This book was so fun! I really enjoyed the book within a book concept/4th wall breaking. There were tons of pop culture references which I understood but might be annoying for those who don't. I'm looking forward to more books in this series!

If you want to read a hysterically, funny story I would highly recommend the book Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies by best known author Catherine McKenzie whose books are thrillers but is writing this series? one can only hope and pray, other the name Catherine Mack! Yes, it's a mystery but more important it is a comedy of errors and sentence after sentence of laughter, most of which are in the funniest footnotes I have ever read!

Eleanor Dash is a famous mystery author (she tells the story and also give the reader the footnotes) who has decided to end her very beloved The Vacation Mystery series. But what nobody knows just yet, not even her publisher is she plans on killing off her main character Connor Smith who is a real-life person who she actually dated and solved a real crime with which included a real-life Mafia family and took place in Italy many years ago. Everyone knows the character is based on someone she knew, intimately, but what they don't know is he has been blackmailing her for years. I will let Eleanor through her footnotes tell you how that came to be.

Now Eleanor finds herself back in Italy doing research for the last book with not only Connor, but her assistant who is her sister Harper, a group of other authors and a group of her rabid...I mean loyal fans to accompany her on this book tour, something her publisher for some reason put together.

So, when Connor tells them all he was almost killed and thinks someone is trying to kill him, Eleanor is quite taken aback. Yes, she plans to kill him but not THAT way! Then to her surprise she discovers that Oliver, her one true love? is here as well and oh yes, someone seems to want her dead too! Is this real? Sure, maybe someone would want to kill Connor, but her? No way!

And then of course, someone really does get killed, no one they expected to get killed and oh by the way one of the book tour fans is actually her stalker from back home. The Italian police become involved, and the head officer is the spitting image of Stanley Tucci. Please keep that memory in your head for when you read the book. He was the officer who assisted in the crime Eleanor and Connor solved years ago.

Now, Eleanor feels she must figure out what is going on before 1. she is killed, 2. she makes a mistake with Oliver or 3. Connor is killed (that certainly wouldn't bode well for her book).

Every Time I Go on Vacation Somone Dies is the funniest book I have read in a very long time. It has such an imaginable plot and footnotes which will make you laugh out loud. I am serious! Please, please Catherine Mack, make this a series!

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotourBooks #CatherineMack #EveryTimeIGoonVacationSomeoneDies for the advanced copy.

I loved this book! This cozy mystery really kept me interested (I stayed up late to finish it!) and I loved the footnotes and the breaking the fourth wall. Will definitely read the sequel :)

Italy is the perfect place for Eleanor Dash to figure out the plot to her next novel, enjoy some gelato and spritzes, bask in the sun. But when she's surrounded by a few exes and some attempts on one of their lives, this book tour becomes a little less enjoyable. Even if she wouldn't mind her annoying-and-handsome ex Connor (who is also the star of her book series) disappearing, that doesn't mean she wants him actually dead. Can she solve this mystery like her own main character would?

This book is summer-reading PERFECTION. It's humorous, engaging, and has a mystery that keeps you guessing right until the end! The FMC, Eleanor, is such a fun personality and the side characters draw you in (whether you love or hate them!). And how perfect that a whole set of murder mystery writers find themselves trying to solve their own life-or-death mystery. It's like looking behind the scenes of writing the book that you're actually reading. There's also great modern day references peppered throughout the book, lots of book humor, and an extensive use of footnotes. The footnotes took me a minute to get into, but it does SUCH a great job of letting us get to know El. She even breaks the fourth wall from time to time in a great way. So many characters make plausible suspects, I love when you are never 100% certain who committed the crime until the reveal, despite all the armchair sleuth guesses along the way.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you love comedic mysteries or Knives Out. It's a perfect witty read to get out of a reading slump. I look forward to reading whatever else Catherine Mack writes, her style was just what I needed at the moment. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my opinions.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!

The title alone prompted me to request this ARC and it proved to be a fun and frothy mystery. Very akin to a cozy mystery, it had a unique twist to it in which Eleanor spoke directly to the reader through footnotes and at certain pivotal points by directly breaking the fourth wall. I found this inclusion to be funny and added a bit of flair to the book. The setting was fun and the mystery plot had me guessing who the killer was throughout. I did find the last 30% or so of the book to move slowly and felt like there could have been some portions cut out. Overall, a fun light mystery read. I will be picking up the next one in the series!

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack is such a quirky and fun murder mystery with a touch of romance. I read the ebook of this book as well as listened to the audiobook. First of all, the plot and characters were superb. The ebook format was a bit challenging to read because the narrator makes multiple footnotes throughout the text and the footnotes are all listed at the end of each chapter. This is much less awkward (and much more fun!) in the audiobook version. I think the audiobook was my favorite. The narration was excellent and so entertaining. I loved this book and truly hope there is a sequel. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

*Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book!

Eleanor Dash is on an Italian book tour. She has written a series of bestsellers and her fans simply cannot get enough of these vacation mysteries - and the real life detective that costars throughout. Problem is, Connor Smith is real and Eleanor wishes he was fictional. This handsome con man she met a decade earlier when she was young, naive and thought she was in love. He embroiled Eleanor is an unexpected situation where they ultimately solved a bank heist, Connor received the reward money and dropped her like a hot potato. When Eleanor returned home she poured her broken heart out into her first novel, a mystery about a bank heist in Italy. Connor was quick to blackmail Eleanor for using his character and much to her chagrin has immersed himself in her life and career ever since. Each day as the book tour continues mysterious accidents and clues can no longer be ignored. Apparently someone is trying to kill Connor, or is it Eleanor? Afraid and feeling alone in the crowd this quick witted author tries to solve her own murder mystery. With many of the characters having serious motive this fast paced comedy/cozy becomes a series of mishaps and adventures leading the reader to solve the case! Clever, fun and filled with laugh out loud moments, this is the perfect light beach read for the summer!

Really fun read. The main character Eleanor is a famous writer on book tour in Italy with her ex-boyfriend Connor who is most odious and a fellow author who is stealing her book ideas. She has a stalker and someone is out to kill her. There is romance, humor, and mystery. I loved the writing and setting. Thank you NetGalley for the virtual copy in exchange for my review.

In 'Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies,' we delve into the world of attempted murder and actual murder alongside the narrator, a successful author of murder mystery novels. This is only the second book I've encountered that breaks the fourth wall, and I find myself increasingly drawn to this narrative style.

Throughout the story, we are introduced to the author herself, her sister, various love interests, and friends within her social circle, all while unraveling the mystery surrounding her. While I did manage to anticipate some of the twists early on, the full extent of the plot only became clear during the reveal. The author skillfully blends humor, intrigue, and tantalizing secrets, keeping the reader engaged from start to finish.

While it may not be a contender for my top book of the year, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will definitely be seeking out more works by Catherine Mack.

Well it's different. Starts out feeling like a travelog. All the notes are rather humorous. Took way to long for someone to die. Is it just me or does everyone seem guilty? Story was okay but didn't really grab me.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the early copy of this book.

This book is by an author about an author. Author Elenor Dash is on her book tour in Italy with her ex and main character of her books who she’s trying to kill off, another ex and a stalker! What could go wrong? Well now they are trying to solve a real life Murder Mystery. 10 days and 8 suspects.

This book has a lot of humor and is a cozy murder mystery. While some people enjoy this style for me, it wasn’t my favorite. There were times when I wanted to DNF the book (there are a ton of footnotes that made reading this a little annoying) After I was done, I saw that those who listened to the audio version enjoyed it and the footnotes were seamless. But I did like it overall. Just didn’t love it. For me it just moved super slow and it was hard to keep my attention. I really wanted to pick up something or anything else at times.

2.5 ⭐️

“Never tag an author in any review less than four stars (out of five). You’re entitled to your opinion, of course. We just don’t want to hear that you think our books sucked. Or that they were “meh.” That one’s the worst.”
(Footnote 50 — of 236 😬)

Unfortunately for me, this book was in fact “meh” and despite how often Eleanor complained about Goodreads and bad reviews, I think this book warrants it. To be totally honest, I almost DNF’d this one and I won’t be reading #2.

Pros:

- Really made me want to visit Italy
- I did not expect the ending

Cons:

- Footnotes were so completely overused. At first it was fun with actor/character castings but by the end it felt repetitive, annoying, unnecessary, distracting and at times condescending. (We get it, that was foreshadowing and/or a clue). I understand that nobody forced me to read the footnotes but I couldn’t not read them and some (albeit rarely) felt informative
- I was really annoyed by Eleanor. She came across as helpless and incompetent and I don’t blame Harper for wanting to quit, especially when Eleanor can’t even be bothered to read an itinerary. “You’re on your own kid”? No, your sister does everything for you. I also thought she was whiney and entitled. Sorry.
- Lastly, the MANY pop culture references killed me. The sheer amount of book, movie, TV and music references felt like overkill and an appeal to a younger audience. Or really any audience that would listen. As someone who likes Taylor Swift, I was rolling my eyes by the end.

Overall I felt like this book tried too hard to be ✨quirky✨ and it didn’t do it for me

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for this ARC

This book is easy to read, made me lol, couldn’t put it down. Will be recommending this book to my TikTok. Looking forward to more of this series.

I loved the fourth wall breaks! The novel is written like you are reading Eleanor's latest manuscript including footnotes and draft outlines. In some parts it feels more like reading a journal but the personality and humor comes through strongly. This book doesn't take itself seriously and so I didn't either. I was reading it for the vibes and it delivered vibes just fine. 

I know there has been a lot of discussion of on social media about readers opinion of inclusion of social media sites in fiction. This book walked the line for me. I thought the majority of references to TikTok and Twitter were appropriate to help move the story along. There were also a fair amount of references to pop culture like Bridgerton and Taylor Swift. Again I thought the author walked the line on the inclusion of these references to add to the story and plot. 

Without spoilers: I was actually surprised at some of the pacing in this novel and ultimately that is why I only gave it four stars. I made it to the 49% mark waiting for the action to pick up as I expected. It didn't.  In fact actually took too long for the stakes to raise and for the story to form.  The twist was predictable.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book.

Well, this was just a hoot. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this, but it turned out to be a load of fun. In a very meta-manner, our narrator, Eleanor Dash--a successful writer, who wrote her fictional first book about a real life experience--goes back to the "scene" of that crime, so to speak. Mixing fiction and (meta)reality, Eleanor is on a publicity trip for her 10th series book and, along with her are other writers (and a particular muse) who are all part of the world building that Eleanor created with her popular Vacation Mystery series. The catch? Eleanor wants to be done and kill off her leading man--who just happens to be a real person on the trip with them . . . and who also has someone trying to kill him in real life. Oh, and it looks like Eleanor might be in the killer's crosshairs as well.

This might sound a bit convoluted but it's not. It's really so much fun. The best part is that Eleanor constantly breaks the 4th wall--and the 5th wall as well-- both in her story telling but also in her regular footnotes she adds to every chapter. The whole thing is a super fun ride and will have you laughing out loud.

After I finished this, I found out that Catherine Mack is a pseudonym for Catherine McKenzie, who writes (quite good) thrillers. Just another reason to pick this up. I suspect this will be a huge hit. And I'm already hoping for a second in the series!

As much as I wanted to enjoy and read this book in its entirety, I was unable to complete it after getting about 10% of the way into the story.

A few things contributed to this, but the biggest reasons are the footnotes in the novel and the format of the eGalley. I found it very hard to follow the story and the footnotes were distracting. Part of me wonders if it was just the Kindle format or something specific on my eReader, regardless, I chose to DNF this ARC at 10%.

In the future, I would strongly consider giving this book another try in a different format, whether it be print or audio, because the premise did sound interesting and I typically enjoy cozy mysteries.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. By no means do I mean harm to the author or the novel by stating my difficulties with the ARC's format. It is clear other readers have rated this story highly and I am glad to see their positive reviews.

This is a comedic take on a murder mystery.

I was not a fan.

The constant inner monologue which was constantly breaking the fourth wall served as an info dumping ground, and this is where the comic timing was also meant to be happening. Unfortunately I found it obnoxious rather than giving levity. Honestly, this style of story telling just isn't my cup of tea.

Tha k you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me a complimentary digital copy of this book in advance.

This is a near perfect example of what i think of as a truly good beach read. Fun, charming, and snappily paced, but still truly clever and well structured.

Book within a book doesn’t always sit well with me as a whole remorse for a novel, but this is a slightly different spin on that and it worked really well. The plot is clever and compelling, and it’s funny without being too madcap or slapstick for some readers’ tastes.

The mystery itself isn’t anything terribly sophisticated, but it doesn’t need to be, because the fun of this one is in the getting there, and the solve is a logical one that (while not exactly shocking) doesn’t detract from the quality of the book.

It’s a great cast of characters and structured around the solidly plotted and entertaining dynamics between them, and in Eleanor we have a funny and lovable heroine who is more than worthy of a continued series.

Update:
I just finished the audiobook and I liked it even more than the ebook. The seemless integration of the footnotes made the book better! The narrator was incredible at finding a voice for each character.

This book was so much fun! Ever since the first time I saw the title of this book I knew it was going to be amazing. Mack delivered! It’s laugh out loud funny, fast paced, and witty! The characters were all fun and interesting and the story was light, it is the perfect beach read! Highly recommend and I can’t wait for the next books in the series!