Twisty, fast-paced and laugh-out-loud funny, this was a perfect beach read/vacation blend of Knives out meets Agatha Christie, told from the first person POV of unreliable bestselling author/narrator, Eleanor Dash.

The first in a new cozy mystery series by Canadian author, Catherine MackIntosh, this was pure entertainment, taking place across Italy as a group of authors and their fans travel around for a book tour making for a host of suspects when one of them turns up dead.

Fantastic on audio narrated by Elizabeth Evans, I was kept guessing right to the end and can't wait to see what happens in the next book! Highly recommended for fans of authors like Elle Cosimano and her Finlay Donovan series.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!!

This was a super cute, cozy mystery that I really enjoyed. It takes place in the backdrop of a book tour, and in Italy. I enjoyed the way the narrator is breaking the third wall, and the fact that it felt more conversational. It was an interesting storytelling style and I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed that the narrator left you, wondering if she was reliable or not until the very end, it was really well written, and compelling.

I saw great reviews posted on some of my fellow Bookstagram accounts, so I went and requested! I devoured this audiobook in a single sitting. I was so excited to get approved, and listened to it on my 9hr drive home today.

It was suspenseful, a little thrilling, and funny. I really liked it! I’ve heard great things about it, and I’m definitely not disappointed. I personally struggle with a large group of main characters, and this book has several, but they were actually very easy to follow along; and all the characters played a great part,

The storyline and plot were written well. I truly don’t think there’s a single thing I would change about this book. And the audio was done great and I really loved the format of the telling of the story.

It seems I am in the minority in this, but this book wasn’t for me.

It is cute in a way of dialogue and the main character is super witty and funny. The writing is great as well.

Now for me, I prefer something a bit more psychological and thrilling.

I listened at 2x and it was the perfect speed.

I can see how people would love this, it was just not for me!

This audiobook was made available to me by Macmillan Audio, author Catherine Mack, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The narrator of Everytime I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is Elizabeth Evans. Ms. Evans is absolutely amazing as the voice of Eleanor. This book has some elements that I think make narrating this novel challenging. Ms. Evans hit it out of the park, so to speak. I'll be seeking other novels narrated by her because she was such a treat in this. She made the whole novel come to life.

This book is so much more than your standard cozy mystery, and I loved everything about it! Eleanor, our main character, is the author of an extremely popular cozy vacation mystery series. The main character of her book series is based on Connor, a man Eleanor met while on vacation in Italy a decade ago. When Eleanor returned home from that vacation, she wrote a cozy mystery set in Italy with Connor as the main sleuth. The novel became the first in her wildly successful cozy mystery series and a runaway NY Times bestseller. The success of her first novel catapulted Eleanor into instant fame and financial security virtually overnight.

The action of the novel is set during a multi-author cozy mystery series book promotion tour stuffed with eccentric tour guides, annoying fellow genre authors, uncomfortable press moments, and awkward superfan interactions. As the tour stops at picturesque historical tourist sites, fancy hotels, and for posh dinners, we learn that Eleanor and her traveling companions have secrets of their own. When it appears that someone may be attempting to murder a participant on the book tour, Eleanor struggles to pinpoint just who is the possible victim and who is the possible villain. Eleanor brings the reader along and challenges them to solve the mystery themselves. In fact, Eleanor regularly breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the reader, which is handled in a fun way. Breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly is a literary trick that I often don't enjoy in novels. For it to work, especially in a cozy mystery, in fact, to become my favorite feature of the audiobook was deeply unexpected and incredibly fun.

This is one of the best cozies I've ever read, the plot, the characters, the pacing, all chef's kiss. I eagerly await the next book in this series.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Catherine Mack, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook novel. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC! Elizabeth Evan’s narrating?! Incredible!

The writing in this book absolutely slapped! I love the meta/break the fourth wall trope in books, it just adds so much to a mystery.

The mystery, the humor, the story, the setting, this was excellent! I’m beyond excited for the next book in the series and I’m ecstatic that the film rights have been acquired! I originally decided to check this out because of the blurb from Elle Cosimano and she didn’t steer me wrong! This is perfect for Finlay Donovan fans and fans of Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone!

I absolutely adored this book. The writing style was just so fun. The author breaks the fourth wall all the time and even invites the reader to solve the murder on their own.
Writer Eleanor Dash is on a 10th anniversary tour in Italy of her wildly successful mystery series with her manager sister and a couple other writers for her publisher. The only problem on this lovely trip is that someone seems to be trying to kill Connor, the leading man of the books. Seems like everyone on the trip has a motive to murder Connor but can Eleanor figure it out before someone offs her as well?
There were plenty of good red herrings but Eleanor is not wrong when she tells you that you have enough clues to figure out the murderer. There's plenty of references to other mystery books and cheeky comments about how death is in a ton of colloquialisms we use. I'm super excited for the next book in this series.
My only detraction for the audiobook is something that's just part and parcel of the format. Apparently in the physical book some of Eleanor's asides are actually footnotes. Kudos to the narrator for getting it to flow seamlessly but I think I'll read the next ones in print format just because I like the idea of footnotes. Speaking of the narrator, she did a wonderful job giving everyone different accents and voices.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur for an advanced copy of this fun book.
Best selling author, Elenor Dash wants to kill off her main character, Connor in her upcoming book. On a tour in Italy, she is trying to decide just how to do it. The problem is, someone is actually out to kill the real life Connor on this tour! Elenor decides she needs to help figure out who it is. Is it her sister? Or maybe Elenor's stalker who some how managed to get on the tour with them? How about her ex who manages to show up unexpectedly? Only time will tell.
This was a cute book. Sometimes, it was a bit too cute. I loved the narrator. She did a fantastic job of keeping me engaged. The storyline was great and the footnotes were funny. I feel like there might have been a bit too many though.
Overall, I gave this one 3 stars. I did have moments where I was ready for the story to end, but I felt mostly engaged.

I listened to this as an Audiobook - the narrator did a great job of the voicing of so many characters — they really felt individualistic while bringing the words to life.

This book is fully of witty comments and laugh-out -loud moments — and is really a light cozy mystery read— and the characters all had good chemistry with each other — and the main narrative from Eleanor’s internal thoughts and comments were fun and really carried you through the story. I felt there was a lot of plugs of books and products through out the book to the point where it felt like sneaking in marketing whereas others were strategically placed to be humorous . The humour and wittiness really kept my interest in the story of what would happen next but also what would come out of the main characters mouth.
Over all this book was a fun, modern take on cozy mystery with an Agatha Christie still undertone .

Thanks to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for this ARC . This is my honest review.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Macmillanaudio for my free review copy!

I really enjoyed this mystery. It has the air of a classic whodunnit type murder mystery! Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie!

A funny and thrilling ride that navigates through jilted exes, fanatic fans, envious friends and a mystery assailant!

Mack brings us a fresh and cleverly written whodunit. While a light read, it’s cleverly written about Eleanor, a writer on a book tour in Italy with a pretty eccentric cast of characters. With laugh out loud moments, there’s also murder afoot…someone on the tour wants her dead! Who could that possibly be and will Eleanor be able to solve the case before she becomes a victim? Mack doesn’t leave us hanging and expertly sets up her next book in the series before the last page is turned, one I’m eagerly looking forward to! As a dual read/listen, I’d definitely recommend the audio, the musings in between by Eleanor could get tedious reading, but while listening they were quite entertaining. Thank you to Minotaur Books, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC of this book.

Highly recommend the audiobook!!

This story was SO FUN and fast paced and kept my attention from the start. That being said, I was reading the eARC and found it extremely difficult to navigate with all the footnotes. I say this because I don’t always read in the same font so my pages don’t always line up. Not only that, but it was constant back and forth trying to read the footnotes along with the story. However, I know this wouldn’t be as difficult with a physical book and I know, having listening to the ALC, the audiobook was also easier to follow along. The footnotes narrated were read as inner thoughts and it filled the story with personality and quirkiness. You’ll love it!

The characters are easy to love and almost hate. You’ll stay guessing until the very end and be shocked when you get to the twist. The cliffhanger though.. I can’t wait for book two!

Thanks so much Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the ALC.

I loved every minute of this book. This was so refreshing and different! It felt like I was in the authors/ narrators head with her “footnotes”. They added so much to this story. This is a funny, unique, and laugh out loud story about a romance author, Eleanor Dash, who wants to kill off her male lead, Conner Smith, in her vacation series… who may or may not resemble her ex… Conner. Who may or may not be convinced someone is trying to kill him while on this book tour with Eleanor.

The audio version was perfect and added so much to this story!!!

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for an audio arc of ‘Every time I go on vacation, someone dies’!

This was my first cozy mystery and it wont be my last. This book was a good time, a lot of twists, it was very funny. It kept me entertained from the start. I did not predict the ending and I was surprised. Outstanding writing. I truly enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

Ooooooohhhhh new favorite series alert! I adore this book - so witty and engaging. I do wish I was able to have a print copy just to see the layout. I bet it would be super fun to read as it was to listen to.

I love the entire premise - an author of mystery books writing about her writing, while becoming involved in murder. Delightful! No word yet on the next in the series but I'll be waiting impatiently for it!

"Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies" offers a deliciously twisted blend of mystery and humor that will keep readers eagerly turning the pages. While the main characters may not be particularly likable, their flaws and complexities add depth to the story, making it all the more engaging. Eleanor Dash's reluctant involvement in solving a real-life murder case alongside her ex-lover Connor Smith creates a captivating dynamic filled with tension and unexpected twists. Despite their shortcomings, the characters' witty banter and tangled relationships make for an entertaining read that mystery enthusiasts won't be able to put down.

A quirky, humorous cozy where the fourth wall comes crashing down to an almost irritating level. The characters aren't 100% likable, but they are mostly realistic. The conclusion was fair, you don't much mourn the dead guy, and the mystery was unique.

First off, this was a cute and funny murder mystery/romance. I was completely entertained and would read more books in this series.

The book relies on a couple of devices that I thought were unnecessary - endless footnotes and “breaking the fourth wall”. For example, I like to recognize a clue myself, I don’t need it told to me in a footnote. Considering I was reading an e-book and listening to an audiobook, the endless footnotes are clunky in those formats. Some readers might find the constant breaking of the fourth wall and endless footnotes refreshing and engaging, for me, it became more of a distraction than a delight.

The narrator of the audiobook did an excellent job with the comedic timing and dealing with all the footnotes.


3.5

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and give it a solid 4 stars. In Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies we follow Eleanor Dash, an author of a successful series of books featuring her real life first love, Conner Smith as the male hero of her stories. We learn Eleanor met Conner when traveling through Italy for a month after graduating from college. Conner is investigating a series of bank robberies and Eleanor helps him solve the case. Eleanor writes up their adventure into the novel that becomes When In Rome, and it is wildly successful. She writes 8 follow-up novels in the series and is working on ideas for her tenth story featuring Conner when they go on a tenth anniversary tour in Italy for When in Rome. The tour includes other authors as well as fans of the books. Conner tells Eleanor he thinks someone is trying to kill him, and Eleanor dismisses him. But, then Eleanor realizes someone is trying to kill her! Who could want them both dead?

Mack breaks the fourth wall early and often in this story. At first, this felt odd, but I began to expect these clever asides. I loved the quick pace, the sarcastic, funny attitude of Eleanor. The imposter syndrome that dogs her, because she dismisses her writing success as luck not talent, is something I've heard authors talk about it, so it feels genuine as well as referring to Good Reads as 'mean reads' and the indignity of begging other authors to blurb your books. I've seen frequent complaints about this from authors on Twitter and Threads. As well as the frustration of being tagged in one-star reviews. This is a good and enjoyable read with a terrible tour guide, obsessed fans, and a good mystery to solve. I loved the sister relationship between Eleanor and Harper and the romantic storyline, too. Breezy and fun with murders, too!

Thank you Net Galley for my advance audio copy of this book. Thank you also to Catherine Mack and Minotaur Books.

Queue this up for the perfect vacation read!

This was such a fun book to listen to and to follow along with in my e-book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the characters, the setting (Italy), and the writing style. The footnotes were a hoot!

Bestselling novelist Eleanor Dash and her personal assistant and sister, Harper, are off on a book tour with other authors and the winning contestants from the BookFace Ladies fan event. Eleanor is in a bit of a funk as she wants her long running series, the Vacation Mysteries, to come to an end by killing off the main character in the books, based on her actual ex-boyfriend and pain in her life, Connor Smith. Surprisingly, someone else seems to want to kill him too, but for real. After several attempts are made to end Connor, Eleanor realizes that the murderer must be part of their tour group.

As the tour moves from place to place with the situation growing more dire, someone in their entourage dies. Each is a suspect and the theories grow more wild as the finger pointing, motives, and investigation deepens.

This was hilarious and I cannot wait until the next in what must be a new series comes out. The audiobook was done very well and the narrator did a great job voicing all the characters with accents and pronunciations in Italian. I like to follow along in the book as well and the only jarring note is that in the e-book all the footnotes appear at the end of the chapter, so I had to pause to read those even though they were voiced at the appropriate point. Lots of clues in those!

I have to recommend this debut to anyone looking for a light-hearted read that is nearly impossible to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the e-book and the audiobook to read and review.