the book. There was always something happening to pay attention to and I did not want to miss any of the clues. There are quite a few characters to keep track of, but it was fun to get to know them through the eyes of the main character, Eleanor.

The main character of Eleanor Dash is also the narrator for this lively tale of murder and mystery. Her first-person narrative of this story is whimsical and fun, especially when she breaks the 4th wall and talks directly to the reader. She is a bestselling author who has penned a very popular mystery series starring her slimy ex-boyfriend, Connor Smith, as an irresistible detective. She met Connor many years prior to this in Italy and thought she had found the man of her dreams, so she made him the star of her book. But as the popularity of the book rose so did her dislike of Connor, as she had quickly found out he was more a man of her nightmares. There are many secrets from that ill-fated meeting of Connor and her first successful book of the series that come to light in this 10-day trip back to Italy.

The setting and storyline are wonderful. my only complaint is the footnotes. I was not a fan of the printed version of this intriguing book because it took much too much work to keep up with the many footnotes included in the narrative. I saw many reviews saying that the audiobook was much better, so I gave it a try and my whole opinion of the book changed! The audiobook is superbly done, and I highly recommend listening to this wonderfully woven tale!

I am very grateful to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for granting me the opportunity to read a digital copy of this gripping and yet hysterical mystery through Netgalley. All of the opinions in this review are my own.

This has no right to be as good or fun as it is.

Part-whodunnit mystery, part fictional commentary on publishing, part second chance romance, part vacation, and a whole bunch of fun. This journey circles our protagonist, who views herself as an accidentally famous author. To promote the latest installment of her series, her publisher hosts an Italian tour, where the book takes its mystery inspiration. On this trip, the man who inspired the series, her sleazy ex, believes someone wants him dead.

There's a large cast of characters with their motives to kill our author and her muse. The twists and turns are worth the ride. How can this be bad with a fun location like Italy?

Eleanor Dash is a murder mystery writer who’s trying to plot the final book in her successful series, while doing a book tour in Italy with her assistant who also happens to be her dear sister.
For some reason that tour also includes other competing murder mystery writers (??) and some annoying fans. Unfortunately, it also includes Connor, her former boyfriend who inspired and is the lead character in her book series. Connor is handsome, charming, and has now become a millionaire after blackmailing her for something that happened while they were still together.
That is precisely why she wants to end the series: she wants to kill his character in the books so she can finally be free on him. So what happens when she realizes someone is actually trying to kill him in real life?

What I didn’t like:
I really disliked Eleanor because she is very annoying, childish and at times she was even abusive to her sister.
The footnotes were excessive and distracting because it felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny there. In reality, the book was quite funny without them.

What I liked:
This book was funny, lighthearted and fast-paced. The mystery was interesting and the description of the places everything happens was excellent. I had the fortune of visiting Italy and I felt like I was back there.
I liked that Eleanor was an unreliable narrator and that she was constantly “breaking the 4th wall”, talking directly to us, the readers.
Also, I loved the covert reference to The Princess Bride :)

3,5 stars and I would love to read more books by this author!

A fun, mystery that works in just the right amount of touristy references that really helps “put you in the story” and the experience! A fun cast of characters that are developed nicely where I found myself “liking” some and “disliking” others and keeping engaged! The author used footnotes throughout which In my opinion add to the nuances of the whole story!! Really enjoyable and look forward to the next one!! An easy and enjoyable read!!

This was very enjoyable and was just as good reading it as a stand-alone or continuing on in the series. I would definitely recommend this as a vacation read or just a quick, fun read this summer!

DNF'd at 15%. I had a very hard time with the breaking of the 4th wall. I struggle with books that do this and struggled with this book as well. I was excited about reading this book heard great things about it, but it was not for me.

Thank you Catherine Mack, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies is the first book in a new series. This book has the feel of a modern Agatha Christie novel. There are lots of characters, everyone is a suspect, and I did not guess the correct suspect as guilty!

The setting (Italy) is wonderful, and I especially enjoyed the references to pop culture (music, books). I did feel like the book took a long time to get going. Additionally, the narrator sometimes speaks to the reader, for example identifying something in the story as foreshadowing, and I did not find this "literary device" appealing.

Overall, I don't think I'd pick up the next book in this particular series, but I would give this author another chance by reading something else she's written. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved the setting of this book,, and the conceit was a lot of fun. But it was a bit sprawling and messy, and did not keep my interest terribly well. I think the series has potential, but could use a firmer hand in editing future installments.

DNF @ 56%. This book was let's write a cozy mystery but throw a couple gimmicks in to amuse. Footnotes at the end of every chapter, I was not going to page ahead and page back just to make sense of 10 footnotes at the end of EVERY chapter. There was an outline of the main character's to be written book in progress, skipped that too. Maybe this was supposed to be amusing but I found it annoying. I don't DNF books often so that just gives an idea of how intolerable I found the gimmicks.

Eleanor Dash is a famous author of nine mystery books in the Vacation Mystery series. Her series features the detective Connor Smith, who is based on her ex-boyfriend. When Connor found out she wrote a novel about him ten years ago, he blackmailed her into giving him some of the royalties. Now, Eleanor is ready to kill off Connor. Her character. When she goes on a ten day book tour in Italy, including five other authors and the real Connor, Eleanor begins plotting her character’s death for her next book. However, someone is trying to kill the real Connor. Eleanor has to solve the real mystery of who is targeting Connor and herself, before real life turns into one of her murder mysteries.

This was one of those books that I didn’t want to end! As a writer, I loved seeing Eleanor’s life as a bestselling author. Her comments on the publishing industry were funny and accurate. This story was told from Eleanor’s perspective and she broke the fourth wall often by addressing the reader. She included many footnotes that were funny comments about the story. I’m so excited that this is the first book in a series because Eleanor’s voice was so entertaining!

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is an awesome first book in the series!

Thank you Minotaur Books for providing a digital copy of this book.

Content warnings: death of parents (off page), robbery, mugging, poisoning, gun violence

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of "Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies" by Catherine Mack. All opinions are my own.

This mystery takes place over a week long tour in Italy with a group of authors who have intense histories and secrets revealed. I loved this story and the mystery was so fun to solve!! Cannot wait for the next book!!

So this was a cozy mystery set in Italy, and while I loved the setting, the story was just ok. The whodunnit was good, I was actually surprised at the ending, but I just couldn’t get on board with the writing style. The author thought it would be….witty? Fun? I don’t know…clever, maybe, to have *hundreds* of footnotes (237, to be exact). They were unnecessary & really distracting. They completely took me out of the flow of the book. I’m also not a fan of the ‘breaking the 4th wall’ either. So really this one was kind of a miss for me.

Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack is the perfect book to take on vacation. Whether you’re heading over seas, to the beach, the mountains or on your couch at home for a staycation, this book will brighten your day.

I had the pleasure of buddy reading this one with my lovely friend Steph. It was great to have someone to talk to and share theories and recap with at the end of it all. I read the physical book and she went with audio. We were both so pleased, so I’d be confident to recommend both options.

One thing I enjoyed about this book was the footnotes. I know that not everyone loves them, but I do. I like that little extra layer of information and insight. You see the quirkiness of our main character, Elenor, through out the book, but the footnotes just give it that extra touch. I liked the small group setting. You had your pool of suspects and that was it, no surprises coming from out in left field. Still took me a bit to figure it out. Everyone had their motives and it was fun watching it all play out. I’ve been on such a thriller kick lately that it was nice to break it up with something that had humour and made me smile and laugh. I definitely need to seek out more books like this! I’m already excited for book 2 in this series, ‘No One Was Suppose to Die at This Wedding’.

I received a eARC of this book through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Eleanor Dash is traveling Italy in honor of the book series that was launched after a vacation there several years earlier. Her publishing company is sponsoring the trip which includes several fellow authors and a group of lucky fans of Eleanor's series. One of the people on the trip is Connor, the man she fell in love with on that initial trip and who starred as a character in the book that resulted from it. Even though Eleanor no longer loves Connor, her readers do. That and a bit of blackmail on Connor's part keep him in the picture.

Harper Dash is Eleanor's sister, personal assistant, and usually her memory. Harper always has the details and itinerary that Eleanor either forgot or never bothered to learn. When Connor confides that he thinks someone is trying to kill him, Eleanor doesn't believe him. Furthermore, she begins thinking about how she can kill him off in her next book and finally be free of him.

After a series of near-misses for Connor and Eleanor which may or may not have been murder attempts, someone actually dies. The trip includes Connor's ex-wife (who was Connor's wife when he met Eleanor, unbeknownst to her), Eleanor's rebound boyfriend Oliver, now also an ex, and other authors with various motives to dislike or distrust Connor. There is no shortage of suspects. Eleanor's reasoning and investigation point to one suspect after another (perhaps further evidence of why she's an author and not a detective) before we finally discover the culprit.

This is a fun little cozy mystery with a lot of fourth-wall breaking, through innumerable footnotes. Eleanor is a mostly likable character, particularly redeemed by her relationship with her sister Harper. Listening to it on audio, the footnotes were maybe the funniest part of the book and didn't interrupt the flow at all. Reading it either digitally or in print I think would have been exceptionally frustrating.

Elizabeth Evans is the narrator who did a wonderful job with the voices, and particularly the accents which helped cement the location. Her pacing kept the story flowing and she was particularly adept at incorporating the footnotes and elevating the humor.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

I saw this book EVERYWHERE, but I read nothing about it because I didn’t want to like it. I mean, come on—that cover is all of us book people on vacation!

𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈—𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒕, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.

This book didn’t land for me. It was boring and slow, and the characters weren’t loveable. Despite the WAY too many footnotes, this book wasn’t funny. This is one of those books that shouldn’t be read digitally (I don’t say that very often anymore), or maybe just not as an unformatted ARC. Because it was unformatted, the footnotes were, I think, meant to make a flat and ok character a bit more two-dimensional, except it didn’t work. Maybe it hits better in print - though I doubt it. I also figured it out pretty early, which I usually love, but there were just too many things working against this book for me to add that to the win column.

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Well written, fleshed out characters, engaging. I really enjoyed this book. I've never ready anything by Catherine Mack before but I'll definitely read more in the future.

This was such a fun-filled murder mystery! I loved the setting in Italy, the characters, and the romance, plus the laugh out loud moments. Catherine Mack has our MC break the 4th wall a few times and that made this whodunnit all the more fun! Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m on vacation so why not read a book about murders on vacation?

I did enjoy this one in that it was quite comical and the unreliable narrator made it fun. It was, once again, a book with many characters and a whodunnit type plot while on vacation, so very much like an Agatha Christie type read. The main character was an author on a book tour with the lead that most of her books are based on and her entourage and other authors.

The writing style was good and it was an easy, fun summer read.