This book is really, really fun. I was expecting a light, airy read (which it is), but it's also so much more than that. There's humor and murder and attempted murder and romance and a fabulous setting, and it's all really well written. There's even some fourth-wall breaking, which is one of my favorite tropes in all of literature (and cinema).

Eleanor is a famous writer on tour in Italy, which, I mean, sounds pretty good to me. But she's contractually obligated to be there with her unscrupulous ex-boyfriend/blackmailer, Connor. And her stalker. And a fellow author who is stealing all of her plotlines. And another ex that she still has feelings for. Oh, and someone's trying to kill her (and Connor, although she's not too concerned about that). So maybe it's not such a perfect trip after all? And who could possibly want her dead?

Eleanor is a fantastic main character. She's hilarious and snarky, and this combined with her total distain for Connor really makes the book. She repeatedly breaks the fourth wall in the funniest of ways, at one point reassuring her worried readers that she doesn't “die in this chapter” (like in that scene from The Princess Bride). I adored her relationship with her sister/assistant, Harper, and the oh-so-dreamy Oliver.

And, yeah, there's some romance. But it's not particularly annoying or sappy, and I say this as someone who despises romance in books.

I wasn't the biggest fan of all the footnotes, but you can mostly skip them if you want to. After the first several chapters, I just skimmed them and don't feel as if I missed much.

The murder (and attempted murder) mystery itself is perfect. I thought I knew who the culprit was at around the 50% mark, and I was right … but only kind of. Most of it I did not see coming at all. Pretty much everyone is a suspect, including Eleanor. Is she an unreliable narrator? Or is someone else out for revenge?

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is one of the highlights of my 2023 reads. It's really, really fun (have I already said this?) and you should definitely read it. I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It's a delightful and dishy mystery with oh so many insider publishing nuggets! I raced through this in one day--I HAD to know what happened! Five huge stars!

A sharp, smart and highly entertaining novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page. Catherine Mack excels at taking twists and turns when you least expect them! I can’t wait for the next book in this series! I would give it more than five stars if I could!

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is an engaging breath of fresh air. Mack's main character, mystery writer Eleanor Dash, is lovable (even as she offers up internal commentary to tell us all the ways she's not) and her plight at being trapped on the promotional tour from hell is as compelling as it is hilarious. Everybody - all of the touring authors, El's sister, and even some of the fans - has excellent reasons to kill, so there are suspects and motives aplenty. I did have a pretty good guess who the killer might be about halfway in, but the why eluded me until the end so I wasn't ever sure. To make this book truly fabulous and fun, there's also a setting that immerses us in the coast of Italy, a nice touch of romantic suspense, real life & fiction getting muddled up together, and El's delightfully snarky thoughts, clues, and asides in the form of footnotes. Absolutely loved it, and am hoping there will be more. Please, can this be a series?

Eleanor Nash should be on top of the world. As the author of the wildly successful Vacation Mystery series, she's currently working on the 10th book in the series. There's nothing she'd like more, however, than to kill off her popular character Connor Smith, and start fresh with a new set of characters. Unfortunately, Connor Smith isn't only a character in her novels, he's also an ex-lover who's blackmailing her. After a whirlwind romance in which she and Connor solved a series of bank robberies in Rome, she came home to write down what happened in an effort to sort it all out for herself. When the manuscript found its way to a publisher, she was unexpectedly a best-selling author. When Connor got wind of the fact, as well as finding out his name and adventures were being used in the book, he insisted that Eleanor give him part of her advance and royalties from future books. Eleanor agrees because there is more to their Roman adventures than has come out in public. Eleanor and her sister/assistant Harper are returning to Italy on a book tour accompanied by other authors who have connections to her books, fan club contest winners, and, of course, Connor. During the trip, Eleanor hopes to figure out how she can kill off Connor in the books so that her association with him will be over. Then Connor tells her that he's sure someone is really trying to kill him, so Eleanor has to figure out if he's just being paranoid or if there are others who want him dead as much as she does. It turns out there are many who fit that profile. When Eleanor has some odd things happen to her as well, she begins to wonder who the real target is.

The book was set out in an unusual way with plenty of footnotes that show the author's inner thoughts, give more background, use celebrities to describe what various characters look like, and remind us often that Eleanor herself is a liar. So we are unsure how much of the events being described can be taken at face value. I enjoyed the story but all the footnotes were difficult to toggle back and forth between in an ebook.