Eleanor wants to get through her Italian book tour so she can go home and write her next book where she plans to kill off her main character. What she doesn’t expect is to be in the middle of a real murder mystery. While on the trip, someone attempts to kill Connor, her ex that the main character of her series is based on and named after, Eleanor finds herself in the middle of trying to figure out who wants Connor dead and why.

With an unreliable narrator, twists and turns around every corner, and the most hilarious footnotes, this book was a blast! I love that it often broke down the fourth wall and with the footnotes often read as a stream of consciousness in a way that had me laughing out loud, but very unsure of what to believe. This book was so much fun to read and I think any fans of the Finlay Donovan series will love the humor and suspense this book brings!

I enjoyed the audiobook and the narration by Elizabeth Evans. While her narration was fantastic, I did find the physical book worked better for me. The footnotes were more clear in the physical, and although they flowed seamlessly into the story in the audio, my brain preferred the obvious difference on the page. I also preferred the physical copy when it came to the notes, lists, and brain dumps that occurred between chapters.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance copies.

What an interesting and fun book this was. This was a sort of whodunnit mystery that really focused on getting the reader to follow the clues and try and solve the mystery as well. This was done through the use of footnotes throughout the book, which at first was a bit tiresome and overdone but by the end I found that it flowed quite well. The fourth wall was broken several times with the narrator talking directly to the reader, which I feel is a trend but it is still fun for me. For a book about multiple murders, blackmailing, and generally bad topics, it was quite light and easy to read. Some of the choices of putting a supposed "cliffhanger" at the end of every chapter seemed a bit overzealous, but overall I found it a satisfying read. I enjoyed the main narrator, and I think that it was a good enough book that I would look to read more in the future. It appears this is going to be a series, and I hope to read the following books to come. I give this book 3.75/5 stars rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Fun mystery about a mystery writer and her assorted colleagues, friends and fans - and, maybe enemies?

Eleanor is a best-selling writer on a book tour through Italy. She's decided that Connor, who has become one of her main characters in her books, should die in her next book. But when an attempt is made on Connor's life in reality, El finds herself in the middle of the mystery that is unfolding before their eyes! Somehow, everyone who is on the tour becomes a suspect - including Eleanor's sister, her ex, Oliver, and a few fellow authors, not to mention the book ladies on the tour, including one of El's stalkers! But is the killer after Connor, or maybe El, herself!

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book! Pick it up this week, publishing date is April 30!

Oh my goodness, I LOVED this book!

Eleanor Dash is a best-selling author who didn't really mean to be a best-selling author and she loves footnotes.

Eleanor is on tour in Italy for her Vacation Mysteries Series, along with Connor Smith who happens to be the main character in her book. She and Connor met 10 years ago when she was basically sucked into his trap without even knowing it- now she has been stuck with him and is ready to kill him off in her next book so that they can be done with each other. What Eleanor doesn't expect is for Connor to die in real life, but it seems that someone else on the book tour trip has another plan. There are too many suspects and too much drama. We have blackmail, past hook-ups, past relationships, jealousy, lies and so many secrets.
It was so much fun reading this-- I didn't know what to expect next and even if I had an idea, it would have been wrong; and that's a good thing in a novel like this!

I VERY much would love to read more like this! Thank you for the opportunity to read this advanced digital reader copy in return for my honest review!

EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES is the first book in a fun new cozy mystery series by Catherine Mack. The story is clever, funny and entertaining. The style is unlike anything I’ve read before. The main character, Eleanor Dash, speaks directly to the reader about being an author in the crazy world of present-day publishing. Eleanor is the best-selling author of nine murder mysteries and is in the process of plotting the tenth, and she hopes final, book in the series. She wants to kill off her wildly popular male character, Connor, so she can be done with both the fictional and the real-life Connor, who has been blackmailing her for ten years. Her publisher has sent her on ten-day book tour in Italy, with a crazy mix of attendees, including Connor, her sister and personal assistant, Harper, a couple of literary rivals, a group of ardent fans, a stalker and even her ex-boyfriend, Oliver. But when one of their tour group turns up dead, the entire cast of characters become suspects. Was someone actually trying to kill Connor or Eleanor? Who could want one or both of them dead and why? The footnotes included by Eleanor add to the quirky nature of the story. I enjoyed this well-plotted and engaging story and look forward to reading the next book in this series. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

Catherine Mack writes this hilarious book about a mystery writer writing a book about herself. She randomly talks to the audience telling them the back story of things going on in the book. At first it was hard to get use to it but it was so funny I couldn't stop reading. If you want a book that will keep a smile on your face or you need a good fun beach read grab this book.

Breaking the fourth wall - yes or no?

For me it’s very much on a book by book basis. I thought it worked wonderfully in Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies! It felt like I was sitting down with my buddy, Eleanor, being told all about this crazy trip she took to Italy and how she almost didn’t make it back home alive.

The frequent footnotes also made it feel like more of a chat, because that’s 100% how I talk when I’m talking to my friends - very scattered and with lots of verbal footnotes 😆 HOWEVER, reading it on my Kindle made it a huge pain in the butt to connect the footnote with where they were supposed to go.

Overall, this seems like a fun new series and I’m very excited for the next one!

Thanks @netgalley for this arc - out April 30 from @catherinemckenzieauthor and @minotaur_books

Synopsis:
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 competitors, 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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It is well written and so much fun. Our main character, Eleanor Dash, is an author of cozy mysteries that take place in exotic locations where her main character solves murders with assistance from a good looking con man, Connor Smith.

In Italy, on her book tour Eleanor plans to write Connor out of the series. Connor is based on a real person, named Connor Smith, that Eleanor has a "past" with. Connor has been a thorn in Eleanor's side wanting compensation for her basing the character on him. Connor insists someone has tried to kill him, but it is not until someone from the book tour is killed that this becomes very real. Everyone on the tour is a potential suspect, and many have secrets, and some would want Connor dead, including an ex-wife and Eleanor.

The story is told in the first person and the author has footnotes making it all seem that Eleanor is talking to us. The characters are well drawn out and the story moves along at a brisk pace. This is the first in a new series and I eagerly await the next one. If you enjoy humor and a witty narrator this is a book for you. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Minotaur Books, for an ARC. The review is my own.

4 Stars
Romance and a murder mystery in Italy - Why wouldn't this be fun?
And for the most part, it was but the footnotes got slightly annoying with the

I did love the way it was written though - It was hilarious and I couldn't stop smiling

This was different for me! Author Eleanor Dash is on a tour of Italy for his first book’s 10th anniversary. With her is her sister, Harper, Connor Smith (one of the characters in her book), and a few other authors, including her ex, Oliver. Connor believers someone is trying to kill him and enlists Eleanor to help him figure it out. It seems that whoever it is doesn’t have their sights just set on Connor. Now everyone is a suspect. Secrets are revealed, fun is had, and everyone is suspicious of everyone.

This cozy mystery is hilarious and clever. It’s written very differently than anything that I have read and I loved it that way! The tone was very conversational, and that’s because literally Eleanor is having a conversation with you about what is happening thereby breaking the “fourth wall.” This made it very easy to read and very easy to be engaged in the book.

There is murder, mystery and romance in this book. So it was all my favorite things in one book, so that was great. It was easy to like Eleanor because she seemed to be very self aware. I liked most of the other characters too, except Connor, but I believe that was don’t purposefully.

For me, the setting in Italy helped make the book. I went to Italy on my honeymoon, and to the places that were talked about in the book: The Vatican, The Coliseum, Sorrento, Capri, Anacapri, and Ravello!

I will say this – there were almost 200 footnotes and after a while, it did get a bit annoying. Especially because the footnote would be a page or two later and then I would have to remember what line was footnoted. I did like the idea, but the amount of them was excessive.

Overall, a great read and I will read more in this series!

Everytime I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is a hilarious, witty, fun, addictive mystery that will keep you hooked and laughing your butt off. I loved the setting, the whole plot was so well thought out, executed perfectly.

The characters were so much fun, they were truly the highlight of this book for me. They were so eccentric, so out there. The narrator was sometimes over the top and obnoxious, but truly it made for the charm of this book. I did want to get to know the characters a little more since this is the first book in the series, but I will definitely be reading the upcoming ones.

I really enjoyed how the author constructed this book with all the footnotes, the new book outline, the way it was written as though she was speaking directly to you, I thought that was really fun. This one does end on a cliffhanger ! This was a fun cozy mystery that I will definitely recommend.

✨️ Thank you to @minotaurbooks, @netgalley, @macmillanaudio & @catherinemack for my gifted ARC & ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book! The plot kept my attention along with getting to know the characters. I had never read this author before but I will be reading her again in the future!

I'm not sure what to say about this book. It's written in the first person POV and the narrator is a mystery writer on a book tour. Her publisher enlisted several other authors to join the tour as well as her character consultant, who is blackmailing her. There are numerous murder attempts on the author, her consultant and finally a fellow writer is killed. They all have motives.

I think that the hardest part of this book is that the narrator continuously posts "footnotes" that are actually her thoughts. They would have been better placed as an aside at the actual location of the comment that she is relating to rather than a footnote. As an e-book the footnotes were never near the area that it was related to.

I had very little trouble determining the murderer so a little work on the mystery was warranted.

This book is different from any book you've read before - I'm pretty sure of it.

OK, so it's a tour of Italy with 5 authors and some other book-related people. And a whole bunch of fans of Eleanor Dash, who are traveling alongside, but not really with the book people. Connor, a former lover of Eleanor, is there because he was the inspiration of the first book in the popular series and continued to be a prominent character in the series. He claims someone is trying to kill him. Eleanor doesn't believe him - at first. And then there are more attempts, including a (mistaken?) attempt on Eleanor's life. And there's a scene in a library with all the book people and an incompetent police investigator.

But have you ever read a book that's been footnoted by the author to give the reader background information, or to say "this might be a clue?" I've never read one like it before. Although I didn't read every footnote, it was a quirky and fun idea.

I enjoyed the book a lot. There was sex mentioned and happening in the book but it wasn't explicit so I'd say this book can be read and enjoyed by almost everyone.

I tried, I really tried to get through this book. I got to about 50% and just couldn't keep going. I just couldn't get into this and the FMC and the side characters were annoying. The story seemed to just be going in circles and the characters kept bringing things they'd already talked about multiple times. I wanted to like this one, the cover is fantastic the premise was good, but I just couldn't get into this.

"Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies" by Catherine Mack a debut novel that is a smashing hit. It is a gripping mystery novel, but also a hilarious comedy with the beauty and allure of travel, all the while trying to solve a murder. This book was a thrilling ride! Despite being a murder mystery, it was highly entertaining. The main character Eleanor, is an author on a book tour in Italy with a cast of characters who will make you laugh out loud. The witty banter between Eleanor and Connor is hysterical. Mack's writing is engaging and immersive, whisking the readers away to picturesque destinations while weaving a complex web of intrigue, comedy and suspense. The characters are well-developed, each with their own motives and secrets that keep the reader guessing until the very end. If you're a fan of mystery, romance, and comedy, I highly recommend this book. I can not wait to read her next one.

Reading Catherine Mack's newsletter had me sprinting to NetGalley to request Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies - the first book in her upcoming Vacation Mysteries series! But also, how could I not read this book with a cover like this!? It's a thing of vacation beauty!

This book is fun, humorous, and clever! It's wild but plausible! It's atmospheric and vacation-y! It's exactly the kind of book I love reading in the summertime!

Main character Eleanor Dash is quirky, spunky, and full of vigor. She's a mystery writer, and there's just something I love about cozy mysteries with main characters who are authors! Simply put: I adore her!

This book has footnotes, which were handled really well in audiobook form!!! The insights they gave into an authors mind and the publishing industry were both enlightening and entertaining! Stylistically, the footnotes fill the reader into details in such a succinct way - which is brilliant author work if you ask me! (But Mack, I now need to know: do you write your own newsletter?)

Narrated by Elizabeth Evans, this audiobook is going to be one I recommend all summer (and after, because who doesn't want beach-y vibes in the middle of winter!?)! She truly added extra pizazz to Eleanor's character, and I love how she altered her voice to allow the footnotes to sound like asides to the main story!

If you like fun mysteries, this is the quick and easy read for you!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.

Like an Agatha Christie who done it with a mix of the mafia set in Italy. Written in the style of the main character, a famous book writer, is talking to you in footnotes giving you more details and thoughts. With a cast of characters and group of “Bookface Ladies” fans along for the mystery.
This book would probably be better to read on a real book and not the ebook/kindle version. Trying to find the footnotes and back to your place in the book is distracting and after a while annoying. Some footnotes were in black and some in red… I eventually gave up on them.

I was initially attracted to this book because it looked like a fun and light mystery read, set in Italy where I live. I think in hindsight this was perhaps not the book for me or my reading tastes? I found the main character a little too conversational with the reader (I guess I prefer to read as an "onlooker") and the footnotes sort of drove me crazy. They really broke up the flow of my reading, for what were often short pithy comments. You can certainly skip them, but I wanted the full experience of reading with them included. One thing that drives me a little crazy with books set in Italy are the cultural inaccuracies -- no you wouldn't order cannoli in Naples because those are from Sicily. No you would not have the same tour guide with you throughout as people are only licensed in certain cities. OK, maybe that makes me a bit of a spoilsport, but can someone with cultural knowledge start proofreading these books set in Italy for cultural accuracy?

I will say if you don't care about those cultural inaccuracies (most people would not pick up on them) and do like a more conversational, cozy mystery, this is probably the book for you -- especially as a summer beach read with a bit of escapism included.

#ETIGOVSD:⁣
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Thank you @minotaur_books @macmillan.audio #MacAudio2024 for my gifted copies.⁣
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This tickled my ADD brain in the best way, and audio is truly the way to go. The footnotes made total sense on audio and really tracked for my multiple track mind. I tried my kindle and threw a fit, did decent with the physical print, but audio? Elizabeth Evans, you made it shine for the reader.⁣
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If you like your snarky banter with your cozy mystery, look no further. If you want to crave an aperol spritz while dreaming of Italy, buckle up. Eleanor Dash makes both things happen as she breaks down her book tour from hell, in a place that’s nearly heaven. Someone is trying to axe her and the real life inspiration behind her MC, and she’s not having it. ⁣
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With quite a few nods to Dame Aggie, it’s a great murder mystery that one could enjoy. Dare I say… it’s to die for? (I’ll see myself out) first in a series, it’s wonderful and kept my attention. Can’t wait to see what happens next!⁣
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Out April 30th!⁣
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QOTD: Where is your dream vacation?