📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies
By Catherine Mack
Publication Date: April 30, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

📚MY REVIEW:

What a delightfully enjoyable read from Catherine Mack! This was a true whodunnit mystery, with a whole host of characters that just might be shady enough to have, well, dunnit. The comparison to Knives Out was SPOT ON -- the book was reminiscent of that type of plotline. And set with the beautiful backdrop of the Italian coast along the Mediterranean Sea, the locations almost seemed to become another character in the story.

The story was told from the perspective of Eleanor, an unreliable narrator, which is one of my favorite kinds of reads. But what made this book really unique, unlike anything I've read before, was that Eleanor tells the story as if she's actually talking to the reader. As I read, I felt like this wild story was being told to me by one of my best friends...you know, that friend who is brilliant, has a sarcastically dry sense of humor, and who doesn't have a filter? Come on, we all have that friend: she always has a flare for dramatics but she's loveably quirky and you'd do anything for her? Yup, her. In this book, Eleanor's humor and wit comes shining through in the use of footnotes throughout the entire book. It took some time to get used to, but once I did, I loved this component of the story-telling.

This book took me on twists and turns and flipped me upside down a couple times, leaving me guessing the whole time. Whenever I thought I had figured it out, nope, I sure didn't. This book was so much fun and is the PERFECT bingeable beach or pool read this summer! I highly recommend grabbing your copy when it goes on sale April 30th!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!


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Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this digital ARC. I enjoyed the premise and idea of writing a book within a book. I love books about books, but this one didn’t’ do it for me. I felt like I was anticipating for more things to happen and it just didn’t pull through. Glad I tried! Hoping others will love it more!

Clever and well-written, this mystery is populated with interesting characters and will keep you guessing until the end.

This book is a modern day "Clue" game set in beautiful locales throughout Italy. Each chapter had footnotes that added funny commentary to the story filled with random thoughts. The characters banter and squabbling was killer.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is a fun, silly, cozy mystery!

Thank you, Minotaur Books

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies is a perfect novel for fans of Knives Out, Only Murders in the Building, or Clue. This immersive novel takes you on a tour of Italy with a series of characters that will have you participating in solving a murder before the story ends.

I absolutely loved this book from the first chapter. The way the narrator unfolds the story, while also giving footnotes and asides, makes the reader feel incredibly immersed in the plot and from the very start of the book I was trying to figure out who did what to who when. I read this book in less than 24 hours because the story’s pace was fast enough to keep my attention and focus while slow enough to weave an incredibly intricate spider web tale.

I really enjoyed the way the characters are all uniquely innocent and guilty - there isn’t a single character in this book, including the narrator, who I didn’t question or second guess and that made the final twists and climax that much more intense for me because I was so invested in solving the crime. I really enjoyed their relationships as well - the sisters read exactly as sisters, with their inside jokes and complications, and the dalliances between all the different exes on the trip made for really fun reveals and revelations.

This was easily a five star book for me and I am so exited for the next installment in this series.

Eleanor is the author of a series of books about murder that happens on trips abroad. While on a book tour, she finds herself involved in a real-life situation where someone is trying to kill of the man behind the hero of her books.

This is a funny story with quirky characters and a wonderful sense of place. A light summer read.

This was such a fun read! Eleanor Dash is a mystery writer and she’s in Italy for the 10th anniversary book tour for her famous mystery series that is based on events from her first trip to Italy. The series also stars her then love interest, Connor, who definitely does not live up to his book hero version. There’s a whole “extended universe” of characters who are tied to either the books or the real life Eleanor & Connor that are along on this wild trip through Italy and all are suspects in attempts to murder Connor. For a book with so many characters, they are all pretty well described and easy to keep track of and get a feel for. Eleanor is a pretty likable character, although sometimes her thoughts and footnotes get a little manic and jumbled feeling, but overall she gives good backstory about the other characters and great descriptions. (I mean, using Bridgerton & Jonathon Bailey specifically to describe Oliver? Brilliant!) I had sort of figured out who I thought was the murder before the reveal, but was only partially right so I call that a good twist!! Will be looking forward to more in this series!

Thank you NetGalley & Minotaur Books for allowing me to read and & review!

This book was good in theory but unfortunately did not translate well to writing. Maybe it was because I read it on Kindle but the footnotes were incredibly confusing. The story line was ok but nothing really captivated my attention.

4.5 stars
This book was really fun! It was a cozy mystery, but it was really funny and broke the fourth wall. It really felt like someone was telling me an adventure they had in Italy.
Our main character Eleanor went to Italy 10 years ago, met Connor, and helped him solve a string of bank robberies. Eleanor then went home and wrote a book about her trip. It turned into a best selling 10 book series. She left Connor's name in, so he is basically blackmailing her to give her royalties. Eleanor, her sister Harper, Connor, Eleanor's ex Oliver, 2 other authors and a few others go on this promotional tour of Italy and someone starts making attempts on Connor and Eleanor's life. Almost everyone has motive, but who is really trying to kill them?
I really loved the writing style of this book. I listened to the audiobooks, but there were a lot of references to footnotes where the fourth wall was broken and it was very humorous. It was super easy to listen to and follow along with.
The characters were really fun, there were a lot of them and there were one or two I got mixed up with each other, but overall they each had their own personalities and made a great team of suspects. There were a lot of secrets we learn about a lot of them and it just makes the suspicion run deeper.
The plot was obviously great, I love travel books and this trip to Italy was a whirlwind. The plot was so fast. Something was always happening. So many things happened in a way that made a lot of sense. The ending was very twisty and not what I was expecting.

I had an absolute blast reading this book! It was clever, twisty, a little bit ridiculous and just a whole lot of fun. I can see people feeling very strongly one way or another about our MC Eleanor, but I found her self awareness about her flaws and faults very refreshing and honestly pretty charming. The mystery itself had me guessing right up until the big reveal and it was such a good one! You really have to pay close attention in this book because there’s A LOT of little details that are very important as the story progresses. I’m so excited about book two, ESPECIALLY with that ending. If you’re looking for a fun new mystery series about the book world, this might be for you!
CW: murder, gun violence, death of a parent

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun read!

Eleanor Dash, a bestselling author, is on a 10 day book tour in Italy with 5 literary rivals and 3 bodies. As the trip unfolds one of the group reveals the belief someone is trying to kill them, this concern is quickly blown off. But after other things go awry, secrets are revealed, and one of the group winds up dead on an excursion - what do a bunch of mystery writers do? Try to solve whodunit!

The format felt original, and I found the footnotes to be a welcomed addition (which isn’t the norm for me). It was fast paced, witty and laugh-out-loud funny! I did guess the murderer pretty early on, but I found myself still captivated by the build up and reveal.

The synopsis of this one interested me because who doesn’t love a who dun it set in Italy? Eleanor was an unreliable and at times unlikable character. Her stream of consciousness and the meandering way she narrated the story bored me at times. I did enjoy her character ARC though and she made some great pop culture references. The relationships between Eleanor and the other characters were highly entertaining, and I liked the way they shifted throughout the story. The banter and dialogue was well timed and made me laugh at times. The story within the story was an interesting angle at first, but eventually it felt contrived and in the end it was barely mentioned. The plot pacing was slow in the beginning, well timed in the middle, but felt rushed at the end. There was so much set up and not enough depth in the middle in my opinion. I did like the way you were meant to be suspicious of everyone and how many things were just thrown at the wall for you to parse out. However, I did sort of put together the pieces of the puzzle and wasn’t majorly shocked by the end reveal. The footnotes included were comical, but annoying for me. Since I was reading an ebook, I kept having to scroll back to find what the footnote was referencing. The ending felt a little underwhelming and rushed. I would’ve liked a little more resolution for Harper and Eleanor and Eleanor and Oliver. I can appreciate the set up for the next book, but it felt like too many loose ends

3.5 stars

Mystery author, Eleanor Dash, has written nine books with Connor Smith as the main hero and now she wants to kill him off and be done with the series in the tenth book. But, he says someone is trying to kill him in real life, but maybe someone is out to kill her?

Fresh and fun writing. I really liked the voice of Eleanor. She is snarky and witty. The author uses footnotes throughout the book. Clever, but also a big ol’ pain when reading on an ebook. I tried to page forward for each one, but there are a lot…Then, I just read them all at the end of each chapter, but didn’t really remember what they pertained to. Maybe less next time?

I enjoyed how the author brought the reader into the story, but I was hoping for more action earlier.

A good start to a new series.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A quick murder mystery for those who enjoy the Murder Mystery movies. However, I think the actual murder happens too late in the book and there was less solving/investigating of the mystery. Character relationships were interesting but was not drawn or attached to anyone. The FMC/narrator approach was intriguing but I think the execution and development of the storyline and relationships were lacking.

Footnotes were an interesting touch!! (but I think there were too many) Overall a fun quick read

Footnotes in a novel??? This was so disconcerting and I struggled to read the book. If the next book in the series has footnotes, I will absolutely not read it, nor any of the other in the series. In addition I did not find Eleanor Dash a sympathetic character. She seemed selfish and self-centered and maybe a little mean. So disappointed because I thought this would be enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The premise of this book immediately roped me in — a writer who goes on a book tour to Italy, where she finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery, accompanied by ex-boyfriends. Eleanor is super high energy, which makes for a fun story and dialogue but got exhausting fairly quickly.

This is a very fast-paced read, which I usually appreciate, but there just wasn't enough detail nor time for me to care enough about the story or characters here. It wasn't my cup of tea.

This is a cute, and lighthearted cozy mystery. It has a very unique use of footnotes, which break the fourth wall and allow the main character to speak directly to the readers. I appreciated this feature for its originality, but then in the third act of the book there were entire chapters directly speaking to the reader, and I feel that this took away a bit from the cute interaction with the reader the footnotes provided.

The book has an interesting cast of characters, that you get to learn about over the course of the book. The source of their connections lead to drama, and some tension, but for a murder mystery where anyone can be a suspect it never gets as tense as you think it should, even in a cozy. Overall this is a fun read, and good for those who like some humor with their murder. It promises many stories to come, and will be enjoyed by many.

Title: Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
Publication Date- 04/30/24
Publisher- Macmillan
Overall Rating- 4.5 out of 5 stars

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: What an exciting start to a new mystery series. I LOVED this book. We follow a group of individuals who are on a writer tour/ vacation in Rome. One of my favorite elements of the book was being in Rome and actually feeling like I was on vacation. I loved fictionally exploring a real vacation spot, it really made the book even more entertaining. We meet an interesting cast of characters that are fully flushed out and well developed. They all have intricate relationships with each other meanwhile trying to “solve,” a “potential,” murder. It’s set up in a way where you are trying to discover who is trying to kill one of the main characters and in a way that’s like a “whodunit.” You are aware that it is likely someone in the core group you are following which leads to increased suspension and tension.

The only reason this is a 4.5 and not a 5 is that I didn’t love the plot device that was used to explain the mystery. It’s really a personal preference but also felt a little too convenient. Other than that I have no complaints. The MC is quirky and funny. I felt pretty stressed the week I read this and it was able to get me out of that headspace and enjoy my time which can be hard to do.

I really enjoyed the writing. One thing I will note is that it is very “meta,” and some people may not like that. There is a lot of discussion and references to pop culture, authorship, publishing, books, being a reader and more. I ate that up.

I can’t wait for the next installment in the series, I am likely to read this book again just because it is so fun. I very much recommend.

🍋 Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies - Catherine Mack

4.5 ⭐️ - Hilarious footnotes. Beautiful Italian setting. Mystery. Romance. Need I say more? This book (series!) has it all and I literally cannot wait to read what’s coming next. I was lucky enough to be a Bookface Lady on tour for this one and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The way this book is written will have you captured from the very first chapter! I loved all the characters (there’s a lot!) and each of their unique personality and quirks. The footnotes of this story add so much to the depth of the characters and our interactions with them. The chapters dedicated to helping the reader solve the mystery are the perfect “recap” you’re always looking for in a murder novel. I loved this book. I am NOT a series girl but I cannot wait for this to continue. What a fun, summery, funny way to solve a true whodunit murder mystery. Here’s to book 2. I obviously recommend this - physical or audio!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.


Review to come shortly.