Hijinks, hilarity, mystery, murder; blackmail, and a stalker. All while on a holiday book tour in Italy. I meant to listen to this audiobook while I was on holiday ( a cruise, not to Italy), but my vacation was busier than expected. I did listen to parts while flying to and from which really helped the time go faster. Character reactions to their situations did seem a bit far fetched at times, but isn't that the point of fiction? But if you've watched any true crime then you know people can make the less obvious and not so wise choices. This was a fun book that had so many twists and turns and many characters who may or may not be guilty. The ending gave me Agatha Christie vibes and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Title: Vacation Mysteries Series, Book 1

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Summary: Bestselling author Eleanor Dash’s book tour in Italy turns into a real-life mystery mirroring her novels. The inspiration for her character, con man Connor Smith, survives an assassination attempt, leading Eleanor to untangle a mystery involving rival authors, fans, and her ex-lover, Oliver.

What I liked about the book:
Breaking the fourth wall, engaging the reader directly.
Appetizing descriptions of Italian food.
Hearing about the travels
Intriguing mystery plot.

What I disliked in the book:
Mentions of how good the mc ex was in bed. We didn't need to know about that.
Heavy language ( f bombs, s*** etc)

I look forward to reading the second book in this series!

Thank you to St. Martins Press, the author and NetGalley for letting me listen to the audiobook for an honest review.

DNF at 30%
Very childish characters and plot. One sister is a writer and now the other can't be? Dumb. A man has been blackmailing you for 10 years and you're just like, okay, oopsie, oh well? Dumb. Your stalker is on your European tour. No problem.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the advanced copy of this book. Unfortunately, it is not for me and I did not enjoy it.

A Fun Escape with a Murderous Twist: My Thoughts on "Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies"

This was my first foray into Catherine Mack's world, and let me tell you, it was a trip! I dove into "Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies" expecting a classic whodunit with a dark edge, based on the title alone. But this book took a hilarious left turn, transforming into a lighthearted romp through an Italian murder mystery.

Eleanor Dash, the protagonist and a bestselling author of "Vacation Mystery" novels, is a hoot. Here she is, on a glamorous book tour through Italy, when her fictional murder victim (and ex-boyfriend) comes face-to-face with a very real assassination attempt. Talk about blurring the lines between fiction and reality!

The plot itself is a whirlwind. It throws Eleanor into a hilarious mix of suspects - jealous authors, obsessed fans, and a surprise blast from the past. Forget dusty fingerprints and magnifying glasses; Eleanor solves this case with her sharp wit and a keen eye for the dramatics of the author circuit.

While I give it a solid 3.5 stars, I will admit the title threw me off a bit. It had me expecting something more along the lines of a dark and suspenseful thriller. This one leans heavily into the comedic side of things. But hey, that's not necessarily a bad thing! The Italian setting was divine, the characters were quirky and entertaining, and the whole thing was just a blast to read.

If you're looking for a lighthearted whodunit with a side of laugh-out-loud moments and a dash of romance, then "Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies" definitely delivers. Just be prepared for a slightly different tone than the title suggests. Still, with it being the first book in a series, I have a feeling there might be some darker mysteries lurking around the corner for Eleanor to tackle in the future. And honestly, I can't wait to see what she gets herself into next!

Sadly this book was a DNF for me. At 60% in I was hoping everyone would die and the book would end. I disliked the characters, especially the narrator Eleanor. Eleanor comes off as self-centered and annoying. I also don’t like when the narrator speaks directly to the reader. I found Eleanor’s running commentary to be exhausting and it’s what ultimately made me stop reading. I’m sure there will be plenty of people who enjoy this book but the characters and the writing style wasn’t for me.

Side note- several times while reading this book the author mocks readers and book reviewers. She refers to Goodreads as meanreads. It doesn’t come off as funny or quip, it’s just plain mean spirited.

Sarah's Rating: 4.25⭐️

Summary: Eleanor Dash literally fell into becoming an author ten years ago after a whirlwind, crime-solving-filled trip to Italy. Now, she wants nothing more than to get through her book anniversary tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith (in the books, not for real!!), who also happens to be her real-life ex-boyfriend. When it becomes apparent that someone truly is trying to kill Connor, Eleanor is forced into solving the case before bodies start dropping dead.

My Thoughts: A quirky, cheeky mystery that keeps you on your toes. This book honestly killed me. It felt like, as the story went on, every character gained a motive in the case while the opportunities to commit the crime grew. All the moving pieces and tidbits of clues were so fun to follow and try to pick them apart to find the truth. I loved the relationship between Eleanor and her sister, Harper, and how it evolves during the book making it feel so genuine. Do not sleep on this cozy, quirky mystery that takes you on a murderous tour of Italy. Elizabeth Evans absolutely killed it. Her narration was upbeat and witty, which gave life to every one of the characters. Her incorporation of the footnotes flowed perfectly into the story. I would highly suggest the audiobook. Can you figure out the culprit before the end?

Read if you love:
🕵️‍♀️Cozy Mysteries
😂Quirky Banter
✈️Traveling
📚Books about Books
❤️The Finlay Donovan Series

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the #gifted copy of the ALC!

If you need an easy to follow, funny, “who did it” book, then this book is for you! The characters in this book are so relatable, you almost feel as though you’re going through the book with them! I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommended.

This was one of my favourite reads of the year. Excellent cast of characters, humorous and fresh voice, compelling plot. I enjoyed it thoroughly and have recommended it multiple times already.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. This is a light hearted who done it, with a lot of twists and turns along the way. Likeable characters and literally everyone was a suspect. I liked how the ending lends itself to a sequel. which I believe is in the works? I haven't read any Catherine Mack before this, and I will most definitely pick up another one of hers in the future.

Attracted by the title, I jump blind into into this audio with no regrets at the end, for the time I gave to it. I truly disliked the main character, because she came across as a HUGE ignorant. But the murder mystery on its own, was fun and I found myself curious how the story would go. The thing that got me though, was this constant breaking of 4th wall. It was way to many instances where, I was thrown of with main characters snarky comments to me. It supposed to be quirky and witty but it was just simply annoying.

Eleanor, bestselling author of “When in Rome”, is on a book tour set up by her publisher to celebrate 10 years of her vacation mystery series. All Eleanor wants to do is get through the tour, write her next book, and hopefully kill off her main character – so she can be rid of his real-life counterpart, Connor, he’s based on. But when an attempt is actually made on Connor’s life, Eleanor realizes her murder mysteries may be starting to play out in real life.

What an *outstanding* debut novel! This is such a great comedic murder mystery novel that captivates you right from the beginning. Catherine Mack manages to write a full cast of characters that are hilarious & witty but could all definitely be suspects in a murder scheme. Mack also makes the characters easy to tell apart, and I didn’t find myself confusing any of them throughout the story.

The setting of the novel truly becomes a character in the story, which I love. Get ready to armchair travel to Italy and be prepared to crave some pasta! Eleanor is the perfect witty narrator, and I found myself laughing out loud while listening. I adore the way she breaks the fourth wall.

The audio narration is fantastic, I felt drawn into the story; it came to life! Elizabeth Evans did a great job with the large cast of characters. I only wish the footnotes had been noted in some way; though I also liked the way they flowed with the story.

This is absolutely a 5-star novel for me, and a debut at that! I cannot wait for the next in the series!!

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Catherine Mack for this advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book reminded me a lot of Finlay Donovan - the main character is very funny and an author, there are a lot of characters, there’s mystery and murder, and the audiobook is great!

First, the title is killer (pun intended). I loved HOW the book was written - as an author narrates her way through her trip to Italy preparing to write a murder mystery, while she's in the middle of a murder mystery. It was like reading her notes about her writing process. There were so many things happening and characters to keep track of, but it wasn't difficult to follow, which I appreciated. Definitely kept me on my toes, trying to solve the case and discover the antagonist.

I will definitely continue to read the series as it keeps going. My mother also has an upcoming trip to Italy, so I was able to share some facts I learned while reading and recommend the book to her.

The narrator did an excellent job with the varying voices and accents - there were Italian words that my southern American accent would be sure to mispronounce if I was reading a hard copy, so I really enjoyed that in the narration.

"I don't want him dead...I still have five more years of alimony coming to me."

"Morning is a terrible idea. Why haven't we fixed that yet?

"It's not the thought of murder that kills you, it's the thought that someone you love could do it."

There's more laughter than murder but there's still murder in the killingly hilarious Everytime I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies by comedic mystery author Catherine Mack AKA Catherine McKenzie.

Best selling mystery series author Eleanor Dash has agreed to a 10 day book tour in Italy with her "BookFace" ladies (wink to us #Bookstagrammers), including her restraining order stalker Crazy Cathy, a few rival authors, and her ex boyfriend con artist Connor Smith, the inspiration for the Connor in her best selling Vacation Mystery series. Oh yeah he's also been blackmailing her the last ten years.

Joining them is her sister/assistant Harper who has some hidden resentments. Then there's Oliver, her ex-husband who divorced her after her affair with Connor. Did I mention Connor brought along his latest younger girlfriend?

When Connor tells Eleanor someone's trying to kill him she laughs it off. But with each stop on the tour someone dies and the police think she's the killer because in her notes for her next book she plans to kill the character Connor to end the series and the blackmail.

The perfectly timed witty sarcasm of voice actress Elizabeth Evans enhances the wacky hilarity, especially with the "breaking the 4th wall" scenes.

A perfect mash up of the Finlay Donovan Series and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, this audiobook is the perfect start to a cozy comedy mystery series to take on vacation.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Summary: Eleanor Dash literally fell into becoming an author ten years ago after an eventful trip to Italy. Now, she wants nothing more than to get through her book tour in Italy and kill(in the books, not for real!!) off her main character, Connor Smith, in her series. When it becomes apparent that someone actually is trying to kill Connor while on this book tour, Eleanor is pulled into solving the case.

Dani's Thoughts: I don't think I've laughed so much while reading a mystery before. This book was funny and quirky, but certainly kept me on my toes until the very end. I couldn't seem to solve the case as Eleanor is such an unreliable narrator throughout the story. I loved all of the moving parts and how many different directions the ending could have taken, even though it was always only leading one way. The epilogue eluded to a new vacation mystery and I cannot wait to see what Eleanor and gang will get into this time.

I'm so grateful that I was able to enjoy this book with the audio. Elizabeth Evans knocked this book out of the park with her performance. I loved how the footnotes from the book were woven smoothly into the narration because they added so much humor to the story. I think if I had just read this book, the footnotes would have been more of a distraction than an addition to the story. So my suggestion would be to listen to this one!!

Thank you to Netgalley, and Macmillan Audio for the #gifted copy of the ALC!

Absolutely LOVED this fun mystery! I listened to the audio version of this book and loved it. The humor is outstanding and makes for such a light and fun read, while still having the mystery aspects that I was craving! It is a fun and animated thriller set in Italy with a lot of hilarious characters. Our main protagonist is so funny and I enjoyed listening to the mystery play out through her lens! Highly recommend and I will definitely be continuing this series as it comes out. 4.5 stars!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley, MacMillan Audio, and Catherine Mack for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to listen to audiobooks. They have really been able to help me read during the moments where I can’t just sit down and pick up a physical book. I am also so grateful that I have been able to get a bit more audiobooks on Netgalley, so thank you for this opportunity.

I really enjoy cozy mysteries and snarky books and this was that. From the moment that I saw the title and read a bit of the synopsis – I try not to read too much of it so I can go into a book without any preconceived notions as much as possible – I had a feeling that it was going to be a fun time. The main character Eleanor is a mystery author – talk about meta – who is on a tour in Italy to promote and celebrate her book series. During this time, she finds out that someone is either trying to kill her or kill the guy that her books are based on, all while trying to figure out how to kill the guy her books are based on… on the page of course. The footnotes in this book were so seamless in the story that I didn’t even realize that I was listening to them until later on in the book where Eleanor mentioned that they were footnotes. It almost reminded me of Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, and I feel like audiobooks that do a great job of making the footnotes such a seamless part of the book.

The story itself was entertaining and I found it funny to follow. I think what helped make it enjoyable for me was the snark and sarcasm from Eleanor’s footnotes. It was cool to be able to get into her head as she’s going through this trip. There were even some breaking the fourth wall moments where she talked directly to the readers to get them to solve the mystery of who was the killer, which almost made it seem like a murder mystery dinner type of thing. I personally don’t remember seeing that happen in recent books that I’ve read, so it was fun to experience.

Elizabeth Evans was a great narrator for this book, and I feel like she gave Eleanor life and voice for the story, and not just physically. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Elizabeth really was Eleanor and that this was based on a true story. I really enjoy when narrators are able to do this, and this is in no small part to Catherine Mack’s masterful writing style.

First of all, this title just screeeeeams FUN! And fun is what you’ll get with this one!

This was a debut of a new cozy mystery series titled The Vacation Mysteries brought to us by a pseudonym for a beloved Canadian author, Catherine McKenzie!

It was such an amusing take on the murder mystery genre and I always relish in a books about books concept!

Elenor was such a snarky and quirky MC and I enjoyed how her first hand narration broke down the fourth wall and let us into her inner thoughts! Mack does this through footnotes which can come across a bit distracting at first but once I switched to the audiobook version, they flowed seamlessly and I actually found they enhanced the story quite well and really brought it to life!

Readers beware: this story is going to leave you itching for a trip to Italy, a good Aperol spritz and all the pasta! You’ve been warned

This was a great audiobook! The narrator was engaging and it was perfect for this story. I appreciated Eleanor's snarky sense of humor. I enjoyed the relationship with her sister. There were some aspects of the plot that were not plausible. But it was still engaging. It was a super quick read.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack is a smart and witty who-done-it, with a contemporary flare.

The story follows novelist Eleanor Dash on a tour of Italy celebrating ten years of her Vacation Mysteries series. After ten books, Eleanor contemplates killing off her main character, Conor Smith; however, she learns that someone else is looking to end him, too…in real life. Little does she know, Eleanor herself is also a target!

I laughed out loud while listening to this book. It’s so much fun, and the asides add so much to the overall story. Eleanor was equally intelligent and quick thinking, and I enjoyed her humor.

Narrator Elizabeth Evans is so good with this book! Her sarcastic tone made the character Eleanor jump off the page (err…phone?), and I could not stop listening.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who loves an Agatha Christie but is looking for a contemporary twist. It’s a must read!