I'm usually not a fan of cozy mysteries, but I really enjoyed this one. I guess because it felt like more than just a simple mystery. I liked the locale, the characters, and I'm a huge fan of a locked door mystery and that was the feel of this one to me. I think I changed who I thought was the bad guy 2 or 3 times. This was an entirely enjoyable listen. I loved the narrator.

I really enjoyed this novel! It was funny and witty and had charm! I had a lot of fun reading this. A little bit of romance mixed with mystery and murder. This would be a great beach mystery! The narration was great.

This is a cute, funny, cozy mystery set in Italy. It's a light and easy read that I think would be wonderful at the beach or poolside. I absolutely loved that this was a book about books, and that the narrator broke the fourth wall and spoke to the reader directly. I didn't really enjoy the characters in this book. Overall, it's an entertaining, fast paced book that's perfect for spring and summer. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator was great! She was funny and sassy at all the right moments.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Listening to Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is like sitting poolside with an old friend telling you about her wild adventures. Funny and quick, the writing pulls you along with a smile on your face. The narration is wonderful -- just the perfect amount of snark to elicit snickering instead of wincing. I'd travel with Eleanor and Company any day of the week.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my ALC of Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies in exchange for my honest review.

Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies…
Eleanor Dash is the bestselling author of a ten-year-running vacation mystery series, but she has plans to kill off her main character to end the series for good. That character is based on none other than her ex, Connor Smith, who has been blackmailing her. When Connor comes to her and insists that someone is trying to kill him in real life, Eleanor works through her theories with her audience as she attempts to outline her next book.

ETIGOVSD is a light and cozy mystery, with a bit of romance, that serves up underhanded jabs at the genre, while breaking the fourth wall. With several suspects at your disposable, coupled with the breathtaking scenery of Italy, this makes for the perfect summer listen/read. I feel like the authors in the book were very comparable to those in real life; cue the not-so-talented-influencer-author stealing ideas and passing them off as her own, and the nose-up-turned vibes of more seasoned authors, believing that there is no more room for new talent.

Eleanor is an unreliable, but quirky and loveable narrator; she shares her feelings and anecdotes with readers via footnotes (which I loved). She is hilarious and had me laughing out loud along with her. Her thoughts and opinions about the “Book Face Ladies” and other social media sensations were spot on!

This book was made to be an audiobook; Elizabeth Evans perfectly captures Eleanor’s tone, making this a fun and fast listen. Having the ARC to reference along with the ALC helped me with sorting the characters, but on the flipside the audio was more engaging. I could feel myself emersed in the picturesque setting and loved the additions of Italy-specifics, like no Diet Coke LOL.

I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in this series and could totally see this transformed into an HBO mini-series!

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 & 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧: 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐆𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐞-𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐤’𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝–𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟐!

ℙ𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖: 𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 𝟛𝟘, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒞𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝑀𝒶𝒸𝓀, 𝑀𝒶𝒸𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓃 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜. 𝒮𝓉. 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓃’𝓈 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈–𝑀𝒾𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒶𝓊𝓇, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Eleanor has authored a bestselling mystery series for ten years. But she wants to kill off her book's main character and end the series. That character is based on her conman ex, who has been blackmailing her. When it looks like he might be killed in real life, Eleanor finds herself caught in an actual investigation. I laughed and sleuthed along with her as she embarked on a book tour in Italy with quite the (potentially murderous) entourage.

In her unique narrative style, Eleanor breaks the fourth wall, points out important events, and shares insights. Her commentary is often humorous and invites the reader to be part of the fun and solve the case. As this book starts a series, and most of the characters have shared history before we meet them, there is a fair amount of world-building and background, often presented as amusing footnotes. Hang in there initially because the relationships and past become clearer as the book progresses, and then the pacing really picks up. I did predict the culprit, but I still really enjoyed this as I was in it as much for the entertainment value as the whodunnit. The writing style is engaging, mixing comedic mystery with just a touch of popcorn thriller. The characters are colorful, and their secrets and resentments create plenty of motives and surprises. It's a perfect beach or vacation read. And the ending has me anticipating the next book in the series.

I paired the ebook with the audiobook. Narrator Elizabeth Evans was perfect for this! She nailed Eleanor's personality and humor and handled the footnotes so they came across as conversational. Evans also did a great job with the other characters and their inflections, quirks, and different accents, sometimes managing multiple accents in a scene. Excellent narration! And I preferred the audiobook format to the print book, that's brilliantly I thought Evans brought the book to life!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the free ebook and audiobook!

This was such an easy + fun listen! I find that most of the genre is tense, dark, moody, etc and this the opposite. We get a great narrator that’s chummy and offers footnotes. The twist is unexpected but nothing bananas or that would make you gasp.

The plot was great, the writers on a grand tour of Italy and there’s a mastermind! There’s danger. But it all feels playful. Perfect for the summer, definitely bring it to the beach or pool!

Advance reader copy provided by NetGalley + Macmillan Audio but all opinions are my own.

This book was pretty good. However, I didn't like the author's address to the readers. That got on my nerves. Set in Italy, it gives the reader a taste of all that the country is famous for.
A glimpse into the author's life and the difficulties of publishing is given to the reader. If desired, you could lose yourself in the plot's ridiculousness and numerous exaggerated moments. It was a little too much. It's as if you were listening to someone who thinks they're hilarious but only makes the listener roll their eyes. Although they were creative, the footnotes were excessive. There wasn't much mystery, and the characters were all dreadful.

Thank you so much to netgalley and minotaur books for this ARC for an honest review.

Thank you St Martins and MacMillan audio for the review copies of Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies. This for me is a smartly funny cozy mystery, a cozy that pokes some fun at the genre while offering a fun, well developed plot. I really appreciated the sly moments of commentary on mysteries and writers, the industry a bit, within a story that was fun (a writer wanting to kill off her best character... loved it). Catherine Mack really won me over with this book and the audiobook production was strong, well done. This is a fun summer read!

This book is perfectly written to be an audiobook! I think I have found a new favorite author and series as I am already chomping at the bit to listen to the next book. The main character writes mysteries and not only do we get witty banter between the characters, but the main character narrates the story as if she is talking directly to you as a confidant rather than as a reader. You get a look at the frustration, angst, sarcasm, humor, love and all the other emotions that she feels as she feels them. She also talks you through the process that she not only takes to solve the mystery, but to plot out her next book. Toss in the location being set on a book tour in Italy so you have good food, breathtaking scenery and lots of people to look at suspiciously, thus creating the perfect recipe for a mystery to unfold creating a wonderful reading or rather listening experience. The plot is detailed and involved so that you have multiple mysteries to untangle to find the whodunit! Fabulously written, fabulously narrated, makes this the perfect book, author, series to be on the hunt for!

What can I say about this book other then I ate it up! What a fun and cozy read. I was lucky enough to get both the audio and ebook and reading both ways was amazing but if I had to choose I would recommend the audiobook. I loved how we went back and forth through their trip and trying not to be murdered but also outlining her new book. The pacing of the book was done really well and I honestly loved all the characters even the ones I should hate.

If you are a fan of the Finlay Donovan series I guarantee you will love this book!

Thank you, thank you, thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio ARC.

This story was funny and intriguing and I absolutely loved every minute of it.

Elizabeth Evans is perfection. Her way of bringing the story and characters to life with humor just kills me every time I hear her!

I loved this book and cannot wait for books 2 & 3!!!!

A smart funny light mystery with a little bit of romance. An interesting collection of characters set off on a book tour through Italy. There are multiple authors, a fan group who won the trip, the worst tour guide ever and maybe someone or multiple someone’s who are trying kill one or more of the authors. Yikes! Lots of twists, deception, a detective with an axe to grind and the worst tour guide ever. Lots of twists and turns that lead to a satisfying ending. The first in a series and I look forward to the next. Enjoyable narration added to experience.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

The narrator was great, it was a quick easy listen. It is a great beach read/listen, but I did want a bit more. I think the hardest part for me was I did not care for Eleanor. For me, it is hard to connect to a book if I do not like the main character/narrator. The location was beautiful and descriptive and I can see this being quickly picked up as a mini series for TV.

Every Time I Go on Vacation was a really fun listen. It's a forced proximity murder mystery about mystery author Eleanor Dash and the book tour through Italy she's stuck taking with 20 of her fans and an eclectic assortment of fellow authors that have intersected with her career over her 10 years writing, her sister and the con-artist that inspired her books.. She's in the process of outlining the 10th book in her series of mysteries starring private detective Conor Smith and trying to find a way to kill off Conor's character when the real Conor Smith comes to her insisting that someone is trying to kill him in real life. Over the course of the ten day trip there are three deaths, several attempted murders, and more secrets than you can count.
It's a fast-paced listen with great narration. The plot has the perfect amount of twists and turns. The listener is taken through Eleanor's theories as they are proven and disproven and back again before the killer is revealed.. Listeners are introduced to a chaotic cast of characters, a quasi-reliable narrator, conversations across the fourth wall and the set-up for a binge-worthy new series.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ALC of this book.

This book felt just like going on vacation with a bunch of my besties to Italy! The author did such a great job of infusing Italian food, locations, drinks, and tourist attractions into the storyline. And of course the mystery and romance plots were fun. The narrator did a great job with the audioversion. This will definitely be a popular series if it continues.

I gave this book 3 stars. The writing is witty and cute and it’s a quick read. It would be a good beach vacation read. But I didn’t feel like it had much substance and the ping ponging of who committed the crime was a bit overdone. I listened to the audiobook and I thought the narrator did a good job.

A fun, funny, breezy read (or listen, I had an advanced audiobook to enjoy from NetGalley!) — I love how she smashed through the fourth wall and engaged us in an endearing way.

Elle, our dry, witty narrator (and author) has us hooked from the get. The audiobook narrator was PERFECTION for the tone of the book, it felt like I was listening to one of my fav podcasts.

While I love the super relevant references and pop culture adds, some felt a little repetitive for me towards the end (so many taylor swift and bridgerton references).

Overall, this made me crave pasta and aperol spritz, an Italian getaway, and another murder mystery STAT! It was a perfect summer read and the comparison to Knives Out was pretty spot on. A true murder mystery with low stakes, fun characters, and a breath of fresh air.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: Murder She Wrote - Chaka Demua & Pliers

💭What I thought would happen:

I thought it was a travelling book club that read a new thriller/mystery every trip with friendship secrets and drama. Honestly…kind of wish that was the story 😂

📖What actually happens:

Eleanor is a famous mystery writer about to wrap up her series of Italian murders with the hunky Connor. However, the IRL Connor that loosely inspired book 1 is Satan’s cavity. Eleanor is finally killing him off. Irony of ironies, someone is actually trying to murder Connor on this book tour.

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

Loved the Italian settings! I want an Aperol Spritz on a yacht off the coast of Capri reaaaaaal bad😂

Would I die for this book? Absolutely not. Did this book give me big emotions? Also no. But I enjoyed it, fun lil whodunnit.

Had 50% of it figured out right quick but the read was a fun surprise. I like being stumped. I mean I am soooo clever so it’s quite hard to do 😂🤪

The style of writing was weird but like interesting? The mc breaks down the 4th wall and aids the reader into solving the mystery. That was fun!

Anywho, book has vibes. Do with that info what you will 💋