I AM SO GLAD I DID THE AUDIO FOR THIS ONE for the laugh alone 😂🤣

What do you do when everyone seems suspicious? What do you do when you can’t stop listening to find out who did it? What do you do when you have to wait for book 2! 🥲

I will admit it took me a little to get into this one and I wasn’t understanding the hype BUT then as I got about halfway I truly couldn’t stop. Every time I thought I knew who it was there would be something else that would make me second guess that. But on top of the mystery, I absolutely loved the comedy behind this one.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies, by Catherine Mack, is the first story in the Vacation Mystery series. This story is focused on a best-selling mystery author who writes her serial crime novels in various vacation locales. The format of this story is really quite unique. There are footnotes and times when the main character and narrator talks directly to the reader, essentially breaking the fourth wall. The narrator is a quirky, opinionated, snarky persona. While being a murder mystery, this story is quite also humorous and rather avant-garde.

Eleanor Dash based her original crime story on a personal real life event and love affair she had while touring Italy. When she didn’t change the identity of Connor, the main male character in her novel, he forced her to pay a share of her royalties. Nine novels later, she is desperate to be free of him financially and personally, but her fans and publisher won’t release her from her contract. Just when she threatens to kill off her main character, someone actually threatens his life while they are on tour in Italy. With another author stealing her plots, her super fans preferring Connor over her, and an ex, whom she never got over unexpectedly showing up on tour, things quickly get out of hand and the suspects are plentiful.

This is a highly unusual cozy mystery of sorts, though it’s probably more of a comedic light-mystery, similar to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. Eleanor comes across as rather brusque and abrasive at times and makes some really poor choices. Her sister is also a character whom I think we are supposed to like, but who comes across as extremely self-centered and selfish. With none of the characters being particularly likable, I wasn’t as invested in the outcome as much as I’d hoped to be. I also found the plot to be a tad confusing at times with all of the extra chatter to other characters as well as the audience. On a minor note, I truly dislike when authors spoil other real life books.

That said, Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is an original, clever mystery with plenty of twists and surprises, and though it didn’t entirely draw me in, it proves to be a light, fun, atmospheric summer read. The audiobook is narrated by Elizabeth Evans from MacMillan Audio and she portrays the character exactly as I imagine her to be. She definitely reflects the attitude and irreverent tone of the character perfectly.

Better than Finlay Donovan? It just might be. I loved this book more than I honestly expected to. As a woman of thirty-seven, I certainly identified with the main character, Elenor. This poor woman has been yanked into a book tour in Italy with the one person she hates most, but can’t seem to get rid of. We’ve all had that ex who was like a pestilence- lurking at every corner. Connor is certainly that person for Elenor. A consummate man child.

I certainly hope we can expect more from Catherine Mack with these characters, because I absolutely love them. This is going to be a great beach read or listen. The narrator is AMAZING. She nails all of the different characters and their accents.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Every time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is a great title and the setting is fabulous. Bestselling author Eleanor Dash is on a book tour in Italy with several other authors, her ex-lover, and about 20 contest-winning fans. A fictionalized version of the ex-, Connor, is one of the main characters in Eleanor’s mystery series, and he has been using that to his advantage for years. Now, however, Connor is convinced someone is trying to kill him. Of course, Eleanor does want him dead, but only the fictional version of course.

This book was fun enough. We’ve got murder, lies, gorgeous scenery, and even a touch of romance. Eleanor is a good character. She’s writing the story that we’re hearing. (I listened to the audiobook.) She breaks the fourth on a regular basis, either pointing something out to the reader or reassuring us. She also includes a lot of footnotes, but on the audio, they just blended in to the narrative, so weren’t distracting. The narrator did a good, both with Eleanor’s voice and tone and differentiating the other characters. I will say the whole book author as narrator would have struck me differently if I hadn’t recently read Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (also a bunch of authors and fans on a trip and a murder) and was in the middle of Close to Death, both of which do it better.

The mystery itself was fine. I did guess who the bad guy was but not the motive, even if it should have been obvious.

Overall, it was funny and entertaining, but not outstanding. It would make a good summer pool read.

Eleanor Dash is on a book tour in Italy promoting the latest book in her murder mystery series. Along with a group of other authors, Eleanor soon realizes that their trip is starting to resemble their books as murders begin to take place. She must discover who among them is responsible before it’s too late.

I really loved the title of this book, the main character, and the narration. I did find it confusing that there were so many other characters and not enough time spent on each one. As such, I didn’t feel connected to any characters other than the main character. I did appreciate the humor and the setting descriptions as well. Seeing as this is the first in a new series, I would be interested to see how the story and characters evolve in the next book.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an ALC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

This is a very meta take on a cozy mystery novel. The main character, Eleanor Dash, is a best-seller murder mystery novelist who narrates her mad-cap adventure through Italy and continually breaks the 4th wall. There's a pretty big cast of suspects, multiple murder attempts on a few of the main characters, and plenty of reveals to keep you guessing.

This does work quite well on audio. The narrator, Elizabeth Evans, does a great job, and the book is genuinely entertaining, but unfortunately, this gimmick kind of wore on me by the end, and I lost interest. I felt like I wasn't really invested in any of the characters and could figure out what was going on pretty easily.

Overall, this was a fun and over-the-top cozy mystery that would be perfect for fans of the Finlay Donovan novels. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for providing the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an interesting book. A mystery about a mystery writer. I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would, but I did enjoy the aspect of the authors traveling to Italy for a fan event. People get murdered, all the authors are suspects, and at the same time they are trying to solve the mystery. It gave off a classic “whodunit” feel. Definitely a book you would enjoy if you like Agatha Christy.

The audio was well done and very enjoyable to listen to.

Fun, travel based whodunnit. Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is an entertaining cozy mystery, that drags at time (especially waiting for the first victim). The characters were not as likeable as I expected and the dialogue/comedy didn’t really work for me.

The breaking the 4th wall was interesting and worked in the audio. Elizabeth Evans does a great job narrating (although it would have been nice to have a male narrator for all the men characters)

Thanks McMillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I decided to request this audiobook after I saw it being raved about so much on Booksta. This audiobook was a lot of fun to listen to. It was a refreshing take on a cozy mystery. It gave me Finlay Donovan vibes and I love me some Finlay. Although I found myself laughing out loud at certain parts, there was a mystery going on and I was suspicious of everyone. The plot was well paced and the narrator was phenomenal! Her ability to change her voice and do different accents so effortlessly was great. There was some fourth wall breaking and it really worked for this book. I wasn’t phased or thrown off by it. Overall, this was a great story with an amazing narrator. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

WOW. This was an absolute romp. I laughed out loud. This setting and premise were so much fun. The foreshadowing and interrupting narration of the main character started to annoy me towards the end but I would absolutely recommend this book.

I absolutely loved this story. Eleanor is an author who goes on a trip to Italy with her Ex, Connor, her other ex, her sister, some others and 20 of her biggest fans. Connor is convinced from the get go that someone is trying to murder him. At first no one believes him but then too many coincidences begin occurring. What follows is a hilarious, laugh out loud, tale of trying to find who the murderer is. Catherine’s humor is pure gold. This book could so easily be made into a tv series that I would definitely watch.

The audiobook was slightly hard to follow with the expansive group of characters. I still wasn’t sure at the end if I had them all straight. But I could still follow the story even so. The narrator, Elizabeth Evans, is one of my favorites. She does such an amazing job of giving each character a life of their own. I would highly recommend giving this book a listen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me an advanced audio version for my honest review. This is set to release April 30.

This novel is the first in a series that features Eleanor Dash, a bestselling fiction writer. Eleanor goes on a 10-day Italian book tour that turns into an actual murder mystery. The tour guests include too many viable suspects: her jealous sister/assistant, former boyfriend, former lover, her lover’s ex-wife, rival authors and her stalker. It’s funny and clever, and I especially enjoyed whenever Eleanor breaks the fourth wall. Great descriptions of the tour destinations, delicious food, and yummy cocktails. I listened to the audio version, and although it was entertaining, I think it could have benefited from additional voice actors, especially for the male characters. I would recommend this to fans of cozy whodunnit mysteries like Knives Out. 3.5⭐️/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own. Available 4/30/24

I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed it. The narrator did an amazing job telling the story, her voice was really likable. And this was such a good story, it’s about an author who's accidently found success writing a series all about her vacation fling, so then said fling kind of black mails her into paying him royalties and alleged “consulting fees”. Finally fed up with him, she decides it’s time to kill him. Kill him off the series that is. Until while with him, at a work-related tour to Italy, it becomes all too real. The scenery in this was amazing, I wanted to be there, and the story was funny, and it was quirky, it had a little sprinkle of romance in it too, but it also had so many twists and turns that it really had me engaged.

Eleanor is an author of a famous mystery series. While on tour in Italy, she becomes the focus of a plot you could pull right out of one of her novels. Who is the intended victim? Who is the murderer? Who will get out alive? Well... No, reader I really want your opinion.

This writing style is chaotic in the best way possible. I understand that it will not be for everyone, but I had so much fun! I listened to the audiobook which made the author breaking the fourth wall delightful. I also enjoyed the foot notes but could see how it would be hard to keep up with them while reading the book. Yes, there are A LOT(in the hundreds) of footnotes. This was a cozy mystery that had me laughing out loud at times. While I did guess a twist, I was having too much fun to care.

Elizabeth Evans as the narrator was terrific!

Thank you to Netgalley, MacMillan Audio, Catherine Mack, and Elizabeth Evans for the audioARC in exchange for my honest review.

You guys are NOT going to believe this book I just listened to!! Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies was SO MUCH FUN! It totally gave me Clue vibes and had me guessing whodunit til the very end. Each chapter introduced a new character who was more colorful than the last. The settings came to life so vividly too - I felt like I was there!

The narrator, Elizabeth Evans, took this audio book to a whole new level. She did all the voices SO well that I could picture each character perfectly. But that's not even the best part - the footnotes added this whole other layer of comedy and clues. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time trying to solve the mystery before our main character.

If you like cozy mysteries, board games, or just a super entertaining listen - you HAVE to check out this Vacation Mysteries book! Catherine Mack totally knocked it out of the park. I can't wait to see what crazy adventure the next book has in store. This one is a MUST READ, or listen in my case!

Many thanks to @netgalley, @macmillan.audio for the opportunity to partake in this mystery!

I loved this listening to this book! Narrator made it very easy to listen to! What a fun ride! It was a lighthearted murder mystery, if that’s even a thing :)! Very humorous and entertaining. I enjoyed the main character and how she managed to figure out who did it. Definitely recommend!

Thank you to St. Martins Press for my complimentary eARC and to Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is a new cozy mystery series. It is full of all the sights and sounds of a perfect Italian vacation. That is until someone decides to commit murder.

This is a different type of cozy, it is mashup of Clue and Knives Out. All of the suspects and motives are doled out over the course of the book by Eleanor (the narrator). The fourth wall is knocked down a few times, which provides a fresh and entertaining look into the process of solving this one.

I liked this one but was anxious for the actual murder to happen. This is the first cozy mystery I have read where the victim does not even show up until well past the 50% mark. And do not get me started on all the footnotes. They did lend an air of humor to the story but my eARC was wonky and the actual footnotes were a few pages away from where they were noted. This lead to a lot of back and forth on my part. I eventually gave up.

I paired the audio with the eARC. Elizabeth Evans is a phenomenal narrator. You will recognize her many voices if you have read TOG.

I really liked listening to this fun and entertaining whodunnit mystery. It was full of snark, sarcasm, and a whole cast of crazy characters. I enjoyed the back and forth when the narrator was telling the story and talking directly to the reader, too.

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Catherine Mack, and NetGalley for the advanced audio in exchange for my honest review.

Fun, quick read and an interesting concept that stands out among the crowded genre. I think fans of Finlay Donovan books will enjoy this a lot---I sure did!

This was probably about a 2½ star read for me. There were a lot of footnotes which didn't work well in the ebook. It was a hassle to flip back and forth. In the audio, the footnotes sounded more like asides from the narrator which helped, but they were too repetitive which made them annoying enough at times to elicit eye rolling.

Keep in mind that every time the narrator adds a footnote, which is multiple times in each chapter, it is directed at the reader as if she is talking to you and telling you a story. She does refer to the footnotes and her editor, so you are made aware of the fact that you are reading her story written to you.

I will say that I flopped back and forth a bit as to who the 'bad guy' was. I was not fooled by the author's attempts to lead the reader astray though and had a decent idea of who it was and wasn't a little over halfway through. I can't say what was right or wrong because I don't want to give anything away for future readers.

I think the book needed a more likable main character to really give you someone to root for. This is one of those books where there are no great characters. So, if you need to love your characters give it a pass.

The audio version was narrated by Elizabeth Evans and I think that is partly why I'm rounding this one up. She did a really good job.

My other reason for rounding up is that I think if you skip the footnotes, which the author suggests you can do at one point, the story may read better. I would recommend reading without the footnotes if you give this one a try. They aren't necessary to the story and actually take away from it.