Reflecting on my recent foray into the world of audio mysteries, I find myself grappling with a complex array of emotions. While I hesitate to outright declare my dissatisfaction, I cannot deny the lingering sense of disconnection that pervaded my experience.

The audio format, with its promise of immersive storytelling, initially intrigued me. However, as the mystery unfolded and characters came to life through the voices of talented narrators, I found myself struggling to fully connect with the narrative. Despite the presence of compelling dialogue and intriguing plot twists, I couldn't shake the feeling of being somewhat detached from the unfolding events.

Part of me acknowledges the effort and skill that went into crafting this audio mystery, another part of me cannot ignore the nagging sense of unfulfilled potential. Perhaps it was a case of mismatched expectations or simply an unfamiliarity with the genre, but regardless, I find myself unable to definitively express my feelings about the experience.

While I hesitate to pass judgment on this audio mystery, I cannot deny the conflicting emotions it has stirred within me. Despite my reservations, I remain open to exploring new genres and formats in the future, always in search of that elusive connection that elevates a story from mere words to a truly immersive experience.

First things first - the degree to which you will find this book delightful or annoying depends primarily upon the degree to which you enjoy books that play with formatting and the fourth wall as part of the storytelling. I love that kind of thing, but I also know plenty of people who don't. If you're in the latter category, this one won't be for you.

For the rest of us - this is a lot of fun. The core mystery is a bit underbaked, but you'll be enjoying yourself too much to worry about it. The introduction of characters by which celebrity would play them, the frequent references to other mysteries (but without making the reader feel left out if they're new to the genre), the pointing out of foreshadowing, clues, and other genre conventions, and the overall tone make for a reading or listening experience that will bring you back to the puzzles of Clue, The Westing Game, Murder by Death, etc.

This is the perfect accompaniment for a long drive or flight or relaxing on the beach, cruise ship, etc.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

3.75 ⭐️! Imagine murder mystery with Jennifer Anniston & Adam Sandler in book form. This was such a fun cozy mystery and I was always excited to pick it up and listen to it and kept me intrigued through the whole book. I’ll definitely read the next one whenever it comes out! Also I recommend the audiobook more than the physical book because the narrorator was great and the footnotes flow better via the audiobook

This book was the final nail in my coffin about if I love cozy mysteries. I listen to this in one day. It was fun, kind of absurd. I love that not only are we getting this mystery, but insight in to how you would write a book. The Breaking of the 4th wall was what made this book stand out and made it such a fun read. I need the next one tomorrow.

The Narrator was just a perfect fit for this book. Her voice just fit this story so well.

Excellent debut!! I loved this book! All of the characters are loveable and you won't be able to put it down! This book is the ultimate cozy mystery. If you're looking for a good whodunnit that isn't graphic and is mixed with a good helping of pop culture, grab this one!!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook!

Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies is fresh and funny. In this clever, light mystery, famed Eleanor Dash and a few other mystery novelists are the spotlight guests in a bookish tour of the location of Eleanor's first published novel. The twenty fans participating in the tour are merely extras as the story centers on mystery writers and the mystery in which they are embroiled.

Eleanor Dash is the narrator of this story. Author Catherine Mack gives her lead character an interesting voice and uses some unique techniques for Eleanor to reach out to her audience (we readers). In addition to everything else going on in the book, and there is a lot, Eleanor Dash talks directly to the reader, via "footnotes" to tell us about anything and everything from secrets of the publishing world and literary devices to drink recipes. These additions brought some insights and laughs. Through most of the book I enjoyed them, but it did feel a little overused towards the end of the book.

I found that I was easily sucked in by the red herrings and Eleanor's musing on who had motive and means to kill. I hit on the true antagonist a couple times, by author Catherine Mack made me doubt myself. For me, this is the sign of a good mystery. The book title hooked me, the fun read kept me engaged, and the narration by Elizabeth Evans was highly entertaining.

4.5 stars

3.5⭐
Genre ~ cozy mystery
Series ~ The Vacation Mysteries, #1
Setting ~ Italy
Publication date ~ April 30, 2024
Page Count ~ 344 (29 chapters +e)
Audio length ~ 9 hours 34 minutes
Narrator ~ Elizabeth Evans
POV ~ single 1st, present tense
Featuring ~ author, blackmail, murder

Eleanor is an author on tour in Italy, with a whole bunch of people, planning out her 10th book in a very popular series, which stars her 'friend', Connor. She's ready to kill him off in the series and he just so happens to think there's someone that actually wants him dead in real life, too.

Eleanor speaks directly to the reader (which was interesting) as we're along on the ride trying to figure out who the murderer is. With a cast of unlikable characters/suspects we are thrown for a few loops, but ultimately it's not super hard to figure out.

I can't remember exactly Eleanor's age, but I think she's in her 30's. I don't know if immature is the right word for her, but I just wish she had her act together more. She relies way too heavily on her younger sister, Harper, who is her assistant, for every little thing. The whole blackmail Connor bit was a meh, too.

Overall, cozy is not my go to for murder mysteries, but the humorous and fun moments kept me entertained, even if it took me an unusually long time (5 days) to get through it. So while I didn't hate it I'm not sure this is the right series for me.

*There are quite a bit of footnotes, which are not bothersome in the audio, and actually make listening quite fun, but I gather from those that read it that they cannot be read seamlessly. So take that into consideration if you choose to read this one*

Narration notes:
Elizabeth did an outstanding job giving each character a distinct voice.

Narrator really did a good job with all of the characters. This was a fun light mystery and will definitely lead to a fun series. A perfect summer by the pool read.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I found this book really funny. The audiobook was great. I felt like I was in Italy along with the characters. I would continue along with the series!

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

This was such a fun read! I loved it and the cast of characters was great! The audio book done very well and I was kept guessing throughout. I hope to read more by this author!

I enjoyed this mystery -- I loved the setting of Italy and I enjoyed the main character immensely.

Eleanor is on a book tour in Italy with her sister Harper, as well as two of her exes and an assortment of other related people. When someone is killed, Eleanor goes in to detective mode to figure out who did it, as well as why.

I love the tone of this book -- I loved how often Eleanor broke the third wall and spoke directly to the listeners. I loved Eleanor and her quirks and all her pop culture references.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of and I definitely found myself a little confused on who was who.

I listened to this one and enjoyed the narrator as well.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a mystery with a sense of humor. Perfect for fans of Benjamin Stevenson. I will definitely be checking out the sequel!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

A super fun book one in a new cozy mystery series. Bestselling author, Eleanor Dash is doing her best to get through her book tour with an ex she can’t stand, an ex she wants back, other authors, her sister, and a group of super fans. Things get messy as there seems to be a killer amongst the group. As one would expect all sorts of shenanigans ensue. If you are a fan of the Finlay Donovan or Stephanie Plum series you will enjoy this one!

Eleanor Dash is a bestselling author who is on a book tour in Italy even though she’d rather be anywhere else. She plans to kill off the main character, who happens to be an ex, in the next installment of her series so that she is done with him once and for all.

The book tour becomes a real-life murder mystery, and it kept me guessing. I’ve never read/listened to a book written in this style before, and while I originally didn’t know what to think I ended up really enjoying the different style. I can’t wait to read other books in this series. I enjoyed the narrator as well and would without a doubt listen to other books narrated by her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to an ALC of this novel. #NetGalley #EveryTimeIGoonVacationSomeoneDies

“Rome
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
I want to commit a homicide.”

This. This is how the book starts. Utterly fantastic!

Dodging lost loves and death threats, literary rivals and rabid fans, protagonist Eleanor Dash wants to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, her handsome ex-boyfriend and star of her bestselling series, before her reality becomes one of her murder mysteries.

I 👏🏻 love 👏🏻 Italians! The country. The culture. The FOOD. Reading this book is like taking a crazy and murder filled hilarious jaunt through Italy, experiencing all that this most amazing country has to offer…with a sprinkle of shenanigans on the side.

This book is like a story within a story. It is so witty and cleverly written. There are also sooo many #bookstagram references that made me snicker and smirk and laugh out loud. The #bookface ladies. Not tagging authors in any review less than four stars. The Goodreads issue of snarky reviews without actually reading the book. So fun and relevant if you spend a lot of time either reading or writing reviews.

Narrator @elizabeththevansync nails it! Oh my did she bring this story and these characters to life.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, Miinotaur Books, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and in that way it was a huge disappointment. I expected something funny, clever, and unique, and this wasn't really any of those things. In fact, almost immediately I had a really bad reaction to this book and almost DNFed it because I was disliking the writing style, but I was buddy reading with my friend Paula, and she talked me down a bit and I gave it more of a chance. My expectations at a more reasonable level, this was a fine read. Not bad, but not great either. I hated the characters and I still didn't like the writing style, but the mystery was entertaining, and I loved all the descriptions of food and the Italian setting. The meta elements weren't as fun as I think the author thought they would be.

Elizabeth Evans does the audio narration, and she's great as always. But the audiobook production team made the terrible decision to have Elizabeth Evans just narrate the book without making note when she was reading a footnote, and as a result I have almost no idea what was text and what was a footnote. I've read audiobooks before where there's like a ding, or the narrator literally says like "Footnote 3" or something. And that definitely needed to happen here. (I cannot speak to how the footnotes played out in hard copy or e-book formats. Apparently there were A LOT of them.)

3 stars (rounded up)

The next time you’re in the mood for a light mystery, try Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies. In addition to the mystery, you are treated to a tour of some famous places in Italy. Eleanor Dash relates the story; she’s an author who is tired of her multi-book series that features a character named Connor Smith, and is planning to kill him off in the next and final book in the series. Her problem is that Connor Smith is a real person, with whom she had a relationship and who inspired the character. She finds herself on a tour through Italy with fans who have won a contest, along with Connor, her sister and assistant, Harper, an ex named Oliver (also an author), and other authors. There’s also a tour guide who doesn’t seem to know as much about some famous sites in Italy as Eleanor does. There were a lot of characters to keep track of.

Connor has been bleeding (not quite blackmailing) Eleanor for a percentage of her book royalties for years, because she based his character on him and used his real name.

There were some really funny things along the way. One was the name of the book fans, the “BookFace Ladies.” Apparently these women post photos of themselves with the book cover, hiding half their faces (or something like that). And there’s a snarky reference to GoodReads, calling it “MeanReads” for the ability of people who haven’t even read a book to post a review.

Eleanor speaks directly to the reader, breaking the fourth wall. There are even footnotes! In the ebook, there are links to the footnotes which you can read or not. I found them to be distracting. When I switched to the audiobook, the footnotes felt more like part of the narrative, like an aside, and you weren’t necessarily aware that the narrator was reading a footnote.

Connor is convinced that someone is trying to kill him in real life (not to be confused with Eleanor’s sketchy plans for her next book). And he’s right! This is a type of locked-room mystery, with everyone involved in the tour as a possible suspect.

Based on how the book ended, this looks like it’s going to be the start of a new series.

The audiobook was nicely narrated by Elizabeth Evans.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack is the first in the Vacation Mystery Series. The mystery is set on an Italian book tour, following our main character/best-selling author Eleanor Dash. What I really enjoyed about this book: The main character is complex- she has both likable and complicated traits, which makes her interesting to read and relatable to the reader. The mystery itself had multiple twists and turns that made this entertaining to figure out. A fascinating aspect of this book is that it often breaks the fourth wall. It had similarities with the Scream franchise (although this book isn’t horror and the storylines are extremely different), in that the consumer is deciphering the patterns and tropes of that particular genre whilst trying to figure out whodunnit at the same time. I loved the setting/environment, there are some cliches involved, but it’s definitely a gorgeous place to read in general. There is a sequel teased and a big cliffhanger, and if there is a second book in the works, I can’t wait to read it!

4.5/5 stars!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack. My comments are an independent, honest review.

Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
Genre: mystery
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: audiobook

Read if you’re a fan of…
🍹footnotes
🍹Finlay Donovan
🍹unserious mysteries
🍹fun narrators
🍹vacation settings
🍹beach reads
🍹a bit of ridiculousness
🍹books in a series

This book reminded me a lot of Finlay Donovan - the main character is very funny and an author, there are a lot of characters, there’s mystery and murder, and the audiobook is great!

Although this was a fun read, it wasn’t very memorable for me in the end. I don’t mind if a book is a bit ridiculous, but the fact that so many people were on this book trip was a little too unbelievable for me and made it a little hard to keep the characters straight at times. I also needed to feel a little more connected to our main character! She was funny and I liked that she was a little unreliable, but I needed more.

Pick up this book if you like Finlay Donovan, the game Clue, and mystery series with humor!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies is out April 30th.

Cheeky and twisty, a fun murder mystery with outlandish characters, like a modern day Agatha Christie. The narration perfectly brings out the personality of the MC, a funny and relatable writer trying to kill off her on-page lover. I think you’ll love the fourth wall breaks, the not so subtle foreshadowing and the very satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

If you liked Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone or the Finlay Donovan books, you will probably enjoy this one as well! Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is a mash up of both of these books with the main character breaking the forth wall throughout the book like Everyone and a similar vibe to Finlay Donovan. It is a fun ride and an enjoyable read!

I do think I would have liked this more if I hadn’t read Everyone and Finlay Donovan as I thought both of these books were done better. While this book was entertaining, I would have felt more invested if there was more character development. I found myself several times throughout the book forgetting who characters were or getting people mixed up.

I loved the Italian setting and also all the Taylor Swift references. Overall it was a cute book and I’d read the next!

Thanks NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my review.