Bestselling mystery author, Eleanor Dash, is ready to kill off her main character. She also wouldn't mind if his real-life namesake and inspiration, Connor, met an untimely demise either. The blackmailing, lecherous, sleezeball would get what was coming to him. But when it actually seems like Connor's life may be in danger Eleanor can't help but wonder who's behind it--especially when she's a suspect, and someone seems to be after her, as well. Traveling across Italy with both a killer and the police hot on her heels, surrounded by her sister, fellow authors, and multiple exes, Eleanor is having the trip of a lifetime, and perhaps her last.

This book was so much fun. With tons of fourth wall breaking and footnote commentary, Eleanor is just such a fun character. The book feels fresh yet not annoying, similar to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, a bit. Because of the footnotes it's almost impossible to read on an e-reader or other digital device, though, and is much better suited to a print copy. But I loved the descriptions of travel and food, the presentation of clues, and the unraveling of the mystery. I guessed some pieces, but certainly not all, which is exactly how I like my mysteries! I can't wait to see what the next book in this new series brings.

Thanks to Minotaur for my ARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Highly entertaining mystery set in Italy about an author on book tour. Description “Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies… one trip to die for”. That sets the stage for all the chaos that ensues. Left me wanting to go back to Italy and a sequel!

Much thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martins Publishing for the ARC of "Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies" in exchange for an honest review.
I can only hope that every time I go on vacation I take a book with me as much fun to read as this one was.
What a perfect way to kick off the spring-summer reading season. A clever, laugh-out-loud and beautifully scenic whodunit, especially a romp for those of us immersed in all the tropes of murder mysteries.....and author Catherine Mack loads her story up with wickedly sharp asides from her narrator, bestselling author Eleanor Dash.
Ellie and her sister Hayley, who functions as her assistant, are on a publicity book tour through sunny but broiling hot Italy. The tour's for the latest in her wildly popular romantic mystery series. It's another of the travelogue-worthy thrillers with a fictionalized version of Ellie and lovable rogue Connor Smith, based on their original real life Rome adventure together. Except that Connor's not fictional and Ellie's grievous error in using his real name left her a permanent victim of his extortion for a percentage of her royalties. Ellie's one time romance with Connor has turned to hate. And she's looking to free herself of him by killing him off in her next book,. But Connor's claiming, much to her disbelief that someone's trying to do him in for real. Her skepticism quickly evaporates when attempts are made on her life as well.
There's certainly no shortage of suspects on the tour with them........two rival bestselling mystery authors,, Connor's ex wife and his new girlfriend, Ellie's one-that-got-away former lover, and a busload of avid women fans, including one notorious stalker. Careening around Italy they all go, with a hapless tour guide who's literally a Trevi Fountain of misinformation
Needless to say, when the twists, revelations and surprises start detonating, some of these folks might be taking leave of the tour....along with their lives.
Dialogue-driven and funny all the way through, this book stands one of the fastest and tongue-in-cheekiest reads I've come across (And I challenge any of you to keep a straight face at the Goodreads reference.....). If you've plowed through who knows how many deep, dark, violent psychological mysteries, consider this book to reward yourself with a perfect sweet dessert - with cherries, whipped cream, and a few dead bodies on top.

I was immediately drawn to the title and the cover for this book!

This book was funny, unique and a real “whodunit” mystery. The book is about an author who provides insight about what it is like being an author while on a book tour with other authors, all while also trying to figure out how to end her Vacation Mystery Novel series by killing off the main character in her books (who is based off an actual ex-boyfriend, who is also an author on the book tour, and thinks someone is trying to kill him on the book tour), AND at the same time, someone on the book tour turns up dead.

It was quite the read, but at the same time it was light and airy and easy to get through.

The reader is fully part of this story which makes the book easy to read and more fun. I loved “Breaking the fourth wall” chapter, Eleanor’s bluntness and the meaningful chapter names. I also like how she talked about the demands on authors & how publishers don’t just want one book anymore. As a reader, we love all the books!

There are some funny jibes at Goodreads, some mentions of other books and TV shows “how he ends up in the Good Place” and the book reads like a long stream of consciousness which, to be honest, sometimes got a little boring, which is where the footnotes come in!

At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked the footnotes and found them distracting, especially when you had to flip the page to finish the sentence and then flip back for the footnote. I ended up reading the footnes only when I felt like I needed a pick-me-up since the footnotes were honestly funny. I thought I knew who the culprit was at around the 40% mark, when one had even been murdered yet, and I was kind of right BUT I was not expecting the person who got murdered to be the one who died..

Side note: I really struggled to read this on my Kindle and almost gave up because of how terrible the formatting was. I read the book on my Ipad as a PDF document, but even then the font was so small. I probably would have finished it faster with a physical copy or with larger font size.

The only thing I didn’t really enjoy is that the answer to who committed the murder is kind of dumped on you and anti-climactic. I personally thought it was a little obvious and without giving away any spoilers; Eleanor explains what an author typically does to hide the murderer and what to look for as a reader and then the book follows that same step by step process.

I also didn’t love the epilogue (it was just so random and too quick) even though it did set up the next book nicely.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy.

Ps. In the ARC I received I think there was a typo on page 329. "When" instead of "We" I think? I'm sure this will be corrected by pub date.

What initially drew me to this comedy, mystery was the title and the setting, Italy! The narrator has a quirky personality as she tries to find out who has it out for her. At times, she speaks directly to the reader. The novel was a bit dialogue-heavy. It was easy to follow, but I felt the characters could have been more developed. Also, the footnotes did not work for me, but it may have been the format on my kindle. I ended up not reading the footnotes because skipping them made the story easier to follow. 3 stars for a fun, light, beach read.

Eleanor is a famous mystery writer. Her main character, Connor, is based on a real man she met on a trip several years before the book begins. He has blackmailed her into giving him part of her pay for the series, because his real name and likeness is used, and he is not cast in the best light (which suits his horrible personality). Eleanor never set out to be a writer, it just sort of happened for her. Eleanor’s sister always wanted to be a writer, but is not stuck as her sister’s assistant. A trip to Italy seems as though it might be Harper’s last hurrah before she quits working for Eleanor, and Eleanor is plotting to kill off Connor’s character in her next book and be done with him, and possibly with writing all together.

I really struggled getting into this book. I thought as I continued reading, I would get more immersed in the plot, but it unfortunately never happened. It felt like I had been dropped into the middle of the story when the book opened. I actually went back and checked to see if there were earlier books in the series because it felt like there was a lot of backstory being casually mentioned without enough explanation and exploration. I found the footnotes throughout the story to be a distraction. They were funny, but as I was already struggling to focus on the storyline, I found them to be another thing that kept me from being able to fully engage in the plot.Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the author’s first book in what is supposed to be a new series. She has published several novels before this one under a different last name. If you are looking for a cozy mystery with quick chapters, this might be a book you would enjoy, but I found the lack of backstory too distracting to give this book a better rating.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really fun read. I listened to most of it but then went back and read parts of it from the ebook to clarify a few things. There are footnotes in this book so it wasn’t as clear in the audio version, and made a little more sense actually seeing them. But either way I had a blast with this one.
The main character was hilarious. Despite it appearing someone is being targeted to be killed, this book had loads of humor. And the mystery was really good too! I breezed through this book pretty fast- it’s got great pacing- so I didn’t stop to think too long about who was behind everything. But embarrassingly enough for me (I like to think I can usually guess the culprit almost always), I didn’t see any of it coming. This would be a great beach read if you like mysteries or light hearted thrillers.

This was such a fun read! It was humorous and cozy but always kept me guessing. I love a whodunit style thriller/mystery and I felt as if this title delivered just that!

Everytime I go on vacation is about an author who writes about murder. When she has to solve an attempted murder, she puts her sleuthing skills to the test.

This book looked so fun. I love the cover and the fun summery vibes. It started out humorous and fun. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me though.

I really disliked all of the characters. Everyone seemed either stuck up, dumb, or just plain annoying. I had a hard time connecting with anyone or cheering for anyone. I feel like the main character was trying too hard to be funny and I just wasn’t feeling it.

I did enjoy the audiobook though. The narrator was great.

Thanks so much to netgalley and St. Martins Press for the arc and Macmillan audio for the alc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Absolutely loved reading this fun, fresh cozy mystery by Catherine Mack. Elenor is a mystery author who is on a 10 day trip to Italy, what could be better? Unfortunately, both her exes, her sister, one exes ex wife and a whole host of other characters are there too. And what happens when one of her exes begins to think someone is trying to kill him? It’s up to Elenor to figure out what’s really going on.

Breaking the fourth wall, engaging the reader and inserting all her inner thoughts, Everytime I Go on Vacation Someone Dies is a joy to read and makes you feel like you could really be in Italy. I can’t wait for the next one!

Thank you Catherine Mack, NetGalley and St Martins Press for this ARC.

I absolutely loved this book! The title grabbed my interest immediately and I was quickly pulled into the story. Catherine Mack newest mystery is fun, fast, and full of surprises. The main character, Elenor Dash, is a cozy writer mystery writer trying to kill off her main character, who just happens to be based on a real person and he is blackmailing her. The twists and turns of this story are delightful. I love Elenor’s use of footnoting to add background. It an excellent method for storytelling. This book was a five star read for me. Definitely recommend for a fun summer read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Press (publisher), and Catherine Mack for allowing me the privilege of reading this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I was really looking forward to this book but sadly I just didn't love it. I struggled to get into it at first so I switched to the audiobook and found that to be more engaging. The narrator does a good job adding personality to the MC and bringing the story to life. Still, for some reason I had trouble feeling invested in this story or any of the characters - I was interested at some points but was ready for the story to be over at others. The book definitely had funny moments but it was also a bit over the top for me - perhaps I wasn't in the correct mindset for it because I usually do enjoy books like this. Overall I thought this one was just okay but I don't think the details will stick with me.

A few things to note - I do wish there were less footnotes throughout and that the first murder happened earlier in the book so we could unravel it together. It felt like it all happened so late in the game and the MC just neatly solved everything for the reader as opposed to us doing it together.

This book reminded me of Blonde Identity and Finlay Donovan, so I could definitely see people falling in love with this book. Thank you for the opportunity to review!

I want to thank everyone for this gifted copy of Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies.

Well....this book was....interesting. It wasn't. the best book I've ever read, but it had some good parts. Overall, it was just okay for me. I didn't really like the main characters, she was pretty selfish, and admitted multiple times that "she wouldn't change". I. really didn't love any of the characters. It was an interesting story plot, but fell short. And while I found that I was guessing until the last 8% of the book, once everything was revealed I wasn't impressed.

Overall, it was pretty meh.

Read this one with an aperol spritz in your hand & ready to book your flights to Italy :)

tl/dr: this will be in my top fav read of the year.

This is my perfect book (I know, I said it) I'm a HUGEEEEE action/mystery movie girl & this one has everything - surprise, comedy, twists & turns, Italy, a tinyyyy bit of will they/won't they romance with tension, sarcasm, crazy fun cast of characters and a plot that keeps me turning pages welllllll into the night - safe to say, this will probably be a top book of the year with how excited I was to pick it up. Everytime I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies - reminiscent of Knives Out (in that it's a mystery and a fun cast of characters) - also, it's gonna be a series so HUGE YAY!!!

Loved it. No notes. 5 stars easily ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Such a fun book!! The writing, the pacing, all the characters, the setting….it all came together so well. And that ending!!! I need book 2 immediately! Even though this is a single POV there were a lot of characters to keep track of (definitely some Agatha Christie vibes with the amount of characters that are suspects). I highly recommend this book though if you’re looking for a fun summer mystery.

This was simply delightful! Elizabeth Evans did an amazing job narrating this book and the vast list of characters. I finished the audiobook in two sittings. This was a very unique book, as the main character, Eleanor is a writer and she's on a book tour with a cast of very entertaining characters. As you can imagine with a cozy mystery, death happens and chaos ensues but in a hilarious way. I chuckled out loud several times throughout the story, especially when the list of people that would say "shut up Connor" got longer and longer every time he spoke. This story was unique in the fact that Eleanor is telling us the story of what happens on the trip, but also she speak directly to the reader during the story. She gives out clues to the murders and talks you through her different experiences in her life and writing. It was really comical at times and very entertaining. If you like Finlay Donovan (minus the children in her story) then you will like this.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is an easy, breezy whodunnit perfect for your summer beach bag. Eleanor Dash, author of the bestselling Vacation Mysteries series, just wants to get through one last book tour and then kill off her main character, Connor Smith. But when someone tries to kill the real-life Connor, Eleanor has to figure out which of the members of the tour wants her infuriating ex written out of the story- permanently.

This is a light, funny read. Eleanor is surrounded by a great cast of secondary characters, which is good because she can be annoying sometimes. She is wildly self-absorbed, but has enough heart to make up for that. Barely. The story is often over-the-top, but if you go into it understanding that and are in the mood for that, it’s a fun ride.

I have two main criticisms, neither of which are a deal-breaker. First, the pacing is not the best. The setup takes forever, while the ending is rushed. Second, the plot is overly complicated, especially towards the end.

One of the things contributing to the confusion is the overabundance of footnotes. They’re funny for a while, but there are 237 of them. It just adds to the chaos after the first 100. (Note: Because of the many footnotes, I suggest reading this in print format.)

That being said, I think this is basically a delightful book. The author just needs to tighten up her writing before the next in the series. I give Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies 3 ¾ stars and recommend it to anyone wanting a book to take on their own (murder free!) vacation.

I was really excited to start this one, not sure if my expectations were too high or if it was just ehh. I found the main character to be annoying and boring. There were cute scenes and a fun plot, but it unraveled too slowly in the beginning and too quickly at the end. The pace of the book just always felt off to me, which made it difficult to become invested in what I was reading. At times I felt like there were too many side stories that were not relevant to the main story, however they were usually enjoyable to read. I never considered this a DNF, as there were fun and engaging aspects throughout the book, but the piece just never came together for me. 
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy (audio and e-book)

4/5 stars

Thank you Minotaur Books for the advanced reading copy!

SYNOPSIS --- Eleanor Dash is sick of Vacation. She's desperate to make it through this Italian book tour (who booked this for July, anyway?!) and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, so she can move on from the Vacation Mysteries. When a REAL attempt is made on Connor's life, Eleanor's feelings and goals become mixed up with their sordid past, her big secrets and the future of her series. When other lives are threatened and the chaotic assortment of characters -- including Eleanor's competitors, stalker and ex-boyfriend -- get wildly mixed up into the fray, can Eleanor solve the case before real and fictional lives are put at stake?!

This book was SO fun! Big FINLAY DONOVAN and EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE vibes. There was tons of "breaking the fourth wall" and it made it super fun to try and solve this one along with Eleanor (which, I did not do successfully). Eleanor was a great narrator; she felt almost too similar in voice to Ernest Cunningham at times, but I really enjoyed this anyway! I was wildly suspicious of every single character at pretty much every moment. There were tons of suspects (too many, some would say... IYKYK) and lots of red herrings. Obviously I loved Eleanor, but the supporting characters were just as lovable (and hate-able) -- they were so silly! The Italian setting was phenomenal; after going there last year it was SOOOO much fun to read about these places and actually recognize some of them!

As with Finlay and EIMFHKS, the characters were great, the mystery was enticing and the banter/dialogue was goofy. I really enjoyed this series and I'm looking forward to more from the Vacationers.

NOTE -- as noted in the description of the book, the formatting was super messed up on Kindle because of all the footnotes. I was so lucky to have a physical copy AND audio copy to switch between, which made it a lot easier, especially because the footnotes added a lot of silliness! Not sure how this will play out in the final copy, but I'd recommend physical or audio for this one. It's helpful to be able to flip back and forth sometimes, too! Lots of info and lots of suspicion, in a short time!

This story was hilarious! Like laugh out loud funny and completely addictive. Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the perfect book to read if you loved the White Lotus or Knives Out. Our main character Eleanor is a witty, snarky, writer on tour in Italy. I very rarely have read a book that breaks down the "fourth wall" but this was SO well done in opening a conversation with the readers. The murder/attempted murder was also written with such comedy, and I loved how basically everyone is a suspect - it was like playing a game of Clue trying to figure out who did it. This is quite literally the perfect read to take on vacation - its light, clever and super fast paced. I look forward to reading many more books by Catherine Mack in the future.