It’s an interesting premise for a book - a novel within novel and the main character breaks the 4th wall and talks directly to the reader about the mystery. I found aspects of it highly entertaining and there were a few unexpected twists at the end. The footnotes were generally entertaining but sometimes distracting for me, given I use a kindle to read books. There were quite a few characters and sometimes it was hard to keep track or understand what their motive could be but it starts to make sense as the story progressed. One point - there was a spoiler about another author’s novel and I found that to be off putting. 3.5 stars for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary copy of this novel! This review and all opinions expressed therein are my own.

I really enjoyed the concept of this novel. It is a novel within a novel. Eleanor Dash is a best-selling author who is plotting her tenth novel in her book series. But first, Eleanor and a group of authors have a 10-day book tour in Italy to get through. Along on the tour is Connor Smith, an acquaintance so to speak of Eleanor and the main character in her books. Eleanor and Connor have an interesting history together where ten years ago they solved a robbery mystery in Italy. This is from where Eleanor got the idea of her first book. But Eleanor wants to be done with the series…so she decides to kill Connor. Figuratively, not literally. However, when a real attempt is made on Connor’s life and Eleanor’s, there are plenty of suspects. Crazed book fans, fellow author rivalry, Eleanor’s ex-boyfriend, and even a possible stalker. The group tries to put their head together to figure out who it could be, but it could be any one of them. Then, one of their own does get murdered and another attempt is made on someone else. Who could want them dead and why?

This is Catherine Mack’s debut novel and it is the first book in the series, The Vacation Mysteries. I really wanted to give a 5-star review for this novel, because I enjoyed the concept of it, it was fast-paced, and overall, I enjoyed the novel itself. However, there were 2 items that really bothered me in this novel. The first thing that bothered me is that the author wrote “Florida is bull$hit.” I mean….WHAT?!?!? Why write that??? I’m a true Floridian, so that just really turned me off to this author. I know it’s just “part” of the novel, but still…too harsh. The second thing….for anyone who has not read Agatha Christie’s novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Catherine Mack completely spoils it. She reveals in a footnote at the end of a chapter who the murderer is. Again…WHY???? That’s a big no no for me. Luckily, I already read it, but for those who have not and wish to, there is no warning at all. Each chapter in her book has footnotes which I am assuming will be published as part of the final book. So if the author or publisher is reading this review before hand….you may consider fixing these two things before the book is published.

From the title of Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies, I was expecting a light-hearted mystery where the protagonist discovers dead bodies wherever she goes (Jessica Fletcher, anyone?). Instead, the title refers to the series of books written by Eleanor Dash, where dead bodies do indeed abound wherever her main character travels. On a trip to Rome ten years earlier, Eleanor herself had a dangerous escapade with her new flame, "detective" Connor Smith, that resulted in the death of one member of a notorious Italian gang family and the imprisonment of others.

Arriving home, Eleanor was driven to capture the story in a book, which was a runaway hit. She used fake names for all of the characters except the dashing Connor, who is now almost as popular as the author with the fans, and who has demanded and received a share of the royalties ever since, through many sequels. Eleanor is tired of Connor and his blackmail and wants to kill his character off in her next novel, but meanwhile the two, along with other authors and fans, embark on a book tour of Italy. When Connor's life is threatened and Eleanor has a near miss (or two) herself, it is clear that someone wants one or both of them dead.

It is a fun premise, but this book just wasn't for me. Eleanor's protagonist (her name is mentioned maybe once?) narrates the book in flighty manner, including many unnecessary footnotes that add nothing to the plot and are especially annoying for ebook readers. At one point, she officially breaks the fourth wall to address readers directly, asking us how we feel, whether we suspect her of anything, who we think are the culprits. I just don't enjoy this writing style and never felt any connection with the shallow main character. I also found Connor unlikable, not so strangely since most of the characters dislike him as well. Several other characters are so underdeveloped as to be almost indistinguishable from each other. I will say that there was an unexpected twist toward the end of the book, and those who enjoyed the book (many, based on the reviews), will be happy to know that a series is planned.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and write an honest review of this book.

Loved this one! I think we will be seeing it as a highly-sought after pick for a lot of book clubs. I highly recommend this unique story.

Spoiler Free Arc Review: 4.75 ⭐️

I absolutely love a who-done-it mystery. This book is exactly like Murder Mystery/Knives out, but the characters are all in the book world! Author Eleanor Dash is on the tenth anniversary book tour for her famous series inspired by a crime she witnessed and helped solve. Her tour group is comprised of her sister, her ex muse, her ex lover, a TikTok author stealing her content, an ex detective, and an old friend scorned. In addition to this cadre of eclectic personalities, plenty of other people join them on their 10 day journey through the Italian coast. Paranoia from one of the group members has everyone either on high alert or skeptical of the accusation that someone is trying to kill him…. That is until someone actually drops dead.

I adored this book and could not put it down. I suspected almost every character as the murder at different points. The evidence kept pointing to different people, which definitely kept me engaged and on my toes through the entire novel.

My favorite part was the writing. Mack is talking directly to the reader throughout the book with her “check ins”, allowing us to see if we can solve the mystery. I also enjoyed the use of foot notes because it gave us insight into the main characters inner monologue.

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a funny and light mystery!!

This charming cozy mystery is clever, engaging and a tweak on the typical murder-in-an-exotic-location trope. With the madcap moodiness, sinister undercurrent, and dreamy gelato-soaked Italian-esque setting of the fabulous (and slyly referenced) “White Lotus”, this story is coupled with main characters who are themselves mystery authors, including (and a series first installment featuring) our first person POV narrator, Eleanor Dash.

Eleanor, thirty-five years old (a self-proclaimed “woman who spends most of her days in stretchy pants with her hair in a messy bun”) is all a reader could expect of a heroine - humorous, vulnerable, mixed-up, needy, loving, romantically self-destructive, fearful and sometimes brave. Eleanor also clearly has her own secrets.

A successful mega-author on a contractually-necessary book tour, Eleanor is traveling with her sister, Harper (her P.A, and herself something of an enigma) ; a collection of ex-lovers; a boatload of fans; and a resentful, competitive, back-stabbing complement of her writerly peers.

Eleanor’s narrative voice is the readers’ guide, providing an intimate first-person take on the plot, as it unfolds, as a plot, revealed directly to the acknowledged reader, via an unusual literary technique known as removing the fourth wall.

And so the stage is set for a mystery to solve, headed by our colorful heroine, with what appears to be a murderer operating within the tour’s own ranks, amidst the stunning backdrop of the Italian coast. As the tension builds, it is accompanied by a steady stream of clues, commentary and nudges from our chatty narrator (many of which are simply distractions, others we suspect to contain nuggets of crucial meaning).

The result is a fun and quirky read, with a heroine who may be completely accessible to the reader, or the exact opposite (clearly unreliable); a twisty plot peppered with intrigue; a hint of love reclaimed; and an ending and final reveal both satisfying and only moderately predictable.

All in all, a first installment that promises more, much more, of the same to come - and the start of a delightful new series.

*** four and a half shiny stars

I did not care for the footnotes & found them distracting. Footnotes may be easier to keep up with in physical format, but it is confusing and annoying on Kindle. This is not my usual genre of reading, but I did find some of the humor enjoyable. It was pretty predictable, but still a quick light read. This is a good palette cleansing book to read between darker thriller reads and fantasy which are my usual genres.

This book was so entertaining, I can’t even lie to you. It had me hooked from the beginning, and I really only put it down because I had to when life things popped up. Otherwise, it probably would’ve been a one sitting read (I’m telling you, it was entertaining).

The voice that Catherine created for Eleanor, who is our narrator and an author of mystery books, was so authentic and fun. I think she did an excellent job making us feel like we were reading an authors journal (I guess that’s honestly the best way I have to describe it). There were genuinely moments in time where I was like wait… is this really the character of Eleanor, or Catherine herself? It was honestly a very interesting moment mentally for me and kinda trippy. Now, there were moments where I got sort of frustrated with the footnotes, because I would forget what it was referring to by the time I got to it, but overall I think including them was so clever and did end up adding to the reading experience.

Now, in regards for the plot, I have to say it was well done. There were moments where I genuinely couldn’t figure out who it was. When we finally got to the final reveal, I had a sense of “I KNEW IT” but in reality, throughout the entire book, I went back and forth on who I thought the big bad was. And while there was an aspect of the final reveal I had theorized earlier in the book, the rest of it was new and very well done for me. I was shocked, and didn’t expect it at all.

Genuinely I can say I’m looking forward to the next book (which A+ work setting up for it in the epilogue), and I wound up rating this one 4.75 stars.

I really enjoyed this book. It breaks the fourth wall in such a unique way and I loved the use of footnotes. This reminded me a little of Jen Lancaster's books in the best way. Definitely exceeded my expectations and I would recommend this as a perfect beach read. Very engaging!

Every Time I Go on Vacation , Someone Dies is a light-hearted , easy vacation read that’s meant to be devoured in a day at the beach or on a plane . It was fun and there were many parts that I LOL’d (and snorted a little bit) !!! It’s a murder mystery that kept me guessing until the very end and I am looking forward to the next in the series !! This gem is set to release on 4/30/24 .
@catherinemckenzieauthor thanks for the enjoyable read that allowed me to escape the cold Maine winter for a while ♥️ & thank you @netgalley and @minotaur_books for a chance to enjoy prior to publication .
#everytimeigoonvacationsomeonedies #netgalley #netgalleyreads #minotaurbooks #goodreads #arc #tbr #advancedreaderscopy #vacation #mainewinter #bookreview #bookreviewer #series #murdermysteries

This was a super fun read. In a nutshell you're reading a story about a story with characters who are true and not true... I know confusing - but so good! It reminds me of a Finlay Donovan type read - quick easy read - PERFECT beach trip read. It moved fast paced - back and forth - with lots of "fun" twists! Will read more from this author - was my first book by her!

Every time I go on vacation someone dies by Catherine Mack

🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋/ 5

If you are in a bit of a book funk and need a fun pick me up this book is for you! The plot is fun and unique, the characters are great and it is set in Italy!!

I absolutely loved this book! It was so much fun to read and immediately kept my attention from page 1! I absolutely loved the use of snarky footnotes and the occasional break of the 4th wall in the novel! I hope there will be a sequel because I adored this book so much!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur books for the digital advanced readers copy!! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This novel will be published April 30, 2024! Add it to your TBR!!

Super fun take on cozy mysteries! I think this authors debut is fun, whip smart writing, and the stream of conscious as Eleanor Dash tries to get through her book tour in Italy while killing off Connor Smith. Carefully plotted twists and surprises make it nearly impossible to see who done it!

This was such a sweet book! I loved the characters, and their love story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable.

What a fun fun ride! I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in a while!!!

The way this book is written is genius! It almost like a story within a story. Can’t say much more until after pub day but I will recommend to everyone!!! AND there are two more in the series!!!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the chance to read and review this hilarious book.

Loved , loved, loved this book!!!! At first, I thought the mystery author was Jen Lancaster (she loved a good footnote as much as I do) but then I found out its the amazing Catherine McKenzie!!! 5 stars for this potential new series - There's an amazing character pairing with the sisters and I think their relationship needs to be expanded. Thank you for the amazing read!

My opinion of this book changed throughout reading it. There were moments I thought it was a super fun read and others when I was looking forward to it being finished.

Writing - I generally liked the voice that the author took. The author speaks directly to the reader and I found that generally enjoyable and provided a number of good joke opportunities. However, there are footnotes throughout this book and I really wish there were not. Reading the footnotes really broke the flow and I think generally the information in the footnotes should have been integrated into the body of the text or deleted.

Characters - At the start I really enjoyed the characters and getting to know their backstories, but as the book goes on the main character and narrator of the book becomes less and less likeable. As this started happening I found myself not wanting to pick the book up as much as when I started.

Plot - Two things to note here. The first is that the murder does not happen until 60% of the way through the book so the majority of the book is not trying to solve a murder. The second thing is the author kind of dumps the answer to who committed the murder on you. I wish there had been a bit more unraveling to get there.

2.5/5

This book has 'Finlay Donovan' and 'Only Murders in the Building' vibe and humour - it's a really light and quirky murder mystery.

'Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies' is about a successful author, Eleanor Dash, who goes to Italy on a book tour with her colleagues and fans, where she plans to research different ways to kill off the main character in her series - Connor Smith. Because Connor is very much real (and also part of the book tour, since he IS the main character) and she wants him out of her life for good... and the only way to do that is to kill him (in a literal sense, but not literally). Except, it seems like someone else might be trying to kill Connor for real.

The story is told in first person, from the main character (Eleanor)'s POV, in which she constantly breaks the fourth wall and uses A LOT of footnotes (you've been warned).

I was expecting this to be a wildly entertaining cozy mystery but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I thought I would enjoy the book more than I did, but I just didn't like any of the characters. I didn't like Eleanor at all (she was annoying, ditzy, selfish, and self-centered - I'm shocked she doesn't have more enemies), I didn't connect with any of the other characters (they were all pretty underdeveloped), and I wasn't a fan of the breaking-the-fourth-wall part either. I also felt like there was too much foreshadowing (it got kind of annoying, but I think that might just also be Eleanor's personality) and way too many pop culture references (honestly, I didn't know half of the celebrities mentioned, and I don't follow Bridgerton either so those references were lost on me too).

“Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies” by Catherine Mack
An Adventure in Italy
You read the description of this book and now you are wondering if you should crack the cover open. And I say, IF you love mysteries that are light, maybe even a bit whimsical, I am sure you will love or really like this story. Although I didn’t fall in love with this story and I blame my elderly e-reader; and its presentation of my copy of this book. Yet in spite of my e-reader I did enjoy this book. Happy Reading ! !
Note: This review expresses my honest opinion.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Minotaur for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on April 30, 2024.