Wonderful narrator who perfectly met the tone of the book.

A meta story where an authors work and her life are intertwined, it was a light mystery that just didn't draw me in. I didn't connect with any characters and as a result, never truly committed.

2.5* rounded up to 3*.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an opportunity to review this audio ARC.

This was a fun Murder mystery set in the beautiful landscapes of Italy. I felt like I went on the Italian tour with the characters. Each stop on Italy was beautifully described and I could envision each of the landmarks that was discussed in the book.

The main character was really problematic but knew it! I love how she broke the fourth wall and spoke directly to us readers, telling us all of her faults and at times suggesting she could be the culprit because of those faults. The other characters all came with their own issues and the spotlight was on each of them at one time or another. The epilogue of this book set up the next perfectly and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

The narrator was also brilliant, bringing each of the characters to life! I will definitely pick up more audiobooks that she narrates.

This book is so fresh and fun! It's fairly fast paced and really takes you along for the ride!

I had a hard time connecting with the story and the characters. It probably would have been a DNF for me had it not been for the humour and the entertainment factor of this one.

Not my cup of tea, but definitely entertaining!

Who doesn’t love a cozy mystery, especially one set in Italy? This is a cute, entertaining and lighthearted story with a touch of intrigue, a few twists and a little bit of murder thrown in. The narrator was great - give this one a listen!!!
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for my advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

Eleanor Dash is the bestselling author of the blockbuster Vacation Mysteries series. The first book was loosely based on real events, with names changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty!). The only character whose name and likeness she didn’t change was her ex-boyfriend Connor Smith. Connor has been blackmailing Eleanor for a cut of her royalties for the last ten books, but she’s about to kill him off – figuratively of course! Unfortunately, while they’re on a book tour in Italy, someone seems to want Connor dead in real life!

This book is such a fun take on a cozy mystery, although snarkier and sweary-er than a typical cozy (which only made me love it more!). The cast of characters is such a hoot, from the sexy but smarmy con man Connor to competitive fellow authors, a gaggle of book clubbers, an ex that Eleanor never got over, and of course Eleanor herself. Eleanor is sarcastic and engaging, and I love it when she breaks the fourth wall to urge the reader to solve the mystery. The footnotes are a fun element where Eleanor shares gossipy little asides. The writing style is top notch (which is par for the course for this author, who you may also know as the talented Catherine Mackenzie), and aside from the witty banter, this is also a well crafted mystery with plenty of suspects and red herrings that kept me guessing!

Elizabeth Evans narrates the audiobook, and she does an outstanding job! Her voice was perfect for Eleanor’s wry sense of humor, and her engaging style made me feel like I was having a chat with a friend when Eleanor broke the fourth wall.

This book is perfect for fans of Finlay Donovan, especially because it sounds like there will be at least two more books Eleanor’s series, and I already can’t wait to see what else she gets herself into!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Ok! I seriously laughed out loud so many times! What a fun and fresh book. I really enjoyed this one a lot. It is a light and airy read that’s the perfect pallet cleanser after reading intense dark romances.

Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies was one of the few books that made me laugh out loud more than once. A lot of books make me laugh to myself but this one had me laughing hard at multiple points. The story was fun, and the way it was written was perfect for this book.

The main character is the narrator of the book and she would often break the fourth wall and talk to the reader. Sometimes it would add to the story other times it would just be funny. These were my favorite segments. The fourth wall break with all the explanations before the final act of the book is one of my favorite things I have read in years.

While I am talking about this book like it’s a comedy, it was actually a murder mystery. Our narrator Eleanor has a best-selling book franchise based on a real person who she still has to deal with because of the books. It all started when she wrote about a true event that happened and changed everyone’s names but his. Now ten books in she wants to kill him off and move on. The only problem is someone wants him dead for real, not just in the books.

This whole mystery takes place during a conference with a lot of other authors. You have all these creative minds coming together to solve a mystery. I can not recommend this book enough. It was funny, it was suspenseful, it was well written, and it was just a blast from start to finish.

Elizabeth Evans is one of my favorite audiobook narrators, and she did an amazing job with this book! I loved the way this book was written, the main character is an author and writes directly to readers throughout the book. It kept me invested in the plot and guessing what all the clues meant.

I didn’t necessarily like the main character, or many of the characters at all, but the narrator kept me engaged. This is not a serious mystery that tries to stick to reality, but is a fun ride set in beautiful Italy. I’ve watched the movie Knives Out before and this is definitely a literary version of the movie. The ending wraps up this mystery, but sets up for a new plot in the next book.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the audiobook and digital book! This review is voluntary, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

I typically do not read cozy mysteries, when I was given the opportunity to listen to Every time I Go on Vacation, I was very pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it.

Within the backdrop of Italy, best selling cozy mystery author, Eleanor Dash finds herself in the thick of her very own murder mystery on her latest book tour.

The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the story and characters to life. I particularly enjoyed the story breaking the fourth wall, speaking to the audience throughout the story. Definitely plan on reading the continuation of the story in future novels.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack. This book was the perfect palate cleanser. This book was fun, there were lots of twists and turns, mystery and some laugh out loud moments. The narrator kept me listening until the end because I wanted to find out what happened but she did a great job telling the story. I loved the descriptions of different places in this book. I would recommend this book.

Eleanor Dash, a bestselling mystery author, is ready to end her series and kill off her main character, Connor Smith. She's struggling through her book tour in Italy when real-life Connor is almost killed. Eleanor is also surprised to see her ex, Oliver, on this book tour and is dealing with a strained relationship with her sister, who also helps manage her career. Now she's trying to help solve an actual mystery and figure out who is trying to get away with murder.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I typically read a lot of romance and fantasy but when I saw the synopsis of this book, I knew it was one I wanted to read. I found it really interesting that the main character, Eleanor, breaks the fourth wall a lot and directly addresses the reader throughout the story through footnotes. As I listened to the audiobook version of this story, the footnotes were incorporated seamlessly. I also really enjoyed the narrator and it was a very easy listen. I found Eleanor's humor and sarcasm enjoyable and I was immediately drawn into the story. This will definitely not be my last cozy mystery!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!





Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC!

I was really looking forward to this book based on the great thing I'd heard. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me! This one just could not keep my attention. The writing style was easy to follow along--could be a good fit for someone seeking a light/cozy mystery

This was a hilarious ride and totally sounds like something that would happen to me 😂 Maybe not the murder but definitely the mayhem. 😂😂 Serious Knives Out vibes! 3.7 stars for me.

Cozy mysteries aren't usually my jam as I prefer thrillers with a more darker feel (I'm weird I know). I gave this one a go because I love Catherine McKenzie's thrillers. This was a slow moving mystery which was well narrated with some funny moments and twists that kept me guessing. While I managed to get through the story, I will most likely stick to the heavier thrillers in future.

Eleanor Dash has become a best selling authors, somewhat by mistake. After solving a murder on a trip to Europe years before, she wrote about her experience to unpack the happenings of her experience, which turned into a best-selling novel. A few more novels in, and Eleanor has become a popular author with a fan base, one which just had a prize trip to travel through Europe with Eleanor and her sister/assistant. As she travels, with her fans, and other co-writers/book characters, her main character, Connor, begins to believe that someone is trying to kill him. Finding herself entwined in the mystery of Connor, Eleanor is forced to work through this mystery to find out who has a target on his back (and potentially hers) before its too late.

I enjoyed this novel greatly, and found the setup for this book different and interesting. The book reads almost as if it could have been a novel in line with other books, but reads well on its own too. There are a number of different personalities in the book, which make for some interesting albeit uncomfortable scenes. Id recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable, lighthearted novel, with some mystery.

The audiobook was produced well with enjoyable narrators, and easy to listen to voices.

This audiobook had me laughing out loud. It felt like I was sitting with the main character and she was talking directly to me, telling me about this Italian vacation gone wrong. The narrator did a wonderful job with reading through the footnotes. And making the outline breaks understandable.

This novel is an absolute delightful start to a fun new, cozy mystery series by debut author, Catherine Mack. Eleanor Dash is a famous mystery author on a press tour in Italy w/ her sister, Harper (also her PA), her "muse" Connor and a bunch of contest winners. Eleanor would very much like to "kill off" her main character, Connor, but figuring how to do that and making sure he's not actually murdered in the process are 2 very different things.
This book was delightful, breaks the 4th wall and is full of adorable footnotes that help guide you along through clues and snarky commentary. I cannot wait for book #2, No One At This Wedding Was Supposed to Die.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

After seeing a clip of Elizabeth Evans on Catherine McKenzie's Instagram reading a few sentences of the audiobook for Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies, I was drawn and wanted to listen to it in her voice. Her voice was so memorizing and pulled me right in!

I am a fan of Catherine McKenzie's novels and I was super excited to listen to her new book under the pseudonym Catherine Mack titled Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. It did not disappoint! This was so different than Catherine's other novel style, and I absolutely loved it. No matter what genre Catherine writes, she nails it!

The novel is about Eleanor Dash, an author who is about to write her 10th novel in her series of books and is on a book tour in Italy. I couldn't put this down once I got a few chapters in. The pace of this novel was wonderful, it had a witty charm to it and the footnotes were genial and smoothly added into the audiobook. Each character in the story was relatable in their own way. Eleanor and her sister/assistant Harper were alike yet different as Eleanor is famous and Harper seems to be overlooked. Eleanor seems to not have her act together, but that's when Harper comes in, to keep her in line. Her ex-boyfriend Conner, whom Eleanor's novel's main character is loosely based on, joins the book tour with Oliver, another ex-boyfriend of Eleanor's. There's a few other secondary characters to give you enough of a suspect pool for the story. I did not guess who was planning the murder before it was announced in the book. I couldn't figure that out! I like how the narrative included the reader in the questioning in the story, that was fun. I cannot wait for the next book in this series as we are left with a sneak peak into the next story at the end making me want to know more.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and Catherine Mack for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly this book didn’t hit the mark for me I DNFed at 60%.

It was just so hard to get into the story and I never once connected or even really cared about the main character. I found her and her sisters arguments childish and redundant. There were way too many characters introduced right off the bat without building the plot first and because of that I found it hard to connect (or keep track) of the dialogue. I was hoping that throughout the course of the book at least one character would have became likeable—that was not the case for me. The pace was slow and It took me nearly a week to get to 60%.
I wasn’t a fan of the usage of footnotes, and there were an abundance of them. 


Thanks NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I will refrain from posting this review on social media as to not dissuade other readers from giving it a try!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read and review Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies on NetGalley.

Published: 04/30/24

Narrator: Elizabeth Evans

Stars: 2.5

Not for me.

A lightweight mystery with profanity darkening the cozy genre. I'm not a fan of idiotic bantering and this is loaded.

A new trend? The main character is an author who is writing a book and talks to the reader explaining her thought processes. This is the second book I've picked up with this style of writing. I'm not a fan. It was cute and then it wasn't. Mentioning how often death is inferred was amusing and the circumstances when it's said was eye opening: I'm going to kill you, I'm going to die, etc. I did laugh out loud a few times.

Overall I'm on my way to forgetting and someone else is loving the style and characters.

I would have gifted without profanity.