Another winner. I love this series. I love the footnotes. It always adds such a fun element to the story. I can't wait for the next one!

Eleanore and most of the crew from book 1 are back to their sleuthing ways for an island wedding happening during Hurricane Isabella - and if you don't know why that's humorous, please go read Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies.

El's best friend, a movie star named Emma, is using the cover of making the movie version of El's book "When in Rome" to get married to her leading man, Fred. The book 1 folks are all in some way apart of the movie: El & Harper are extras (and of course, El wrote the book the movie is based on), Connor has been hired by the producer to investigate Fred, Allison has a part in the movie & Oliver is back as well, not in the movie but still dating El.

Things begin going wrong right from the start of the wedding weekend - ominous notes, vaguely threatening tweets, changes to the schedule, a hurricane that is not heading out to sea, death traps, all eventually culminating in a dead body and a mystery with many more twists than book 1. This ending was far more of a surprise to me than the first book.

I really appreciated that the footnotes were toned down a bit. I liked them in book 1 but thought there were just FAR too many, this time around they felt more reasonable, I think there was even a chapter or 2 with none! Though there was also no 4th wall breaking chapters which I really enjoyed in book 1. Maybe book 3 will find more of a balance. My other issue was El's feelings for Connor. I get that at 25 she was taken in by his charm, but she's 10 years older (hopefully wiser), and in a solid relationship, why he continues to creep into it as a foil for that is a bit much for me. Otherwise, it was a strong second entry into the series, with a lot of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.

Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for this book.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I am giving my rating based on my own personal opinion and not that of any other party.

Another enjoyable read of the Dash sisters. This one takes place after Eleanor’s movie is finished filming and her best friend is getting married. There were a few times that the dialogue was confusing as to who was speaking, but overall this was a quick and fun read.

I love it when a mystery novel gets a little bit meta and I’d had a lot of fun reading the first in “The Vacation Mysteries” series: Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. I think this is one where having read the first in the series is a big help, it really makes understanding how everyone fits together a lot easier (especially important because there are some unconventional relationships that would have felt very weird had I not read the first one). While I had enjoyed the first one in the series a little bit more due to the originality of the concept, the follow up was also quite entertaining.

This was the second installment in this series and, while it was entertaining, it was a little too far fetched for my liking and could be hard to follow at times. I'm thankful I did the audio because the production was top notch and I don't know that I would have kept with the physical copy. Overall very entertaining and a good fluff mystery!

This series is such a humorous take on murder mysteries and that is just so fun.

While I didn't love this one as much as the first book, I'm eager to see if this series will continue for at least a few more mysteries.

Eleanor Dash is such a likeable character and I want to see what's next for her.

Thank you Minotaur Books for selecting me for the ARC.

This was a decent sequel. I don't know if i personally will continue with the series but I do think it could be a fun series for a lot of people. Eleanor is whitty and darkly sarcastic. The footnotes pulled me out of the story quite a few times. I also had a hard time liking Eleanor after the last book as well. She has too much of an unreliable narrator energy going on, which I really don't enjoy and it continued here for me as well. I was happy to have given this one a shot and I hope it finds its audience, unfortunately it just wasn't me.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Minotaur, and NetGalley for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I greatly enjoyed the first instalment of The Vacatioj Mysteries series by Catherine Mack and so I was very excited to hear about No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding.
It had been a while since I had read and immersed myself in this universe, and so in that regard I feel it was a good test of how readable this book would be if you were just picking it up without having read book one. Admittedly it took me a bit of time to get into the book, and parse apart the characters, especially as the book went on, and chaos ensued. However, I really loved the witty narrative voice throughout, the backdrop of a film set turned wedding, and the snappy footnotes throughout.
Would recommend !

Eleanor Dash, famous for writing vacation mysteries, can’t seem to escape trouble, even at her best friend’s wedding. When superstar Emma Wood marries movie heartthrob Fred Winters, the party moves to Catalina Island and promises fun, film, and romance. But with a storm blowing in and an ominous “Someone is going to die at the wedding” note, Eleanor’s detective skills are in high demand.

In the end, I realized this series just isn’t for me. While the book delivers a light, entertaining, and quick-paced escape, the plot felt a bit too predictable, which took away from the suspense I typically look for in a thriller. I also found it hard to connect with Eleanor as the main character—her quirks and habits often didn’t quite click for me. That said, I really enjoyed the setting and the celebrity blog posts, which added some fun flair.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for a review

Sequels are always hard to live up to the hype of a first successful book, but this one was an enjoyable success! Eleanor Dash is back and attending the wedding of her best friend's wedding on Catalina Island...until she must solve a murder mystery. All is going swimmingly at her best friend's wedding (who is starring in the adaptation of her book)...until Eleanor receives a note saying that someone is going to die at the wedding. Will she solve this mystery before it is too late? I loved this one! It was a nice blend of suspense and dark humor with many LOL moments throughout. Eleanor is an excellent narrator and kept me glued to this book the whole time. Would recommend to anyone on the mood for a fun and entertaining read!

No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding is going to be super confusing if you do not read the first book in the series. And unfortunately i did not read it so some of the reveals and the surprises fell super flat to me and I was playing catch up the entire time. It was a very twisty turny type of story and I enjoyed it and the writing, but I do wish I had read the first book so i could have really appreciated it more.

Such a twisty mystery!!!
The second book in this series, and I think I may like it better than the first. Murder, humor, romance, and an isolated location with a whole cast of murder suspects. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and while I can usually figure out who the murderer is fairly quickly, this book had so many plot twists, I felt the whiplash in the best possible way. Definitely looking forward to the third book in this series!
4.25 stars!!
A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC!

I love a fun Catherine Mack cozy mystery and No One Was Suppose To Die At This Wedding did not disappoint!
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Cozy mystery
Witty banter
Fun plot
Fantastic footnotes
Over the top characters
Destination wedding gone wrong
A hurricane
And murder
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I don’t know who introduced me to cozies but thank you so much! And a huge thanks to @netgalley and @minotaur_books
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really enjoyed this book and the journey of the main character and all that they went through. It kept me on my toes and what would happen in the story.

I LOVED the first book in this series. It was one of those rare finds in my favorite cross-genre (humorous mystery/thriller). So I was SO HAPPY when the end of the book eluded to a sequel. Well, it turns out I may have set my hopes too high.

The second book begins a few days after the last book ends. We have the same fun characters from the first book (Eleanor, Oliver, Harper, Emma, Connor) plus a few more.

The plot was okay but I found the writing was not as tight as the first book. The author relied a lot on “breaking down the fourth wall” and addressing the reader directly. Maybe this was supposed to be trite and cute but I found it made the writing very sloppy. There was way too much reliance on cliches throughout the novel. A few would be okay but after that, it felt like the author wasn’t even trying anymore.

I tried the ebook at first but found it confusing to consistently flip to the end of the chapter to read the footnotes, then try and remember where I left off. About halfway through I switched to the audiobook and this made the footnotes a lot easier to navigate (they are noted on their proper place in the story as opposed to the end of each chapter). Also I want to add that I really liked the audiobook narrator (I love a good Italian accent!)

The introduction of new characters and their back stories make the plot way too confusing. I had to keep going back and re-listen to parts to make sure I was following the story correctly.

I rated this novel a 3 out of 5 stars (I would have given the first novel 5 stars). I will read the next book in the series as I hope that this novel is just a one-off and not an indication that the quality of the novels are going down as the series continues (like the Finlay Donovan series did). Or maybe I should set the bar a little lower and recognize these books as cozy mysteries as opposed to intense (yet funny) mystery/thriller novels.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishing Group for an ARC of this book.

Courtesy of Minotaur Books and Netgalley, I received the ARC of No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding by Catherine Mack. Having read the first book in this series, I was familiar with the characters and their relationships, although that is flexible. This witty and quirky novel is about mystery author Eleanor Dash, with her book having been optioned for a movie starring her best friend, who plans her wedding on Catalina Island during the filming. Needless to say there are mishaps and murders as Eleanor turns investigator to solve the killings. A twist at the end that I didn't predict!

Eleanor Dash has been cast in a film based on her Vacation Mystery book. Her best friend Emma is the star and has planned a secret wedding to co-star Fred. An apparent typo in the program tells guests that someone will be, though. And then, strange events start happening that leave Eleanor afraid for her safety and suspicious of everyone. Who can she trust? And who will be the next victim?
The mystery kept me guessing. I would have the prime suspect figured out and then the author gave me a new clue that poiknted in a different direction.
The questions as chapter titles were too long. Likewise, the footnotes distracted from the story, and I gave up reading them after chapter two.
I also didn't care for the profanity.
I do like that Eleanor is a real person with imperfect reactions and words. She's mostly relatable.

This was just okay for me. I enjoyed the first one enough, but I don't think I will continue on with the series. I do enjoy cozy/humorous mysteries but this didn't feel very original or memorable. I would recommend for fans of Finlay Donovan if you need something similar.

Star Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️
No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding was a cozy mystery with a cast of entertaining characters. I enjoyed the dark humor and dramatics.

I read a digital copy as well as listened to the audio format, and I found I preferred the flow of the audio. The footnotes in the digital version were, at times, difficult to keep track of. The narrator for the audiobook had high energy- which was perfect for the main character- and gave an engaging performance.

If you're looking for a fast-paced murder mystery that's a little on the lighter side and a lot chaotic, check this one out.


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*Complimentary copy for review provided by St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books. All opinions expressed here are honest and entirely my own.