This book contains many of my favorite things: mystery, author, Italy, heavy drinking. But it also includes one of my least favorite things: too many characters. I had trouble getting into the book and the attempts at zaniness felt more like disjointedness. Nonetheless, it got better toward the end.

Eleanor Dash is a mystery writer with a huge fan base. She agrees to go on a tour to Italy with her fans, because...Italy. But Connor, her ex-lover and the inspiration for her first book, is there with his new girlfriend. She is determined to kill him off in the book series, but unfortunately, it seems someone is trying to kill him off in real life and she becomes the main suspect. Trying to prove her own innocence, Eleanor soon suspects everyone. Including her own sister and assistant, Harper.

Reading this book over a several-month period did not improve its fluidity for me, so I recommend starting and finishing it in a few days. #EveryTimeIGoonVacationSomeoneDies #NetGalley

A clever mystery, funny hijinx, and a plethora of footnotes made this a fun start to a new mystery series. I loved the setting and the book-series-within-the-series, and all the many red herrings kept me guessing. It took me a while to get through, but I’m glad I pressed on and the ending made me looking forward to book 2, as while the mystery was wrapped and revealed, there was enough left hanging to get the reader primed for more. The footnotes were funny, but essentially unreadable in the ARC. I had to wait for publication and read a finished copy because the formatting was so bad (especially with the footnotes).

What a fun summer read! This was a great murder mystery! I loved the unique perspective of the narrator being the author as well as the victim and trying to solve the crime. Great idea! The footnotes were fun, but at times a little much, especially trying to scroll back and forth on the uncorrected proof version, but still a fun almost whimsical touch. I will definitely recommend this book to my book club members!

Thank you to the publishers for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book!

I had been looking forward to this book ever since I first saw the title and it did not disappoint. The setting alone was enough to give it a couple starts, but the plot was fun and interesting. Eleanor Dash has become an accidental author, taking over her sister's dream job. Eleanor starts writing best selling novels about murders that occur in Italy with the dashing PT, Connor Smith. Connor is not only a ficticious character, but a real life man who has immersed himself in to her success. The problem is, after 10 years, she is getting kind of tired of Connor. She decides she wants to kill him off, in writing of course.

Eleanor decides to go on a book tour to Italy with several other authors and the notorious Connor Smith. While on their trip Connor tells her that someone is trying to kill him for real. Eleanor laughs Connor off, until members of their party start dying. Eleanor starts to wonder if maybe Connor isn't the intended target, but she is instead.

I loved the twists and turns of this book. The author manages to immerse wit and seriousness in to the story at the same time. One of my favorite parts was the footnotes. I couldn't help but laugh at Eleanor's snark and cynical explainations of things.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

This was a really fun read and I really enjoyed it the whole time. I thought the banter between the characters was very witty and I found myself giggling several times. I also really enjoyed the second chance romance storyline. I think it definitely helped add to the story.

I loved the mystery. It was full of twists and turns and I definitely look forward to the next book in the series.

A fun cozy mystery that is perfect for a summer beach read! I loved the European setting and the funny footnotes, but nothing really to write home about.

While on a book tour in Italy, Eleanor plans to work on her latest novel Amalfi Mad Me Do It. She is with her younger sister Harper, who brings lots of humor to the story, some other authors from her literary group, and Connor Smith, the protagonist of her novels and now, the angst of her life

The trip turns exciting when Eleanor mentions that she plans to kill Connor, the character in her book series. Soon after, Connor informs her that someone is trying to kill him. She doesn’t take him seriously until one in their traveling group is killed.

This is a cozy vacation mystery with a touch of originality in the writing style. This may not appeal to everyone, but I liked the idea of risking in the presentation style.

What Concerned Me
I was reading this on my phone and Kindle. The originality that I mentioned above concerned 1) the fact that this was told in first person and at times she talked to the reader, and 2) there were lots of footnotes that would tie certain things together.

While I liked these ideas, they made reading distracting and hard to keep track of with footnotes.

Final thoughts
At times it felt confusing, like I was missing the first book, and hard to be drawn into the story.

On the other hand, it had some fun writing and was an easy, light cozy that many will fall in love with, especially if you like Finlay Donovan books.

I wanted something more. When I reach the synopsis I was excited and thought this would be a fun vacation read. I struggled to make any progress and found it corny (especially the footnotes.) I liked the humor but the plot was a definite slowburn

This was ok. I wouldn't say it was overly compelling for me to recommend to someone else, but I didn't really have anything bad to say about it either. I just wasn't overly connecting with it.

The narrator Elizabeth Evans captured this book perfectly. The accents, the snark, the emotions- I switched to print at one point and immediately switched back to audio because she brought the story to life. And the story was wonderful. I'm so excited that it's the start of a series. I loved the cozy mystery combined with humor and great travel writing!

Thanks to the publisher for sharing a copy with me. All opinions are my own.

I did not like this book, but it could be that it was just a personal preference. I did not enjoy the conversational, "oh-yeah-did-I-mention-this?" tone. I felt like the narrator was just "talking" to me, and I did not feel like a story was unfolding. That in turn made me feel impatient for her to get to the point--it was like I had to wait for her to drop information and it didn't make me want to wait and stick with the story to see what would happen next; I just got frustrated. As I said, this may just be a personal thing, and others may like this style of storytelling. But it was not for me.

This is a fun murder mystery if you consider murder mysteries fun. Dispute the amount of bodies that keep piling up this is a lighthearted read. The characters are flawed, at times unlikeable, and not completely trust worthy but that’s what makes the such an enjoyable book to read. While the aesthetic gives off summer vacations vibes you can enjoy this book year round. The mystery is well crafted with plenty of red-herrings to keep you guessing again and again who is behind the murders and the attempted murders. I recommend this book to mystery lovers especially if you enjoy books where the narrator is speaking directly to the reader.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.

This was a fun, fast-paced book perfect for fans of Finlay Donovan. I enjoyed the romantic drama and the comedic banter between the characters. There is something here for both romance and murder-mystery readers!

I love a murder mystery that doesn't take itself too seriously and that changes up the format a little. In this book, a mystery writer writes a book about herself writing a book about a murder, and along the way, she makes asides to the reader in the form of footnotes (over 700 of them, I think). This could have easily been annoying, but I found the footnotes to be the best part. Whether she's telling us what movie star a character looks like or pointing out, "That was a clue, in case you didn't catch it," there were several times I laughed out loud. Although I thought it was really obvious whodunnit (not only because she pointed out the clues), I think she still did a good job of misdirection with a few red herrings and several plausible suspects. I really enjoyed reading this

This was such a great lighthearted murder mystery. I loved the Clue/Knives Out vibes and the fun vacation setting. Reading about writers is always a favorite of mine and I love the intertwining of the murder plot and Eleanor's new book.

I did find the ending to be a bit predictable and I had guessed the murders pretty early on but I still very much enjoyed the plot.

I didn't love the footnotes and would have rather had that information written into the body text of the book. Especially when reading on a Kindle, it was difficult to remember which footnote went where and what it was referencing.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack was so much fun! I venture to say the most fun book I've had reading a book in a long time. It had intrigue, phenomenal storytelling, humor, a closed circle mystery, great character (both likable and unlikable) and... of course my favorite, a book about other books. You need to read this now!

This is my first novel experience by Catherine Mack, and I found her writing to be quirky and witty. The cast of characters were well developed, and the cozy mystery had a Knives Out/Clue vibe that I enjoyed. I’m excited to read more from this author!

2 stars

I'm withholding my review of Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies in solidarity with the #SpeakUpSMP boycott. Please visit https://r4acollective.org/about/ for more information.

This was good. I was looking for something to grab me right away and get me out of a reading slump. This was the book.

I know everyone loved this book but I could not get into it. I don't know if it is a me problem, but there was nothing that hooked me from the beginning.... or first few chapters even.