This is honestly so hard to follow; I find the format really jarring and the voice of the main character flip flops between laissez-faire and too intense. I'm not sure if I just need to give it more time, but I consistently can't make it past the 30% mark of this story, unfortunately. 3 stars for fairness since I didn't finish it.

(Actual: 3.5⭐) This was a cute, cozy mystery. I went into blind and I'm glad I did, even if I felt some parts were lacking and/or could have been fleshed out more to make a larger impact. I did find the story/writing style to be quite funny though, and I especially liked how the MC (Eleanor) would break the fourth wall and "speak" directly to us as readers— I thought that was very unique, as it isn't something I see very often in books, especially mysteries. All in all, a solid read!

Catherine Mack
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies: A Novel (The Vacation Mysteries, 1)
Funny!
This wad the funniest book! I enjoyed it, and I think you will too!

I received a free copy of this book (NG) and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I have to preface this saying that I first started reading the written copy of this book and struggled to follow along. The footnotes were a bit distracting. I decided to give the audiobook a try and it was a much better experience. I highly recommend that you go the audio route if you read this book.

As for the actual content of the book, it was a cozy/summery mystery set in Italy. It was witty and twisty at times and I enjoyed the perspective of the narrator. Things started off strong but lost me along the way. It was fun and easy to read and I think a lot of people would find it enjoyable.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

What a great read - I devoured the book in one day and then listened to the audio the next. I can’t wait to read more.

This was the funniest book i have ever read! I read it in one sitting. I would definitely recommend this book.

Interesting and absorbing, the Italian scenes are solid and true, I have visited many of the places and find that they are accurate.

A super fun and funny book!
I read this while on vacation and it was the perfect companion.
I enjoyed when the author broke the fourth wall and talked to us, the reader, in the middle of the book.
I cannot wait for the next installment in this series.

The book was amazing. It was clever and funny. What made it that was the foot notes. However in the digital version of the book (both the one from NetGalley and purchased from Indigo in Canada) the footnotes didn’t align with the text. This made the book very much incomplete. I hope this is better executed in the future or in the print editions.

Are you looking for the PERFECT summery cozy read .. look no further my friends! This is such a fun, good time! It’s atmospheric. I felt like I was in Italy among friends and colleagues.

This cozy mystery wins for the best humor! I did guess the whodunnit but it didn’t take away from this enjoyable storyline.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review! All opinions are my own. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series and anything Catherine Mack puts out next! This was my first Catherine Mack book and it won’t be the last!

This book was clearly written for fans of Knives Out, Only Murders in the Building, and other ensemble, comedic murder mysteries. However, I don’t think this tongue-in-cheek, self-aware, break-the-fourth-wall style translated well to the page. I found the frequent breaks to address the reader and the abundance of footnotes annoying rather than engaging. The story itself was fine, but the writing style and underdeveloped characters put me off.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of response from St. Martin's Press for the racist, Islamophobic, and queerphobic comments made by one of their employees I cannot review this title.I tried holding off on sending this "review" to give SMP time to do the right thing in response to this boycott, but I can't have this continuing to hurt my feedback ratio when it's out of my control.

This is book 1 in a new cozy series, The vacation mysteries.
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? Eleanor has written a very popular series of books with Connor Smith as the sleuth. Not she's paying him big time so he won't sue her and reveal some of her secrets. A wonderful book 1 with great core characters and lots of insight into traveling in Italy. Can wait for #2.

Catherine Mack has created an interesting heroine in Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. This cozy mystery featuring a mystery writer on a book themed vacation is entertaining, even when it is sometimes confusing to follow because the character breaks the fourth wall a lot.
It hits all the right notes for a cozy mystery-a beleagured writer looking to shake things up, the villanous, blackmailing ex, and an eclectic cast of characters who are murder suspects which include a stalker and rival authors.
This story reminds me of Elle Cosimano's series of cozy mysteries. It's witty and a fun adventure that takes you on lots of twists and turns and leaves you guessing who the culprits are until the end.
I honestly could have done without all the footnotes although I appreciate the creativity from Ms. Mack.
Overall it was an enjoyable read and I will definitely read more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this title.

3.5 stars
I decided to listen to this book after reading quite a few negative reviews regarding the footnotes. They were not an issue in the audiobook at all and flowed seamlessly. This was a fun and quirky cozy mystery. The mystery itself was good and the characters were likeable. I plan on reading more in the series.

I just finished Eleanor Nash's latest mystery and must tell you about it.

So, here's the deal: Eleanor's had it with this guy, Conner Smith—not just any Conner, but the character she created, who also happens to be a real person cashing in on her success. She's ready to get rid of him—well, at least his character.

As we dive deeper into the story, we start to see why Conner is such a pain and why Eleanor would want him gone. But as she tours Europe with her sister Harper (who's also her assistant), it turns out someone else wants Conner dead, too. And this time, we're talking about the real guy, not just his fictional counterpart.

But wait, there's more! Eleanor has a stalker named Cathy to deal with, and her ex-lover Oliver (also an author) is on the same tour. Oh, and did I mention people start dying along the way? Now, Eleanor has to play detective while managing all these distractions. Talk about a chaotic book tour!

This debut mystery has humor and engaging dialogue that keeps you hooked. And there are footnotes – you'll either love them or find them a bit much, but that's for you to decide.

Overall, it's a fun and entertaining read that I highly recommend. Enjoy!

I got hooked on this book immediately - I especially loved the humor and the way the main character spoke to the reader through the footnotes especially. Unfortunately a little over the halfway mark the story started to drag for me. I can’t pinpoint exactly what made my interest wane - maybe it was just a bit too long. The mystery wrapped up cleanly though and I enjoyed the ending.

You're in for a ride with this mystery set on the coast of Italy. A best-selling author and a few associates--her sister/assistant, a fellow author/ex, the ex who is the lead in many of her novels, etc.--go on a tour with some fans to promote her book and find inspiration for the next one. When people start nearly dying for a variety of different reasons, some coincidental at first, the group looks at it's own to find the perpetrator.

This is a fun, fast read that takes you through some of the beautiful landscape of southern Italy. The author often breaks the proverbial fourth wall by talking directly to readers via copious footnotes and the occasional few pages talking about novel structure and the clues she's written into the part of the story already told. I found the style fun at times and annoying at others, though using a Kindle made it a bit more complicated than simply glancing at the bottom of the page. The plotline itself was neatly woven with plenty of twists and turns that left me guessing until the end. Some moments felt a bit contrived, and I'm still not sure why they immediately thought they were being targeted when they got stung by a jellyfish or nearly fell into traffic. That said, I really enjoyed the way character information was slowly introduced that threw a curveball in everything we'd read up to that point.

Check it out! I'd say it's worth a read. A great beach. It's like a Knives Out novel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for e-ARC of the book.

Eleanor Dash is on her book tour in Italy with other authors and some fans. She decided that it’s time to kill the main character of her book series. Meanwhile in real life someone is trying to kill off the person who the character was based on - Connor Smith. Too many suspects and dangerous situations keeps guessing who will die and who will be the killer.

Catherine Mack used new and interesting approaches while writing this book. The most memorable were footnotes, they were fun and felt like an inside joke between readers and Eleanor. I can’t wait for more books in this series.

I read this book over the course of nearly 3 weeks. I normally read a book a week, or every 2 weeks. So this was really slow for me, & the reason it was slow is because it was really bad. I kept picking it up and vowing to DNF it. But the books I get from Netgalley, I try to finish. I got this in March, and it's now August so that tells you how many times I picked it up & put it down before finally committed to reading it.

But, I couldn't with this one. The "heroine" was self centered, mean, immature, & unlikeable. I finally gave up and read the ending. Even the ending was convoluted & inexplicable, but I'd correctly figured out "who done it" (in the first 50 pages no less) .

I haven't gotten to the worst parts of the book - the FOOTNOTES. There were over 200 of them, some were just a "Duh, you saw that coming, right?!" Or a long explanation of something that happened 5 pages ago & 10 years ago. With the unformated ARC copy I got, the FOOTNOTES would sometimes be in the middle of a sentence! Just terrible. The editor should've told the author no, no you can't add foot notes, it doesn't work.

But, I guess this author is headstrong & thinks she's always right about her ideas & so footnotes it was.

If the writing had been good, it might not have been so annoying & distracting. But, it wasn't good writing. The story stunk & so did the writing. Why would anyone famous go on a tour of a foreign country with 25 super fans - for a week?! Plus 2 of the touring group were ex's, 1 of whom was blackmailing her, & one was the ex wife of one of her ex's! Confused? Yup. Ridiculous? YUP.

How did this book get published?!

I do NOT recommend this book. Save yourself a headache & boredom & don't read this book.

#EveryTimeIGoOnVacationSomeoneDies by #CatherineMack

Thank you to #NetGalley, & St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.