This was an amusing mystery that takes place on book tour in Italy. Fictional author, Eleanor Dash is looking for ways to kill off the character in her book that has been a thorn in her side for the past ten years when the man that character is based on announces that someone is trying to kill him. Yes, a little confusing and twisted, very amusing. The reader is directly addressed in the footnotes. I am sure when the footnotes are optimized for reader that part will become much more of an asset to the flow of the book. In the ARC that I read the footnotes are out of place and so a bit confusing at times, but not enough to detract from the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this. I am voluntarily reviewing. My favorite part was the setting. I would love to be on vacation in Italy!

Super fast read for the first installment of this series. I liked the style that the author used to tell her story. It didn't seem forced and covered all the bases unlike some other cozy mysteries. The method of murder was also interesting.

I was reminded at times of the movie Clue, which I adore, especially 2/3 of the way through when we get to attempt to solve the puzzle. I guessed incorrectly. Will be interesting to see how the characters are brought forward in the next installment of the series.

I'm not entirely sure I liked the use of the footnotes as they were turned into end notes on my Kindle for some odd reason. I'm hoping in the physical form of the book they are located at the bottom of the page so people don't have to keep flipping back and forth. I think a number of them could be cut, as well.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review, but all opinions are my own.

A fun ride through Italy with MURDER, Intrigue and a uniquely style of writing. Enjoyed the layers of who done it as well as the immersion in Italian travel. Lots of twists and turns and as the author broke the fourth wall chatting with the readers - we felt as we were part of the mystery! The footnotes were witty and irreverent- another point of entertainment within the already entertaining ride!

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack is the perfect vacation read with a side of murder! A murder mystery writer is on vacation plotting her next book and the (fictional) murder of her ex. What could be better?

When I first started this book I was a bit confused with who was speaking. And who was telling the story. Once I got a few chapters in I figured it out and got my story straight.

All these characters are at an author vacation with fans that they’re doing a tour on. Things start going astray, Connor is convinced people are out to kill him and then Eleanor as well. They’re getting pushed, car accidents, an innocent bystander is murdered and then some. Lots of crazy stuff is going on.

It was really interesting, I thought there were just a. Few too many characters in the story it was hard to keep track. But I really enjoyed the humor and mystery of it all.

I did not expect the ending and wish there were a few more hints as to how everything ended up playing out. But the ending really wrapped the story up well.

Overall this was a 3.75⭐️ read -rounded up to 4⭐️

I would recommend this to people for sure. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest opinion!

This novel was so cute. I loved it and was hooked from the start! I could sympahtize with the characters so easily and really felt like I was sitting down with a friend when reading this. I felt some influence from Agatha Christie, but a modern take on it. This was also a very uniquely formatted novel with the addtion of footnotes that gave more insight into the novel. I truly felt that it was Eleanor writing the book. I really look forward to the next book in the series. I highly recommend this novel!

Fun murder mystery told from the point of view of the writer. Eleanor is on a book tour in Italy along with other writers her publisher represents. Eleanor's sister, Harper, who is also her manager, is also along. And, Eleanor's main character in her series, Connor, who is also her ex, is on the tour and thinks someone is trying to kill him. The irony is that Eleanor wants to kill off Connor's character, so she is torn between trying to help him and seeing how things unfold so she can write about it.
A fun mystery that has realistic characters, a beautiful setting, and a mystery that the reader is encouraged to solve.

This was such a fun read! The title drew me in. The narration and structure of the story was very different and fun to read. I found myself trying to figure out whodunit throughout the book and why certain characters were part of the story. There were a lot of mis-haps and funny situations that often make it seem like a comedy of errors.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is a cheeky mystery packed with romance, blackmail, murder, and a ton of suspects. I loved the story's setting, Italy is on my travel bucket list, and the premise of of the anniversary book tour. This was a fun, quick read perfect to bring along on your own vacation.

There has been a lot of discussion about the use of footnotes in this book and honestly I'm ambivalent. I see how they can be really annoying for some people but also serve in furthering the story.

While we can't do half stars this is a 3.5/5 for me.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press

I loved how fresh the narration of this book felt. It's not often that a book is written that breaks the "fourth wall" (at least that I've read) and I really enjoyed feeling like the main character was talking right to me! I also loved that I felt enough of Italy to get an idea of where they were at each point without feeling overwhelmed by detail. The footnotes were a little hard to read on Kindle but it didn't overly detract from the story. I'm excited to read the next in the series!

I read Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies while on vacation which added a little fun to the experience. This is my first book by Catherine Mack and I found her tongue-in-cheek, self deprecating writing style to be very engaging. While the footnotes were a bit hard to follow at first, I developed a system for reading them and think they added quite a bit of snark and comic relief. The footnotes gave insight into the author’s thoughts and made the reading experience feel more intimate.

This is a highly entertaining, quirky mystery laden with humor and intrigue. There’s no shortage of potential victims or criminals which kept the pace moving. There were plenty of red herrings, plot twists, and unexpected reveals along the way.

Overall, this is a fun, easy read which will have the reader laughing while trying to solve the mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Book review of my latest read. Everytime I Go On Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack

My last three books have been quick reads. Quirky, mystery books with a cast of super neat characters, that have laugh out loud moments. This one is set in Italy, so that was a bonus. It made me want to go back to all the places I visited.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this early copy. This one is out April 30, 2024. Grab a copy and dive right in.

Eleanor Dash is a mystery writer and she is on a book tour celebrating her 10th anniversary of her first books publication. She is in Rome and the Amalfi Coast, staying in Sorrento and visiting all the towns on the Amalfi Coast.
Her sister, Harper, who works for her, her ex, Connor, who is a main character in her books, but a major pain in her neck, as well as several others are all on the tour with her. She has decided in her next book in the series, she will kill Connor off. Funny thing is, someone is trying to kill him off in real life. After an attempt on his life, the team of merry bandits are trying to solve the caper.
It has a really good twist at the end!
I read this in a day!
#crazybooknerd
#bookstagram
#NetGalley
#stmartinspress
#minotaurbooks

This is my first book by this author, and while I loved the premise and found the book title engaging, I am still torn on how I feel about this book. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. I can't quite put my finger on it.

I definitely agree with other reviewers that all the end notes were confusing. It might be better with a print copy, but as someone who usually prefers audiobooks, I imagine these will be even worse (if included) when listening to the audiobook narration.

The mystery was well thought out and there were definitely A LOT of suspects, but I didn't really care for our snarky MC. I think the book could have been a bit shorter, perhaps one or two fewer suspects would have helped there.

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

This book was really fun. The characters were colorful and interesting and their interactions were not only entertaining but left me looking for deeper meaning behind them to figure out the mystery. The author's sister, a stalker, her blackmailing ex-boyfriend, his ex-wife, the author's other ex-boyfriend who she still loves...it's the perfect cast as the group tours through Italy.

My only quibbles were the second person narration and the use of footnotes, which became a little burdensome despite being amusing, but they didn't stop me from enjoying the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC--I enjoyed it throughly.

I saw quite a bit of promotion for this book and was eager to read it. But this was just not my cup of tea. I do typically enjoy cozy mysteries, but this was not a compelling read at all. I had to make myself pick this book up time and time again. I liked the premise. I concur with other reviewers that all the end notes were distracting and confusing. It might’ve been easier to navigate those in print versus the digital copy of the book. But I neither liked nor cared about characters. At least one character should be likeable, entertaining, enjoyable. I’m sorry, but this book was not for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance review copy.

If you are looking for a murder mystery that is positively hilarious in some points, then look no further. Eleanor is a hot mess. She is an author travelling through Italy and finds herself consumed by chaos and murder attempts. There is a lot of scenes where our MC breaks through the fourth wall which is delightfully done.

This book has it all, murder, visual settings, cozy mystery, love interests, ex’s, blackmail, international crime, whodunit. Quite the concoction to keep you entertained.

Some may be irked by Eleanor’s snarky demeanour, but I find her endearing. I definitely recommend this for a light fun read which allows the reader to escape for a short time. I will definitely be reading the second book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur books for a copy of this book.

Conceptually, this is a cute little story, very meta, very self-deprecating. In practice, well...the mystery itself just wasn't that great. Kind of puts a damper on the thing, you know?

I liked the setting of this humorous mystery, a book tour of Italy with a focus on the Amalfi coast. On her book tour, writer Eleanor is so fed up with exlover and her main character Connor, that she begins thinking of killing him off in her next and final book in the series. But Connor is already convinced someone wants him dead in real life.

I found it interesting that the suspects are the group tour members and I couldn't wait to see which one it was, The twists and turns in the plot kept my interest, as the variety of individuals on this trip kept me reading as well as amused. I was delighted by the surprise ending.

Great character delineation and plotting, as well as humorous writing kept me engaged in this entertaining mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for an eARC of this book!

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies was a fun murder-mystery that reminded me of a modern day Agatha Christie story. Eleanor Dash is a writer, who is going on a 10 - year anniversary book tour with several other authors. While on tour, one of them discoveres that someone wants to murder him. Because he and Eleanor solved a crime together before (leading to her success as an author), he enlists in her help to solve the mystery and save his life.

This book was so much fun! I loved all the little plot twists, and the ending was not what I expected. There were a lot of characters, however they were interesting and diverse enough that it wasn't confusing or difficult to keep track of them. I also really liked the footnotes and the breaking of the fourth wall - it definitely made this book more unique. The entire time I was questioning who the perpetrator was, and I'm happy to say I did not figure it out. Everything tied up together nicely at the end as well, and the set-up for the sequel was also perfect - just a minor little cliffhanger. I also really enjoyed the humor - all the quips about the world of writing and publishing were entertaining.

This story was unique, hilarious, and a refreshing take for a murder-mystery novel, and I look forward to the sequels!

This was a fun quick read, but I wasn’t a fan of the author’s style of writing. I did thing the mystery was well thought out