Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies, is a fun, light mystery. It breaks the fourth wall with Eleanor Dash, the main character, speaking directly to the reader. Eleanor is the author of 9 successful murder mysteries. She’s currently plotting out the tenth and what she intends to be the final book in the series. Her publisher has sent her, her “consultant”, her sister/assistant, 20 of her ardent fans (including one stalker) and several other successful authors on a ten day tour of Italy. Put aside your qualms that no publisher would send rival authors on a fan fest for another’s work. The implausible reason serves to get enough possible murder suspects in one place. And there will be a murder, even if it takes ages before it occurs. Connor, the “consultant”/inspiration/blackmailer/prior love interest of Eleanor’s, is convinced someone is trying to kill him. And he doesn’t mean Eleanor’s plan to kill off his character in the upcoming book.
There’s lots of humor in this book. I appreciated Eleanor’s snarky sense of humor. For example, she has a blast pointing out how many violent expressions there are in the English language.
The book moves at a brisk pace. I did find that several key scenes never seemed to play out so that I could envision them. Also, a few plot points were implausible. But it was entertaining, nonetheless. And I only partially guessed how this would play out and who was behind things.
I chose to listen to this, which other reviewers had recommended. This is a novel that contains footnotes. In the audiobook, they’re seamlessly woven into the story, relieving the reader of trying to figure out how, when or if to read them. Elizabeth Evans did a great job as the narrator for Eleanor but her male voices never sounded like men.
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies, is a fun, light mystery. It breaks the fourth wall with Eleanor Dash, the main character, speaking directly to the reader. Eleanor is the author of 9 successful murder mysteries. She’s currently plotting out the tenth and what she intends to be the final book in the series. Her publisher has sent her, her “consultant”, her sister/assistant, 20 of her ardent fans (including one stalker) and several other successful authors on a ten day tour of Italy. Put aside your qualms that no publisher would send rival authors on a fan fest for another’s work. The implausible reason serves to get enough possible murder suspects in one place. And there will be a murder, even if it takes ages before it occurs. Connor, the “consultant”/inspiration/blackmailer/prior love interest of Eleanor’s, is convinced someone is trying to kill him. And he doesn’t mean Eleanor’s plan to kill off his character in the upcoming book.
There’s lots of humor in this book. I appreciated Eleanor’s snarky sense of humor. For example, she has a blast pointing out how many violent expressions there are in the English language.
The book moves at a brisk pace. I did find that several key scenes never seemed to play out so that I could envision them. Also, a few plot points were implausible. But it was entertaining, nonetheless. And I only partially guessed how this would play out and who was behind things.
I chose to listen to this, which other reviewers had recommended. This is a novel that contains footnotes. In the audiobook, they’re seamlessly woven into the story, relieving the reader of trying to figure out how, when or if to read them. Elizabeth Evans did a great job as the narrator for Eleanor but her male voices never sounded like men.

Short synopsis: Eleanor Dash is an author going on book tour in Italy, and hoping to kill off her main character in her series. But when Connor (the man who inspired her character) barely escapes murder himself, Eleanor is determined to find out who is trying to get away with murder.

My thoughts: Take me to the Amalfi Coast! The setting was pure bliss. A yacht with a warm breeze and a cold drink, throw in some pasta and color me happy.

I thought the premise and formatting of the book was so fun! It’s like a book inside a book, where the narrator/author gives the reader very blatant details throughout to help solve the mystery.

Okay, I knew going in to this one it would funny and more of a cozy mystery. I personally hoped for a bit more humor, and mystery. I think cozy’s are just not for me? It was perfectly fine, and enjoyable.

Read if you love:
- Italian settings
- Whodunit
- Books about books
- Beach reads

<i>Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies</i> was surprisingly a lot of fun! I was honestly quite pleased with how much I enjoyed following the fascinating twists and turns of the plot. I’m usually pretty exceptional at picking up on the truths of the mystery behind just about any novel and, while it wasn’t horribly difficult with this one, it did at least keep you on your toes. I didn’t feel like the reveal was contrived in any way and I, in fact, loved how the whole thing played out.

I think this book has just about everything anyone could want from a mystery series that isn’t meant to be exceptionally dark. It’s kind of funny, really, because I’ve never been one who reads many of the mystery thrillers and I only just realized what all those books were lacking when I read them—humor! The characters in this novel are objectively hilarious at times and so much fun to be around, even when you absolutely hate them as individual people.

I also really liked all the fourth wall breaking—this is, after all, meant to be a book within a book in a small sense. The main character is the author recounting her experience and it was so much fun to read it this way. This mainly appeared in footnote commentary and I loved it. All of that said, I did listen to the audiobook, so I don’t know precisely how it worked in the written format—I’d wager it may work a little better, since there’s more opportunity for clarity in that format. The narrator was phenomenal, though, and did such a fantastic job of bringing the story to light.

This is definitely a work worth your time if you like contemporary comedy in your novels mixed with a side of mystery. Or perhaps it’d be better to say it’s a fun mystery with a side of contemporary comedy?

Either way, I loved it!

What a fun story! Loved how Catherine Mack not only had a fun story to tell but also how she would step back from the story to give “authors note” along the way. It was fun to try to solve the mystery but also made me laugh along the way. Great summer read!

I was given the opportunity to listen to this audiobook because I like Finlay Donovan books. I assumed it would be a lot like the Finlay Donovan books and I was right, in a good way. "Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies" was hilariously good! It was fast paced with a lot of dark humor, which I love. Eleanor, the main character is in the process of writing a book while on her book tour. The story is told from the point of view of her writing footnotes for her next book, while also telling us about the crazy mishaps happening on her book tour.

There is a little bit of everything in the story, romance, action, mystery, and humor. The author Catherine Mack did a good job with that.

My only complaint would be about the number of main characters. It made it a little hard to keep up with the character build because there were so many main characters. I otherwise enjoyed the book.

The narrator also helped me enjoy the book. She did a great job with the different accents and voices between male and female characters. I also felt the sarcasm of Eleanor's personality come through loud and clear.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for this ARC. The opinions here are my own.

I read the start of this book in the Minotaur Sampler and will say that the footnotes (they're mentioned in this audio, too so you'll know what she's talking about) bugged me a bit, but something about the story was intriguing so I was happy to get this audio version. Eleanor Dash was fantastic and I loved that she broke the fourth wall and spoke straight to the listener, especially since I listened to most of this book on a long road trip and felt fully invested in the story as if Eleanor was drawing me in to tell me the story over spritzes! I won't ruin the reveal, but will say that you'll probably have a pretty good inkling throughout about who's guilty, but it's still fun getting there. I will be recommending this title all summer and watching for the next outing from Mack as well as other books narrated by Evans because she was amazing. A big thank you to Macmillan Audio, Minotaur, and NetGalley for the early listen to this fun book in exchange for my honest opinion. 4.5 stars

Evidently this is part of a vacation mystery series about a writer who ends up solving mysteries. I had never read one of these before and found it quite delightful. The author, Eleanor Dash, doesn’t take herself too seriously and the style in which it was written was not usual. This specific novel took us through Italy while someone tried to kill Eleanor. Everything came together at the end. Eleanor, Harper and Oliver were likable and Connor, while not likable was the perfect antagonist. I would certainly read more of this series. I might be hooked! Thanks Netgalley and Macmillian for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this whodunnit! I was captivated from the very beginning. I hope there are more books to come in the Vacation Mysteries series!

This was a unique read with its almost stream of consciousness dialogue and somewhat eccentric cast of characters who are reflective of a modern day Agatha Christie caper. Throughout the book, best selling author Eleanor Dash keeps up a running inner monologue of observation and introspection, that may or may not be spoken out loud, as she is surrounded by rival authors, former lovers, and probably the bane of most authors' existence - the necessary but annoying and sometimes fickle fans. There is plenty of humor, mostly with a dark edge, and it becomes increasingly obvious that someone is out to kill someone. The specifics of who, on both counts, remains in question for a good part of the book. There are twists and red herrings aplenty, certainly enough to keep the most discerning mystery reader guessing or maybe confused. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference. The setting - Italy - has its moments, as well. If you are looking for something different but intelligent, a truly idiosyncratic read that will keep you entertained, give this book a try.

Be aware that there is some language included. Although it is not frequent by any means, the protagonist/author seems to take some juvenile pleasure in including it to poke at those readers who are offended by such language. Therefore, in keeping with her assessment, I gave it a 4 rather than 5 star rating. See above about necessary but annoying fans.

The narration is excellent.

Thank you net valley for this arc!

This cozy was fun! I like how the author breaks the fourth wall so to speak. The story moved around a nice pace, and the setting was great. I listened to this on audiobook and the reader did an excellent job!

I had such a fun time (minus y'know, the murder) reading this. The way it is told where the narrator/ author is talking directly to the reader makes it unique from what else I've read. The main character is snarky and sarcastic which I loved. The relationships were all so different between the characters. Some 'twists' I could guess from the beginning, others were surprising. The footnotes are flawless in the audio version as they're read as part of the text, with few references to them actually being footnotes which make sense in the telling of the story. (I read the first few chapters of this in the last Minotaur sampler ebook and could imagine they might get tiresome after a couple chapters -- clicking back and forth between footnotes and the chapter text).

This is a mystery but it is also super fun and the vacation setting was well-described, it sounded so beautiful!

Supposedly this will be the first in a new series. The narrator many times mentions "that's for another book" lol

Big thanks to Macmillan Audio! :-)

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and Catherine Mack for an advance listening copy of Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies in exchange for an honest review. This is a debut novel for this author in what we can hope is the beginning of a vacation mystery series. We find ourselves in Italy with bestselling author, Eleanor, as her life turns into a real life murder mystery like something straight out of her books. The story flows nicely and we meet some fun characters that really help build up the plot. I love the different love connection aspects of the storyline and it added a little fun spice to the plot. I was happy with the ending and I thought I had everything figured out and I absolutely did not (so thats always fun!). This would be the perfect cozy to cozy up with on the beach or on your next vacation- you can grab a copy on April 30th, 2024!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.*

I listened to the audiobook and I thought the narrator did a very good job. You could tell the difference between all the characters as she spoke and I almost forgot it was one person doing it.

I didn't know what to expect with this one because I was just looking for a fun, summery read. And this was exactly that. There were murder, there was chaos, there were lots of Taylor Swift references, and lots of humor. It was light and airy, while also mysterious.

The author wrote this in a unique way. It was like the narrator was talking directly to me every once in a while. I listened to this one, so I'm not exactly sure how that looked on the page, but it felt like a fourth wall break, which is so much fun to me.

The vibes of this book kind of reminded me of Knives Out/Glass Onion in the way that solving murder/attempted murders is a serious thing, but there was no shortage of humor to make the book feel less daunting and more fun. I enjoyed this style.

🔍 Whodunnit
🔍 Snarky humor
🔍 Fourth wall breaks
🔍 Light and airy
🔍 Taylor Swift references
🔍 Everyone's a suspect
🔍 Many red herrings

It didn't feel like you got to know the characters too well. You knew enough about them to get through the book, but only a handful felt like they were even semi-developed. But this was probably so that the author didn't reveal too much and could keep everyone as a suspect.

If you vibe with this book's main character, you'll probably love it. She sounds so much like someone I would befriend in real life and I think that's why I had so much fun.

Catherine Mack’s Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is a cozy, who-dunit type mystery. I listened to this on audio & loved the narrator. The story was great, the narrator held my attention- all in all a super fun read (listen). I can usually tell within the first few minutes if I will like an audiobook & this narrator hooked me from the beginning. Very entertaining & just what I needed!

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for an ARC copy. .

DNF at 50% because there isn't enough plot to keep me invested, just the same loop of things and hinted at "secrets to be revealed later". Also I'm sorry I cannot stand the footnotes. I've read books with footnotes that have worked seamlessly and this book they are just intrusive and kept taking me out of the narrative (and were pointless and mostly sassy/whining).

I love the idea of a mystery writing being involved in solving a mystery, but have we even gotten to the mystery part? Also I get it's the POV of an author/authors but they dismissive and slightly haughty tone used whenever talking about (AND TO) readers really put me off. The MC is such a pick me girl that I could not connect with her.

What a fantastic beach read for this summer! A whodunit with as many laughs as suspects. It will definitely keep you guessing right until the very end. I listened to the audiobook version, and the narrator was fantastic. She completely pulled you into the story and held your attention from start to finish. I'm impatiently waiting for a sequel!

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies
By Catherine Mack
“Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies one trip to die for. All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series-is that too much to ask? Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor's life-the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can't get out of her life-Eleanor's enlisted to help solve the case. Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker-and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly-theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who's really trying to get away with murder? “
This was a faced paced listen. Some scenes didn’t play out completely to me but it was still easy to keep up with. The narrator was extremely entertaining giving the footnotes and weaving in details the listen may need to know or be reminded of. There were some funny moments. If you’re a Swiftie you will definitely found some cuteness in this story. I was shocked by who did it. Was not who I thought it would be.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacmillanAudio for the opportunity to listen and give my honest unbiased opinion of this book.

If you're looking for a fun, who-dunit mystery, then Catherine Mack's "Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies" is the book that needs to be on your TBR list! This book had me hooked in the very first minutes of the story, and it didn't let up until the end.

Successful author Eleanor Dash finds herself on a book tour for the 10th anniversary of her bestselling mystery series featuring her real-life ex Connor Smith. Eleanor is ready to be done with Connor in her life, and plans to kill his main character off in the next, and final, installment of her Vacation Mysteries series, but things become a bit more complicated when Connor confesses to Eleanor that someone is out to kill him. Eleanor decides to put on her own detective hat and find out what is going on before it is too late - everyone is a suspect and no one is safe!

Featuring plenty of suspects, hairpin turns, witty dialogue, and a great narrator, this book is one I will be recommending at my library for a long time! I was lucky to receive an audio ARC from MacMillian Audio and NetGalley. While I have no doubt the physical book is just as great, the narrator for this audiobook was fantastic and made the dialogue even more entertaining. I will be eagerly awaiting the second book in this series for more escapades with Eleanor and friends! Thank you MacMillian Audio and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
•
Every time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is a cozy mystery set in Italy. This story is clever and unique told from the point of view of the main character, Eleanor Dash, a writer, who is on a book tour of sorts. I loved listening (literally though, listened to this one on audio) to Eleanors inner thoughts aka “footnotes” throughout this story.
•
This one has it all. This one has mystery, romance and suspense. I found myself laughing throughout a lot of this one. There are so many likable characters and plenty of unlikable characters making this for an interesting read. It did start off a smidge slow - setting the scene and all (which I thoroughly enjoyed) - takes a little for the murder to occur, but once it does it is full steam ahead and you won’t want to put this down.
•
There were little interludes that kind of gave like a “recap” of sorts to try to help the reader figure out exactly “whodunit”. First, I absolutely loved these recaps. Second, I still didn’t figure it out, literally didn’t even see it coming. Once the big reveal happens everything came full circle, made complete sense and I loved it! My favorite part - Eleanor eludes to this becoming a series and I cannot wait to see where she and the other characters end up next!
•
I listened to this one via audiobook and Elizabeth Evans was awesome. I loved how she narrated this one. Definitely recommending the audiobook, though also think a physical copy would be great as well for the little interludes and such.
•
Everytime I Go On Vacation Someone Dies will release on 4/30. Make sure to check this one out! This is going to be the perfect summer beach read!! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Catherine Mack and MacMillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

Eleanor gets swept away to scenic Italy for her book tour. Along in tow in the tour are her two exes, one of their ex wives, her jealous sister, a stalker book fan and many other fun characters. Oh and a murderer in the mix. This book will keep you fully enlisted on who done it. As the narrator reads you the story while seemingly having conversations with you throughout to keep you engaged moreso. I loved the narrator in this audiobook. The scenic views of an Italy tour, the fun characters and a great narrator, this book is a summer must read!