What a fun read! While a bit predictable overall, I was quickly immersed in the main character's world and loved the dynamic personalities of the central relationships. The writing style was just casual enough to digest quickly with the addition of the sarcastic (and foreboding) footnotes, but with hints of prose and beautiful descriptions of the Italian landscapes. I'm also thankful for the comparison of nearly every character to a celebrity IRL, it was so much easier to keep everyone straight in relation to the plot. I'm excited for more from this series! - 4.25 stars

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the advance copy!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this ebook to review.


Eleanor Dash is a successful murder mystery writer. She is currently on a 10 year anniversary tour for her Vacation Murders book series. Accompanying her on this tour is her sister, Harper, her ex boyfriend, Connor, who inspired the series and is blackmailing her, 3 fellow authors (one of which is another ex boyfriend, Oliver), Connor's ex wife, Connor's current woman of the week, and Connor's ex partner.
It seems that someone wants Connor dead. Or do they? Maybe it's Eleanor they want dead. Or maybe it's both. Or maybe they're not the target at all. Everyone's secrets could make them the target, or the potential murderer.

This is a fun, light hearted murder mystery book. It's a quick, easy read. The fact that my suspicions of who the suspect was was correct did not take away the fun of the book. My only criticism of the book is that I found some of the footnotes annoying, and too many pop culture references, which is just something I don't care for, it doesn't really take away from the story. Though I didn't think they added anything either. I'll most likely read upcoming books in this series. An excellent summer/beach read. I give this 3.5 stars out of 5.

I tried and tried and tried to read this on my kindle, I know it is probably a great book but it didn't work in E-book format for me. The author uses a ton of footnotes in this story and maybe they would work in book format. I know they are meant to be cute and funny. They drove me crazy on my kindle, I would sometimes have to go back 2-3 "pages" to find what the footnote was referencing, and it got really old. Then, when I tried to ignore them completely, I felt like I was missing part of the story. I'm going to check this book out once its available at my library so I can finish reading it, but I wanted to give my feedback on reading it on a kindle. I'm giving it 3 stars since I don't feel like I can give it a fair review yet since I haven't finished it.

So much fun - all the unreliable narrator intimations and inner thoughts and the whole premise - can't wait for the next one!

This book is just pure fun! I loved the Italian setting! It is about a book within a book and a trip planned by the publisher, with fans of the author and things go wrong. The authors humor in the book and in the footnotes is so fun and this was a book I read in 2 sittings because I didn't want to put it down! Eleanor is the author of the series in the book and I loved her point of view and humor. The characters on the trip with her, including her sister, ex, other ex and also other authors was just a hysterical group to travel with. It's hard to describe how the footnotes in the story work, but they are fantastic too! I highly recommend this book and the best part, it is part of a new series so I'll absolutely be reading book 2!

This is a book that is mean to to be read as a paperback, one you want to keep on your shelf and read over and over. I enjoyed every single page, loved the voice of the main character and Catherine Mack will now be an 'auto-buy' for me on a go forward basis!

A light cozy mystery set against an European backdrop made for a fun read. I especially liked the Italian sections. The footnotes were distracting and not really necessary. Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this entertaining eARC. 3.5/5 stars.

Romance, mystery, travel, and plenty of humor! This adorable "cozy mystery" packs quite a punch of so much more. And even had my head spinning through the fourth wall a bit!

While at times I found myself re-reading parts to make sure I kept up with all of the details and turns that the story took, I adored Eleanor and her adventures. I enjoyed devouring the chapters as I searched for clues to solve the mystery(ies!) throughout the book. While I was a bit thrown off by the footnotes, I understand how they added a bit more to the plot for the reader. This was a fast and hilarious read for me and I can't wait to get my hands on the second book in this new series!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinions!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Apr. 30, 2024
Catherine Mack is the pseudonym of author Catherine McKenzie and, as an avid fan and follower, I was intrigued to read her new novel, “Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies” which is an entirely different adventure from her usual novels, but I loved every page!
Eleanor Dash is a published author who faced unexpected success with her first series of novels which were loosely based on events that occurred in Eleanor’s life. Now, Eleanor is going on a book tour in Italy with her sister, Harper, and a group of others, including an ex-lover of Eleanor’s and a rival. The real person behind Eleanor’s main character, Connor Smith, comes along as well, hoping to use his charm to draw in audiences. But once there, Connor claims someone is out to kill him – for real—and although no one believes him at first, events start to occur that have Eleanor thinking maybe someone is trying to kill Connor after all. The evidence points to it being someone in the group and that Connor may in fact, not be the main target at all.
It took me a hot minute to get used to the writing style in this one. It was unique, to say the least, with footnotes (which I can’t say I’ve seen in a fiction novel before), but once I adjusted, it was smooth sailing and I actually began to enjoy them! The story is narrated by Eleanor, and there are enough characters to form quite the suspect pool. What happened? How? Why? Not only does the reader get to explore these questions and solve the mystery alongside Eleanor, but they get to enjoy six cities in Italy while they’re at it.
Eleanor is a hot mess, but I loved every steaming pile. She is so flawed and dysfunctional, yet relatable and likable, that I rooted for her from the jump. We meet the secondary characters as they relate to Eleanor’s life, through Eleanor’s eyes, and most of them have just enough decency in them to avoid the reader wanting to serve them up to the murderer (well, MOST of them anyway). This is a locked-room mystery, except instead of a locked room there are six beautiful and exotic cities which, I mean, if you’re gonna go down…….
The mystery is the best part and once the bodies start dropping, fingers begin pointing, and I had just as hard of a time as Eleanor did in trying to solve the murders. Of course, as in any good mystery, the suspect is someone (or someones?) completely unexpected and I was taken completely by surprise when the conclusion hit (in the best way).
It seems that, no matter the genre, Catherine Mack (or McKenzie) delivers. I hope that Eleanor and her crew will surface again soon!

I really enjoyed Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. It was a very quick read that was very engaging.

The one thing that I wish was that I read the book as a hard copy because the e book had some weird formatting and the footnotes were hard to follow.

I would recommend reading this when it comes out on April 30th, 2024.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies is an excellent paradoxical murder mystery written by an author who writes about a murder mystery author being exactly that.

This book was so excellent. It was brilliantly clever. I actually had no idea who the killer was until it was revealed (despite the well placed clues). I really liked the uniqueness of the writing style, it was like a fresh breath of air. Eleanor led us into the world of writers & publishing, and it was such a fun journey. Also, I enjoyed every single footnote (and there were like 200). They were very funny, and the overall writing made it feel like I was best friends with Eleanor. I really liked how the 4th wall was broken throughout the book, but especially the chapters asking us if we had figured it out already were so fun. I really enjoyed the messy & chaotic friend-adjacent group. Also, Oliver is literally perfect. Eleanor was also a very chaotic character on her own but one that you can’t help loving. She was extremely fun to read, and I can’t wait to read the next 2 books in the series. I loved Eleanor’s narration so much, and the reveal for the next books were literally perfect. Cannot wait for the rest of the series as it had such a strong start.

It's cute modern and cozy! Such a fun read!

I was immediately drawn to the title and had to find out more.
This is not your average page-turner—it's a blend of suspense, humor, and romance that will keep you hooked from start to finish. As Eleanor embarks on a book tour in Italy, you'll find yourself immersed in a plot filled with blackmail, international crime, and the kind of misadventures that only a bestselling author can stumble upon.

I loved this author's writing style and I'm looking forward to reading more from her!

I love how this book starts out with a quote from Agatha Christie. I'm a huge Agatha fan.

"Bless me father for I have sinned". Who starts a book like that, wow?! Intrigued!

Elenor and Connor had a fling in Rome and lived a true crime moment together. Elanor wrote a best selling book called When In Rome and Connor came back threatening her if she didn't give 20% of the proceeds to him. She changed her character name but kept Connors in the book, so he feels entitled to thr proceeds.Then her publisher wanted her to write more books and the audience wanted more of Connor. She did a confessional asking for forgiveness for a crime she had not yet committed.

Whoa! What a whirlwind of a 1st chapter. I love this so much, already. I'm hooked from the 1st sentence. I love the footnotes in the book to further explain things Elanor states. I also love the snippets from When In Rome. I can't stop reading this. It's beutifully organized also. Puck up this book, you won't be sorry especially if you love true crime.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book, but the execution (no pun intended) didn’t work all that well for me personally.

The mystery element of the plot was interesting and it did keep me guessing. There were multiple people involved and everyone was a viable suspect at one point or another. I did not have it figured out by the end, partly because it was a genuine surprise and partly because the writing was chaotic to me and had me bouncing all over the place. I will say that the plot stripped down to its basics was really well done. The setting was great and the various relationships between the players kept things interesting. There were a lot of layers to all that was going on, both past and present circumstances, and it provided a lot of different avenues to explore while trying to work everything out.

What I struggled with was all the ‘quirks’ of the way the story was actually written. I think the idea of the footnotes was meant to be a fun, unique structure, but for me they were just distracting. They say they are ‘optional’ and eventually I took that to heart and started ignoring them as best as I could. There was also a lot of meta-commentary on the publishing industry and its challenges. Sometimes it works and others it doesn’t

There were things I enjoyed about this book and things that I didn’t. I’m not sure if this is a series I will continue if/when another book comes out. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review..

This was a fun and cozy mystery filled with humor. I really enjoyed it. Pack this one along for your beach vacay!

This was such a fun and unique ride!

This is my first cozy mystery and it will definitely not be my last. I loved the voice of the main character and how she was fresh and real. The entire story was a murder mystery but with humor and charm infused throughout which made it a super enjoyable beach- type read.

My only gripe was that the footnotes had gotten a little out of hand. But other than that I will definitely be recommending this read and be on the lookout for the second in the series!

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?

I have very mixed feelings about this book,. There were times when this was a fun, breezy read. Summer vacation in Italy, all the sights of Rome. And the concept appealed to me, which is why I asked to read it, but there was just a few things that didn't sit well. For one, too many footnotes. There is an art to footnotes and over 200 of them is just ridiculous in a work of fiction. They were distracting. It also got harder to read as I started to dislike the characters. Eleanor takes unreliable narrator to the next level, spoils the ending of another book (admittedly, an old one, but still), and just makes it hard to believe that Oliver might still love her.
Recommended to those looking for a light mystery, but with reservations.

This was a rough one for me. I don’t know if it was the ereader format or the writing. It has potential so maybe after another round of editing? I hope to try again when the audio is out.

Every time I go on vacation, someone dies.
Catherine Mack
TBR April 30, 2024
2024-27❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️5.0
📚📚📚Best selling mystery author Eleanor Dash has a secret—she’s decided to kill the main character of her internationally acclaimed series, Connor Smith. The problem however is that he exists in her real life too, and has been blackmailing her for years. Also he’s her ex. So when her publisher sends her on a book tour to Italy with Connor, and a crew of novelists and others who have been linked to her and Connor AND someone decides to try to kill Connor for real, there is no shortage of suspects. There’s his ex-wife. Several others he has slept with. Ex business partners. Men whose girlfriends he has slept with. And, of course, Eleanor herself. Suddenly this book tour is becoming a death trap. Can Eleanor figure out the killer before she’s dead or in an Italian jail?

I love a cozy mystery. Eleanor is telling us, the reader, this story, breaking the 4th wall with a sledge hammer. Complete with over 300 footnotes. I struggled with the format at the very start—the book just jumps into the book tour and through the footnotes you come to understand the ten years of relationships that have occurred before the start of the book. I even stopped and googled to make sure I wasn’t missing a book. But once I was in—man, I was in. Modern cozy so no spice, no language, comfortable despite murder. Eleanor is funny! The footnotes actually became my favorite part of the book, even stopping and googling some the pop culture she was talking about. (Wait? Fred Savage was cancelled? How did I miss this??) (And I ordered the Princess Bride since I hadn’t read the book.) As an admitted Swiftie, I loved her Taylor Swift references. I feel like Eleanor and I would be besties (hey, Aperol spritz is my fave too!) if you don’t like a book that breaks the fourth wall, you won’t like this one but you should give it a chance. Reminds me of “everyone in my family has killed someone,” but this one made me laugh even harder. I am absolutely in for this series and can’t wait for her next one.
❤️❤️❤️JJ’s last words. Modern day Agatha Christie cozy—kind of Murder on the Nile-ish. If Agatha loved Tay-Tay. (She totally would right? I see Agatha as a Midnights girl, definitely Bejeweled in a Lavender Haze.) #EveryTimeIGoOnVacationSomeoneDies!
Disclaimer: Mcmillin and Minotaur Books gave me access to this advanced readers copy on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you #netgalley for this ARC. This was my first Catherine Mack mystery, and though I liked the premise and the story line was witty, the poor Kindle formatting made the book very hard to follow. The character were, unfortunately, unlikable for the most part. The story moved along quickly and I enjoyed the descriptions of the Italian coast. 3/5 stars.