First, thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress @minotaur_books for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a fan of Catherine McKenzie, who is rebranding here as Catherine Mack, so I was excited to receive this ARC. And that cover is gorgeous, isn’t it?!

Unfortunately, this one fell a bit flat for me. It was fun, don’t get me wrong. But it took along time to get the action rolling, and when it did, it was almost too little, too late. Beyond that, the excessive use of footnotes (meant to be quirky) was deeply annoying on a Kindle. There’s no way to meaningfully keep up with it and the story, which took away from my enjoyment.

It was still cute and fun, just forgettable for me.

Many thanks to Minotaur Books and MacMillan Audio for early access via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This will publish at the end of April!
This is the second book in a row that I’ve read which takes place in Italy! I'm not in Italy, but the ruins I visited had a bit of European flair - not to mention amazing views after hiking straight uphill to get to them.
This book follows author Eleanor on a ten-day tour of Italy with some other authors and the winners of a bookface contest. Eleanor has written nine books in the Vacation series, and she is struggling to write the tenth, as she wants to kill off a main character - and is even open to ending the series. She has her reasons for this, unbeknownst to even her sister manager. There is some conflict between the sisters, too. Unfortunately, accidents start happening on the tour, which makes it seem like someone wants at least one of them dead. The accidents ramp up to a death before anyone truly believes there is an issue.
This was a fast, fun book. The descriptions of Italian views, food (pasta!), and Aperol Spritzes made me want to book it over to Italy ASAP! I mostly listened to the audiobook for this one, and I definitely recommend it. The narrator is engaging, and I found that the footnotes (over 200 of them) were distracting as I followed along on my eARC but made perfect sense to hear, as they came across as parenthetical observations, seamless to the listener’s ear. This is listed as the beginning of a new series, and I would happily listen to another book along the same lines. I think readers of Finlay Donovan would enjoy this book.

This was fun, clever and laugh out loud funny. Loved the murder mystery and the main character Eleanor. She funny, witty and her hate for Connor had me laughing out loud

I loved this!

ARC Review ~ Every time I go on Vacation Someone Dies~

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was so much fun! I read it nearly in one sitting as I couldn’t put it down. I loved the format, the way the main character was writing directly to the reader with little fun additives added through footnotes. The flow of it ran so well and the mystery kept me guessing until a good way through the book. I can’t wait to read more and see what further adventures are in store for the characters!

Thank you NetGalley and St Matin’s Press for this ARC!

The title and cover alone sold me…then add cozy mystery, set in Italy and I am all in!

Eleanor Dash is a best selling author who desperately wants to end the book series that made her famous. Eleanor’s mistake was basing her main character on Connor Smith, a man she desperately wants out of her life. Since the success of the series Connor has been profiting off his likeness (getting royalties for his name LOL) and making Eleanor miserable in the process.

Now as Eleanor plots the demise of the literature version of Connor it seems someone else may be plotting Connor’s real life demise. Eleanor and Connor have been on a press tour around Italy when someone takes a shot at killing him but their motley group of traveling companions is full of suspects and does Eleanor really want to stop Connor’s demise?

Picking up Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack is one for not only cozy mystery lovers but with the main character being an author you could say for book lovers but this first book is also for the travel lovers with the setting being around Italy. The character do have that slight tough of quirkiness you’d find in a lot of cozies and there were plenty of twists along the way in the story. With a lot going on in the this first book I felt I could have gotten to know the characters a bit better but when finished I rated this at three and half stars and would return to the series.

This was an easy and light mystery read that would be the perfect companion this summer on the beach. You'll find hilarious commentary on the action and characters from the story's narrator and it's unique in that you are coming alongside the protagonist the try and solve the mystery. I would recommend this to folks who want a light read this summer!

This was a great read! I was so excited and had this on my TBR when I found out about the upcoming release. It was a fun book and an easy read, I've already been recommending it to friends once it is released publicly.

The main character of this novel, Eleanor, is a bestselling mystery writer of a series of books set in Italy. The first book was based on real events where she solved a mystery with Connor, a guy she was dating at that time, and he’s been blackmailing her for a portion of her royalties ever since. This book finds her on a special book tour group in Italy with him, another ex, her sister/manager, and several other mystery writers, along with a group of fans. She’s contemplating killing off Connor’s character in her next novel, but then he reveals someone is trying to kill him in real life too, and the group gets caught up in trying to figure out what is going on.

The conceit of this novel is that it’s written by Eleanor herself recounting the events, with lots of fourth wall breaking and many footnotes with snarky asides. Sort of like a cross between Everyone In This Family Has Killed Someone and The Spellman Files, with a dash of Finlay Donovan. It might not be quite at the level of any of those series, but it was a fun and light mystery and I definitely will be in for reading the sequels.

This is the first book by “Catherine Mack,” but it’s actually a pseudonym for author Catherine McKenzie who I have read many books by. Funnily enough I snagged this one from Netgalley before I even knew it was her, just because it sounded cute.

Side note: the formatting of the footnotes in this e-ARC was atrocious, but I tried not to hold that against the book especially because there’s even a special note to readers at the beginning apologizing to readers for it. But let’s face it, even properly formatted footnotes can be annoying to read - I’ve actually heard this is great on audio where the footnotes integrate more naturally.

3.75 stars

Eleanor Dash is in Italy celebrating the tenth anniversary of her first book release and scheming up ways to kill off the main character (who also happens to be her former boyfriend and a fellow member on the trip) in her latest book, when she discovers someone is actually trying to kill Connor … and her. What’s a girl to do?

Enter a cast of quirky characters who all have motive and means, making for a fun whodunit that gave me Murder Mystery vibes and had me guessing right up to the end. This quick-paced, light book would be great for a day at the beach and is suitable for anyone that enjoyed the Finlay Donovan series. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment.

Thank you to Catherine Mack, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of the book for an honest review.

This has to be one of the funniest and most captivating books I have ever read. With the story being told from the POV of author Eleanor Dash as she goes on a book tour with a highly mixed cast of characters, one of which is trying to kill her, it is a non-stop rollercoaster of action and laughs. There are footnotes throughout the book as Eleanor gives you insight and hilarious commentary about what is happening, the publishing industry, and life in general.
See if you can solve the mystery before Eleanor does or dies! Set on the beautiful Amalfi coast, it's a beautiful place to die!

I tried, I really tried, but after three nights of reading, I only got to 20%, and I am not enjoying this book at all, for multiple reasons. I give myself permission to quit it. No rating due to DNF.

I understand I was provided an unpolished ARC kindle edition, but the formatting was so bad, that it was wholly unpleasant to read. I didn't enjoy the entire concept of the footnotes, and worse, footnotes are so difficult to reference on kindle. I found them distracting and confusing. I didn't like the narrator or her voice, and found nothing positively appealing about her or any other character. The MC is mooning after a past lover, who is currently blackmailing her for her book revenue profits. No thank you.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

This book was so much fun to read! The twists, the witty one liners, and the fun descriptions of Italy made me feel like I was there with Eleanor. At first, I didn't care for Connor but he kinda grew on me. This book was definitely a cozy mystery for me. The Ebook footnotes made it a little more difficult to follow along but that is to be expected with an ARC.
Thank you Netgalley for giving me this opportunity!

Knowing how Eleanor (ahem) feels about Goodreads, I worried about writing this review but happily it's not meh. This is a romp of a crime novel narrated by-wait for it-the author of a popular cozy series. Eleanor is stuck more or less on a tour of Italy but she didn't read the itinerary and didn't realize that along with her sister, she's also traveling with her ex Connor and his ex-wife Allison, among others, as well as her fan club including her stalker. Here's the thing- Connor has been blackmailing her since the publication of her first novel (you won't know the real reason for a long time) and she's been forced to keep him as a character but now she wants to kill the character and the series. Except that Connor thinks someone else wants to kill him. No spoilers from me (this has multiple twists). It's funny sometimes snarky and I liked the Italy atmospherics (the heat, the drinks, the food!). Know that there are footnotes which don't work well in an ebook because they become chapter endnotes but luckily the chapters are fairly short. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a hoot.

This book is a fun mystery. Your inside the mind and process of a writer, Eleanor and her humor is great. This book moves at a quick pace and is light and funny. Overall I would call it a modern cozy mystery and a great beach read.

3.5 rounded up because I really really enjoyed this book. As a strictly sci-do, horror, and fantasy girlie, I’ve been trying to broaden my horizons and try out different genres. I’m happy I am, because I can discover fun little gems like this book, and let me tell you, this book was FUN! I would describe this book as a cozy mystery. The writing was easy to read and this book was so so meta. I thought the breaking of the 4th wall and the footnotes were an entertaining touch that just made this such a refreshing and unique read! I was intrigued the whole way through. Also fun, my parents book an Italy tour and a lot of the places they are visiting follow alone with Eleanor’s trip 😅! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel.

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. There were book recommendations, digs at authors, digs at the publishing industry and fun jabs at crazy readers. The thought of Agatha Christie picking fights with one star reviewers on Goodreads will live with me. Hilarious! All this paired with a really fun plot and a top notch mystery. I loved the footnotes and will be anxiously awaiting Catherine Mack’s next story. Every time I thought I had things figured out I ended up being wrong but I did figure out who the “bad guys” were and it was a great ending. The setting was amazing and it was like having an adventure in Italy..

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for a copy of this book. It was fabulous.

This was so much fun! It was an easy read and had some thrills. I enjoyed the characters and the overall vibes. Thank you for the advance copy

This was such a fun book! 3.75 rounded up. This is not a thriller but more of a cozy mystery, so go into knowing that it's going to be a lighter read. I loved the FMC and her sister, Harper, as well as the setting, and even the side characters (I hope that Oliver and Connor are in the next one!) Side note: I also highly recommend the audio version! Elizabeth Evans is fantastic. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel.

A sweet cozy mystery, filled with suspense and wonder.
It's a dramatic, slow burn that will keep you guessing all the way to the end.
If you're looking for a beach read this is the one!!

3.5⭐️ Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is a nice light murder mystery, with a bit of humor mixed in. While not the most memorable story, it makes for a great quick beach read.

Thank you Catherine Mack, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.