The MC has such a strong voice, which is awesome. The humor was incredibly dry, and it’s funny, but I didn’t personally want to hang out with the MC for an entire book. I stopped after chapter 1 (4%) but I’m guessing this is going to be a solid three to four stars with five for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

Eleanor Dash is a bestselling author who just wants to get through her book tour and kill off her main character, Connor Smith. This seems easy enough but someone else has different plans and those plans may include murder. Connor has found that someone is trying to kill him and enlists Eleanor to help him find out who it is and it could possibly be someone they know.
This was a fun mystery with a full cast of odd characters, all of whom could be the killers. I really enjoyed this and would recommend. 3.5 ⭐️ thank you to NetGalley And Minotaur Books for an advanced reader copy for a review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

My biggest issue with this book was the footnotes. There were so many and it interrupted my reading experience on the kindle to keep jumping to them. They were cute asides but hopefully the next book can figure out a better way to imparts the same info.

That said, this was a cute cozy mystery about a writer on a European tour with a number of interesting characters.

Really liked this one. The use of foot notes was particularly enjoyable and had me going back and forth at the end of each chapter. Very well done.

Various personalities are captured well in the characters and the scenes where they are all interacting were a delight.

Overall, a brilliant read and I'm already hoping for a second installment!

Thank you to NatGalley for the advance reading copy, the opinions are my own.
I rarely read romcon mysteries but this one is a lot of fun. I won't repeat the description from the bio. The sister relationship truly made this enjoyable. I also appreciate the dialogue between the two. Quick read for a rainy weekend or vacation. If you are a big cozy fan this book is for you.

Prepare yourself for a rollercoaster ride through the world of mystery with "Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies." Catherine Mack introduces us to the magnetic whirlwind, Eleanor, a bestselling mystery author who takes meta-mystery to a whole new level.

This cozy mystery 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.

What sets this book apart is Eleanor's penchant for breaking the fourth wall. She not only talks to the readers but sometimes even coaches them, adding an extra layer of engagement that makes the story not just entertaining but interactive. The humor is sharp, the murders are not just attempts, and the romance adds a sweet touch to the narrative.

Eleanor's character is a delightful mix of snark and charm. Her disdain for her unscrupulous ex-boyfriend/blackmailer, Connor, adds a hilarious twist to the plot. The banter between Eleanor and her sister/assistant, Harper, is heartwarming, and the introduction of the oh-so-dreamy Oliver adds a romantic element that balances the suspense perfectly.

Mack weaves a complex mystery, keeping readers guessing until the very end. The footnotes, though numerous, bring a witty dimension to the storytelling. You can choose to delve into them or skip them, but either way, they add a unique flavour to the narrative.

"Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies" is a standout read of 2023. It's not just fun; it's a thrilling journey that makes you eagerly anticipate the next instalment in the series. Catherine Mack has created a satisfying mystery that keeps you on your toes and leaves you wanting more, and I can confidently say that I certainly can't wait for the next Installment; "Every time I go to a Wedding, Someone Dies".

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books and St. Martins Press for providing this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

This was such a FUN book to read. It’s like mystery, comedy, and romance all packed in one story.

I actually had to Google this term, but the author breaks the fourth wall. I’ve never read a book like this and I absolutely LOVE that about this book. It makes it feel like the author is writing for me, specifically. It just adds something extra that you don’t see very often. Well, more like never, for me.

There were so many suspects in this murder mystery that I honestly had no idea “whodunit” until it was revealed at the very end. Guessing correctly too soon ruins a book for me, so I really appreciated that!

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the footnotes. I read them in the beginning once I figured out I could click on them on my kindle, but I stopped a couple chapters in. I love the plot reveal of the next book in the series. Overall, I definitely recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the digital reviewer’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this debut by Catherine Mack! The title is brilliant, and that's what caught my attention first, along with the fun cover. Eleanor Dash is on a book tour in Italy, which should be amazing. But instead of enjoying the sights, she's preoccupied with how to kill off her main character, Connor Smith, who happens to be based on her real-life ex who's also on the tour. Things start to get interesting when Connor claims someone is trying to kill him in real life. There are plenty of suspects, with Eleanor at the top of the list.

This book was a light-hearted mystery with plenty of humor and lots of secrets to be revealed over time. There were also plenty of asides to the reader, in the form of footnotes, which were fun, but a little difficult to read on an e-reader.

Definitely looking forward to reading the next Eleanor Dash adventure!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review

3 stars
This was fun. It had humor, romance, mystery. It became repetitive at times, but I was able to push through. As for the footnotes, I’ve enjoyed them in other works, but if not used properly they can take away from the story. I can see where the author was going with them here, but I’m not sure they actually added much to the overall picture. It was more of a distraction.

Overall this was fun, and I suspect with a good once over by the author and editor this could be great!

So much fun! Mystery, murder, and romance in Southern Italy.

Eleanor is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her hit debut mystery novel with a 10-day tour across Italy. The only problem is she’s being blackmailed by the star of her novels, Connor. And Connor is claiming someone is trying to kill him. Oh, and her ex-boyfriend and love of her life is joining the book tour and seems to be totally uninterested in getting back together.

This was an entertaining and cheeky (mostly due to the footnotes) read. I’m looking forward to the sequel! 3.5 stars.

Thank you very much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

I would probably give this a 3.5, just because I didn’t really get into the footnotes. I wasn’t sure where or how they fit into a novel for me. Also, I wasn’t as gripped as I normally am. It would have been more successful for me if the “gimmicks” were not there. But, I get that the author wanted to try something different.

Having just spent a month in Italy this year, I was transported back by Eleanor's adventures and I loved every single second of this zany, crazy book. I particularly enjoyed the conversational style between reader and author. I have never read anything quite like this and I quite enjoyed it!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy. It is my pleasure to write an honest review!

This book was unlike any book I’ve ever read before. It is a book without a 4th wall. The entire book is essentially a monologue to the reader from the narrator. The footnotes confused me at first, but I found them to be funny as the book went along. I like this book, quirky as it may be. It’s like a game of clue in book form.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is a fun, irreverent take on mystery novels and the writers who compose them. The first in a series about true-crime/mystery writer Eleanor Dash, the book opens with a quotation from both Eleanor and Agatha Christie, priming mystery fans for the excitement to come. Eleanor has gained literary fame with her Vacation Mystery Series, but, since she based the series on her real-life adventures with a man named Connor Smith and neglected to change his name, he has been blackmailing her for a large percentage of her salary. Eleanor is ready to kill off the character that her readers love, but when a real-life attempt on Connor's life happens while they are traveling abroad, Eleanor will be drawn into a dangerous adventure.

This book will delight mystery fans looking for a fun read that will keep them guessing. Eleanor's voice is charming and confessional, and the ends of the chapters feature footnotes explaining key details of her narrative. The book is intriguing, funny, and hard to put down!

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

Thank-you to #netgalley and the publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy
Release Date: April 2024
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Eleanor Dash (our main character) is the author of a series of mystery books that hit it big and sold millions of copies-every author’s dream, right! The books (in the story) are based on actual events and people. But Eleanor pays blackmail fees to her ex, Conor, and main star of her books in order to keep writing about him-fans LOVE him. When her publishing company sends her, Conor, other authors, and a fan group of which one has a restraining order against Eleanor, to Italy on a book tour, things get extremely heated with so many murder attempts, lies, and not to mention a second ex boyfriend on the tour. This cocktail of a group presents the picture perfect assembly of many possible suspects with motives.

I really liked this book. The format was different than anything I’ve read before. The main character spoke directly to the reader often using the technique called ‘breaking the fourth wall’ and this made it all so much more cozy and provided an even more personalized reading experience. The main character was funny, witty, and even sometimes purposefully unreliable. I didn’t even come close to solving the mystery, but then again, things do tend to sometimes go over my head-being real here! My only issue was the author included several footnotes in every chapter. These footnotes were intended to provide insight into the narrator’s thoughts. In theory, this was a good idea. However, I found the footnotes pulled me out of the story and broke the flow. Some of the footnotes could have been skipped, and you wouldn’t have missed anything important, but I would have preferred them included in the story so that I didn’t have to stop reading to click on the note. This would have been easy to do because it was written in first person perspective. For reference, I read this on my Kindle but feel the physical copy would have the same impact concerning the footnotes.

Other than the footnotes, I truly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the next one in the series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#cozymystery
#reviewer

This is a cute book about fiction-writer, Eleanor who goes to Italy on a book tour with her sister and Connor and Oliver--two ex-boyfriends. Lots of mis-haps and humorous situations that often make it seem like a comedy of errors, but it had some clever dialogue as well. Like others, I didn't enjoy the footnotes much as on a kindle, it's difficult to go back and forth to read them. I imagine in paper form this would be easier But overall, it's a warm story (even with a murder) and I would read more of Mack's books.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

This is a fun read with some really creative elements! Some things—like the use of footnotes—may seem a bit gimmicky (and slightly annoying, as they are not truly footnotes but chapter endnotes, at least in the ARC) but overall the surprising aspects of the book are amusing. I liked that the main characters were authors, or author/publishing-adjacent and they are a pretty interesting bunch, although I kept confusing a couple of them at the beginning. The Italian setting and wonderful descriptions of food and drinks will certainly entertain most readers, as will the snarky, quirky dialogue. There are great references to other mysteries and mystery writers and I loved trying to figure out who committed the various crimes that riddle this story. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This was a fun, “escape the doldrums read”! A ten day book tour in Italy with a cast of quirky personalities definitely guarantees an interesting murder, romance (well, it is Italy!) and of course, alcohol (again, it is Italy)!

This is a combo of scenery, wit, snark and cozy all wrapped up in one mystery read! The first of “The Vacation Mysteries” and I am definitely looking forward to reading more! Thank you Catherine Mack.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for.

"Quick, captivating, and oh-so-much-fun! This delicious mystery is as spellbinding as Knives Out."—Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of the Finlay Donovan series

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I actually did, in the end. It started out very promising - I liked the quirky style and the footnotes made me smile, as did the whole breaking-the-fourth-wall element. There were allusions to Things to Come and bizarre secrets aplenty. Unfortunately, those contrivances got old much quicker than I expected and I started to find them irritating rather than entertaining about 40% in, and from that point on it just felt like I kept re-reading the same plot "surprises" and snarky bits. That's when it started to lose me...

I kept going, to see where it would all net out. I didn't see the identity of the villain(s) coming, which is a definite plus, but I also didn't miss much by skimming - or outright skipping - the footnotes or even whole chapters at that point, which is definitely not a plus... I liked the setup for the next book, and would probably give it a go but with an eye out for that same repetitive issue. Sometimes the first book, as the series setup, needs to be given a little leeway. While the characters weren't particularly compelling (frankly I found the protagonist and her sister irritatingly whiny and surprisingly simplistic, given their roles), the construct is fun and makes it worth another look in my book.