Oh my goodness did I love everything about this book. The way it was written from the main character's POV but also adding all the info in about writing books & being an author herself was so much fun!

When I tell you I had no idea exactly what was going on & who was truly guilty I mean it. Everyone was a suspect in my mind & I worked out ways in my head where every single person could be a murderer. This was TRUE whodunit. I felt like I was playing a game of Clue in Italy.

It was full of humor & I really enjoyed that. As someone who reads dark thrillers on the regular, this was a breath or fresh air & perfect for readers that love thrillers & mystery but in a lighter way.

Thank you SO much Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, & Catherine Mack for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars

Sometimes, nothing hits like a cozy, and this modern version offers readers a chance to enjoy some humor with a dash of the tame mystery.

Eleanor, an author, it's on a fabulous vacation but surrounded by a slew of characters who complicate any chance she may have had at really enjoying herself on this trip. The cast includes Eleanor's stalker, a plagiarist, exes, and her sister (whose storyline is interesting - I hope she'll be featured more in future installments). There is a lot of fourth wall breaking, and that just felt too distracting for me. As is often the case in cozies, this isn't the most shocking or thrilling set of circumstances. I was onto the likely endgame faster than I'd have liked.

I enjoyed the premise and the characters, and while I hoped for a little more depth and less personal asides from Eleanor, I am excited to read more from this author and this series.

I love the narrator, Elizabeth Evans is always phenomenal.
This could’ve been great, but for me the footnotes were redundant and it felt like it was half of the book. It really frustrated me, because I wanted to keep going with the current story. It could’ve been great. While I enjoyed the FMC, there was no character I really related to or enjoyed enough to be memorable.

This vacation cozy follows a best selling mystery author who stumbled into success after solving a bank robbery with her ex-vacation fling, a chauvinistic detective, Connor, who is now the much-loved star of her series. She wants nothing more than to be rid of him for good, so she begins plotting how to kill off his character while with him on a multi-author book tour in Italy. The only problem? Someone else seems determined to kills the real Connor.

There are a lot of great ingredients here - a snarky antihero who exists with her tongue firmly planted in cheek, a gorgeous setting to escape to, loud characters - and it’s all carried along at a quick enough clip to keep the reader flipping pages.
Unfortunately, the footnotes throughout the story were distracting (especially in the audiobook version) and didn’t add anything for me. I would recommend reading this as a physical book to minimize how much the footnotes detract from the reading experience.

Thanks, NetGalley and Minotaur, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by this author, and while I loved the premise and found the book title engaging, I am still torn on how I feel about this book. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. I can't quite put my finger on it.

I definitely agree with other reviewers that all the end notes were confusing. It might be better with a print copy, but as someone who usually prefers audiobooks, I imagine these will be even worse (if included) when listening to the audiobook narration.

The mystery was well thought out and there were definitely A LOT of suspects, but I didn't really care for our snarky MC. I think the book could have been a bit shorter, perhaps one or two fewer suspects would have helped there.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Book 1 of the Vacation Mystery Series, Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies, by Catherine Mack, begins with bestselling author, Eleanor Dash, goes on a book tour in Italy with her sister, Harper, who handles all of her affairs, and the main character in her book series, Connor Smith, who is very good looking, but very manipulative and evil – because she used his real name in her books and he blackmailed her into giving him a percentage of her sales, as well as her ex-boyfriend, Oliver. Eleanor is saddled with the task of finding out who is trying to murder Connor.

The narration of this audio book is excellent and if it were a better book, it would be a fun one to listen to.

Cozies are supposed to be fun, fast, light reads for readers of all ages because they don’t contain graphic violence, sex, or foul language. However, apparently Mack didn’t get the memo. The characters are obviously low classed people because they use profanity like a sailor. The profanity isn’t there to develop a character and show that that character is unsavory, rather all of the characters, including the protagonist, show that they are skuzzy as people. Usually the protagonist in a cozy is a delightful person that everyone loves. And while Eleanor is, for the most part, delightful and funny, she still swears constantly, and it doesn’t add anything to the novel; actually it makes it unreadable. While I understand that many young people talk like that, it doesn’t make it right. There is also a fair amount of sexual innuendo.

If that doesn’t bother readers, then maybe they can get through this novel and enjoy it. Apparently the author thinks that if she doesn’t have a big enough vocabulary, she can inject swear words to fill the pages instead of writing a quality book. Anyone with an ounce of class will skip this book.

I wouldn’t recommend this cozy series to anyone. There are plenty of good cozies out there that follow the protocol

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This book was absoultely phenomenal! Not only is it super meta but the breaking down of the fourth wall was done so well that I felt like I was part of the book too! This book really lends itself to being an audiobook and is extremely entertaining!

I loved Eleanor's character and how she really brings the audience into the book to help solve the mystery along with her. I was certainly left guessing who did it until the very end and was shocked when all the pieces came together. I loved how all the characters were connected and anyone could have done it and several were accused throughout the book.

I really hope this will not be the last time we hear from Eleanor and her book series!

If you are fan of the Ernest Cunningham series by Benjamin Stevenson and the game Clue then this book is for you!

The audiobook was narrated by Elizabeth Evans and she did a fantastic job! Her ability to put on different voices for different characters was well done.

A perfect companion novel to "Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone"/"Everyone on this Train is a Suspect." Scratches that "Knives Out: Glass Onion" itch wonderfully. Cannot wait to read more from this series.

This was everything I wanted it to be & more... 10 days in Italy on a book tour for the ages, with 5 authors and 3 bodies.... everyone is a suspect, but who has the motive AND the opportunity??? This is the perfect love child of "The White Lotus" and "Murder on the Orient Express". Our main character is seeming Jennifer Coolidge with an aperol spritz on a yacht & the one with the brain power to solve (or write) the best ending.

At the end of the very first chapter, we are introduced to the possibility that someone is attempting to murder one of the main characters, so to say I was hooked instantly would be an understatement. The author breaks the fourth wall throughout the book in a way that really makes the listener feel like they are solving the mystery alongside the narrator, who is ELIZABETH EVANS (hello SJM universe narrator). There are so many clues dropped throughout the book to lead the listener to the final conclusion of the book, but even so, I didn't see what ultimately happened coming. Talk about a jaw dropping finale that was twisty and totally satisfying.

Elizabeth Evans delivers all of the lines so well that the comedy was even funnier and the exciting moments were even more exciting. Could not recommend her narrations in general enough & this was no exception!

"It's me, hi. I'm the plotter, it's me"
I love a good Taylor Swift reference

A fantastic read, mystery thriller with a dash romance and lots of humor. I was immersed into the story from the beginning, all the characters were well developed, the plot twists were comical.
The audiobook was great, the voices to each character was different enough that it made easy to understand. The narrator was amazing

4.5 stars! I found myself laughing way too much for a murder mystery! I loved the concept of this book having comments from the narrator as the mystery is unraveling. The narrator for the audiobook does a wonderful job keeping you engaged and giving each character their own voice. My only small issue is that some of the characters become a little repetitive with their personal issues and conflict with one another. Listened to this during a long roadtrip and I have zero regrets!!