Happy Pub Day to @catherinemckenzieauthor and her novel EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES. This was such a fun read. A cozy mystery set in Italy, this book has humor, sunshine, drinks, and drama. It’s a classic whodunnit like a good game of Clue.

Eleanor Dash, author of a mystery series, is on book tour with other authors and Connor, an ex-fling who she based one of her leading characters on. Cue the drama when Connor claims someone on the trip is trying to kill him and the number of suspects climb. Looking forward to a second book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Many thanks to @minotaur_books for inviting me to participate in this book tour! I had a great time reading this book and loved the goodies that accompanied it! I especially love the finished copy and signed bookplate (check out the inside cover illustrations too💗)!

This book is out today and will be a great one for fans of Finlay Donovan, Knives Out, and anyone that loves the Clue game.

Everytime I go on Vacation Someone Dies was SO good! I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style, footnotes, plot twists, character development, all of it. I rated it 4.5 stars and the only reason I took off a half star is because I would have liked a little more romance. I will definitely check out Catherine's other works.

Catherine Mack’s Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is an outrageously fun mystery. It is written about an author whose life has given inspiration to a bestselling mystery book. Clever, witty, and original book that made me laugh out loud more than once. An entire crew of unique characters to get to know while you begin to feel as if you are part of the group too. Who wouldn’t have thought of murdering while also loving con man, Connor? Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is a hoot that can be enjoyed by anyone who loves a great story.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the perfect book for an afternoon on the beach or by the pool—it’s easy to get into and doesn’t require a ton of attention or deep thinking (not in a mean way, but it’s not dense). It was entertaining enough, I found it a bit predictable. I was really kind of annoyed by the footnotes in the digital format because they were all at the end of the chapter so I either had to flip back and forth or try to remember them out of context. In a physical book, I’d probably skip them. I also don’t love when a character addresses the reader directly, but that’s personal preference, not bad writing. If you want an easy cozy romance, I think this fits the bill rather well.

If you are looking for a book that will provide mystery, romance and laughter then Catherine Mack’s Evey Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies is the perfect choice. Author Eleanor Dash is on a ten day tour of Italy accompanied by her sister/assistant Harper, a group of her fans and several additional authors. Ten years earlier El visited Italy, where she met Connor, an investigator. Working together they solved a series of bank robberies. She put her experiences into her first book, which became a bestseller. Her mistake was not changing Connor’s name in the book. Threatening a lawsuit, he settled for a percentage of her book earnings. Her publisher was insisting on Connor’s inclusion in future books in her series, but after tolerating his arrogance and demands she has decided that she has had enough. It is time to kill off his character and end the series. Someone else has a similar idea and several attempts have been made on his life. She is not sure who organized this tour, but almost everyone has a reason to get rid of him. Then an attempt is made on El’s life. She is saved by Oliver, one of the authors that she had been in a relationship with. There is still a spark between them, making El wonder if they might re-kindle that relationship. When one of the authors is murdered, El becomes a prime suspect despite threats against her own life.

From the childish bickering between the authors to the guide who reads her information directly from the internet (and still gets it wrong), Mack injects her story with humor. She loves footnotes and liberally sprinkles them through the story. Clues are sprinkled throughout the story and she challenges the reader to solve the mystery before reaching her conclusion. With a limited group of suspects and constant twists she will keep you guessing to the end. This is the first book in Mack’s series and she leaves you with the discovery of another body and the hope that El will soon return. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s - Minotaur for providing this book.

Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for.

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies
by Catherine Mack

A fabulous “whodunnit” among a group of touring authors (who write murder mysteries)! This was a clever book with an added feature. Footnotes. Lots and lots of footnotes that were full of hints and doubts to keep you guessing. In the digital ARC, the footnotes didn’t convert perfectly so I’m excited to see this published.

Can I interest you in a charming, funny and snarky mystery with lots of travel and just enough romance to keep you on your toes?!

Oh was this FUN! A big thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC. Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is out TODAY!

Eleanor Dash is a bestselling mystery author who has been keeping some secrets. The main character in her stories is her ex, Connor Smith, and while the world knows him as her muse, what they don't know is that he's been blackmailing her since she wrote her first book. Desperate to get rid of him, she's decided that she's going to kill him off in her upcoming novel, #10.

What makes this even more awkward is that Connor is joining El, her sister/personal assistant Harper, and a cast of other supporting characters from their book lives, along with superfans on a trip around Italy to celebrate ten years of her writing. And they're all thrown for a loop when it Connor is being targeted in real life. So naturally El decides to take up the case...

I couldn't put this down and found myself giggling through the night. It was such a fun mystery - it kept me guessing (I was wrong every time!) but also rooting for these folks to just get it together. The side characters were well developed and the chemistry with the whole group was excellent. El is an unreliable but incredibly engaging narrator - I LOVED the footnotes and they often made me snort.

The perfect book when you are in a mood to laugh and solve a mystery. What a debut, Catherine Mack!!! Can't wait to read what comes next!

Pub Day Book Review
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This cozy mystery has a gorgeous setting, multiple unreliable characters, and a whodunit plot told from the perspective of a witty, sarcastic narrator all wrapped up in one!
This was one of a few books I've read that included footnotes and I found all of them to be enjoyable, however, some were more so a glimpse into the thoughts of the narrator than actually providing substance to the story. I still loved their inclusion in the story!

I appreciate how this novel broke through the fourth wall and provided a glimpse into the world of publishing! Eleanor was such a snarky and spunky main character to help navigate the journey and I definitely laughed a bit throughout this book.

The setting is MARVELOUS. The descriptions of foods and the vivid scenery were so atmospheric that I had to resist the urge to book my flight to Italy ASAP! It's definitely a travel destination for sure though!!

I had my suspicions regarding who was to blame for multiple murders, however, I became a victim of the infamous red herrings, so I was wrong, oh well! 😅

I loved the nods to the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie and the pop culture references, spoiler there's Taylor Swift gems, sprinkled throughout the story!

Overall, this debut for a new cozy mystery series definitely kept me intrigued and I will keep an out of for more books in the series, especially given the cliffhanger at the end of it!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for my honest review! 💛

Oooh, Eleanor, you gotta be careful how you phrase "I'm going to kill Connor!" You mean the book version of your blackmailing con man ex, right? Someone has a target on his back, that's for sure. Or is it?

This story was incredibly entertaining. There's loads of personality in this fast-paced vacation mystery and I, for one, got a kick out of the fourth wall breaking and the many many footnotes. If you're in the mood for a funny, setting-strong, cozy mystery about a wiseass author on tour... this is it!

Determined to end her popular series of books, Eleanor Dash is faced with a few hurdles. The biggest obstacle is writing the demise of the character Connor Smith. Now Conner isn’t your average fictional character. In fact, Conner is the real life love interest to Eleanor.

While Conner has been hamming it up in the limelight, Eleanor has been trying her best to figure out how she can plot Connor’s demise. As the author struggles for creativity, the publisher sends a group of writers with Eleanor, Connor, and her assistant on a tour of Italy. While this band of vagabonds travels through Italy on a book tour, Connor quickly finds someone is attempting to ‘off him’ in real life. Who would want to plot Connor’s demise while conducting a press tour?

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies is the first book in The Vacation Mysteries series by Catherine Mack. It was a witty and clever take on a ‘cozy’ mystery. I found myself drawn to the blurb to try to escape the huge reading ‘funk’ I have been in lately. The cast of characters was entertaining and the novel certainly had a very unique plot. However – I found myself distracted and often annoyed at the layout of the book. There were footnotes littered throughout the novel. To take in all the nuances attributed to the footnotes, I found myself flipping pages and trying to keep up with the notations. It quickly became more of a chore than I bargained for. Had the footnotes been absent in the novel, I believe I would have connected more with the story. It was too distracting for my tastes in reading!!

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨.”

I was so excited to join Minotaur’s “When In Rome Tenth Anniversary Tour” and read the first in a new hilarious mystery series from author Catherine MacKenzie.

This book is extremely meta with narrator, author Eleanor Dash, breaking the fourth wall, talking directly to the reader (“𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 350 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 (𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭), 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦”), much like Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. The narration also contains footnotes, which reminded me of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy - they act as side remarks that had me laughing out loud. I hear they are integrated really well in the audiobook. MacKenzie creates a loveable (yet flawed and selfish) narrator in Eleanor, and sprinkles in a romance that you want to cheer for (Oliver is swoon worthy). The cast of suspects all have reasonable motives for wanting to commit murder. I loved the idea of a book anniversary tour; it was a super neat way of having a “locked room mystery” with a small number of suspects, but also allows for changes in setting - I really want to go to Italy and do my own “When In Rome” tour now! Is it over the top in ways? For sure, but I felt it was part of the charm and fun of this story.

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies is a story of love, travel, taking responsibility, and betrayal. MacKenzie even makes a wink to the coming television series with the footnote “𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬” - I’ll be intrigued to see how this is adapted! I’m very much looking forward to more Vacation Mysteries, especially with that ending! Thank you to Minotaur Books, Raincoast Books and NetGalley for the ARC package!

Don’t miss the hilarious start to a new cozy mystery series, Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies.

Eleanor wrote a book about her short love affair with a conman in Italy. It was a bestseller. The conman, Connor, successfully gets her to fork over part of her book profits for not just that book but every book in the series. It seems Eleanor didn’t hide Connor’s identity well enough, okay at all, in the books. Nine books, all bestsellers, in the series have been released. Eleanor has decided to kill off fictional Connor in the, as yet unwritten, tenth book. On a book tour for book nine, someone is trying to murder real-life Connor. Eleanor is pressured to investigate and prevent Connor’s murder all while plotting his fictional murder herself. This plot is both meta and convoluted but mostly just fun.

If you want to spend an afternoon reading a humorous cozy mystery set in Italy, pick up Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. It’s a delightful escape from your daily life. 4 stars!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

Catherine Mack is Catherine McKenzie?? I didn't find that out until I finished Every Time I Go on Vacation! I've been reading her for years. This was the perfect fun, light mystery to start my summer reading. It's not heavy and a tour of Italy was a delight. Let me touch on the characters. The reading group was a nice addition. Harper and El are a great team and I can see them developing as the series continues. Connor drove me crazy. I apologize for not being more specific about Connor except we are just not compatible.

Overall, a fun read to escape the stresses of the day. Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advance copy.

A whitty fresh mystery. This is a summer must read! You will laugh out loud and truly enjoy this book.

4.5 stars

When I read the summary of this book – I was excited! I was captivated by the main character and the story right away. I loved all the possible suspects and the Agatha Christie who dunnit vibes. Was it her possibly jealous sister, her ex-boyfriends (plural), her ex-boyfriend’s ex-wife, the new author trying to replace her, one of the many other suspects, or is the narrator herself unreliable? I did guess close to what actually happened pretty early on, but it was still a quick and fun read. It had romance, lots of drama, and the setting in Italy did not disappoint!

The one thing I didn’t love was the narrator put in a lot of footnotes (it was written as if the author was writing us her story in a new book) and the footnotes were not my vibe – otherwise really enjoyed this cozy mystery! This was my first book by this author and I plan to continue the series.

This also prepped me for my Italy trip next month – very excited for that - with hopefully less murder though!

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC!

All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series―is that too much to ask?

Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life―the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can't get out of her life―Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case.

Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker―and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly―theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder?

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour that turns into a real-life murder mystery, as her life starts to imitate the world in her books. (GoodReads)

This made me sad because I love cozy mysteries, or really any mysteries, but I could not stand this. I just did NOT care about the main character or any of the others. All portrayed as selfish and no common sense. The footnotes were annoying and way too much. I’m not very good at humor but this just was not funny to me. More like whiney.

Overall, I rate this novel 1 out of 5 stars.

I really enjoyed this entertaining cozy mystery,I thought the footnotes easily read on my kindle added to the story.A perfect summer or vacation read #netgalley #stmartins

This was so……FUN!! Eleanor is a writer and she is sent on a today book tour to Italy. She is joined by several fans, her sister, a man that has been blackmailing her for ten year, her ex, and a few others. Someone is trying to kill her blackmaileer, or so he says. Then someone tries to kill Eleanor! It’s very convoluted. Catherine Mack breaks down that fourth wall and speaks to us, the reader. Which is one of my favorite things in books. This had humor, lots of suspects, and a fabulous setting. I cannot wait for more from this author. There will be another book, because, of course, there is a cliffhanger!

Mystery author Eleanor Dash is ready to end her vacation mystery series and she decides to kill off her main character, Connor. The real-life Connor is Eleanor’s ex and not the nicest of guys. This is her way of getting him out of her life. Their publicist sends them on a book tour through Italy along with a few rival authors, devoted book fans and another ex-boyfriend Oliver.

Things take a nasty turn when someone tries to kill the real Connor. Can someone be taking a fictional story too seriously? Connor pleads with Eleanor to help him find the killer before he winds up dead. It’s not long before they realize he’s not the only one in danger when a dead body turns up.

This is a funny, captivating page turner. Humor, as well as mystery, is laced throughout this book. There are many LOL moments. The characters are well portrayed - some quirky, some serious and a few dangerous. I loved the Italy setting. The author made me feel as if I was on tour with them too.

One problem I did have was the formatting of the book. There are many footnotes throughout the book which I never saw in a fictional book before, but I found them to be distracting and would occasionally pull me out of the story. I read this as an E-ARC, which made flipping back and forth to the footnotes a bit bothersome. I see from other reviews that it was handled well in the audiobook and wasn’t a problem at all. So, readers might want to try that instead of reading the e-book. Once I got used to the footnotes, it was clear sailing and I enjoyed this mystery.

I found the storyline to be cleverly written with a full cast of suspects. Throughout the entire book I kept changing my mind as to “whodunit”. I do enjoy a book that keeps me on my toes. There was a sneak peek into the next book, and it looks like another good story is on the way. I’ll be looking for it.










FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

"Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies" is another great popcorn thrillers, perfectly tailored for fans of Finlay Donovan, Stephanie Plum, and "Peril in Pink." This novel has all the elements of a light-hearted mystery, mixed with personality, suspense, unexpected twists, and doses of humor.
The plot unfolds around the protagonist's vacation escapades, each time shadowed by the unfortunate demise of someone nearby. It's a premise that promises both intrigue and amusement, and the book delivers on both fronts with finesse. The author's knack for crafting engaging narratives ensures that readers are kept on the edge of their seats, eagerly turning pages to uncover the next twist. The cast of characters, both likable and unlikable, adds depth and complexity to the story. From charismatic protagonists to enigmatic supporting roles, each character contributes to the overall charm of the story.

"Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies" is a quick, easy, and enjoyable read. With its blend of mystery, humor, and travel escapades, it's sure to captivate fans and earn its place on the vacation reading list of many. So, pack your bags, settle into your favorite spot, and prepare for a thrilling journey that promises to entertain from beginning to end.