Another fabulous read in this series. I really enjoyed the first book, and I am happy to say that the follow-up is just as good. This time, we find Eleanor Dash involved with the Hollywood production of "When in Rome", starring her best friend Emma and major movie star Fred Winters. Emma falls in love with her leading man and plans a secret wedding at the close of production at an exclusive resort on Catalina Island. However, a hurricane is blowing in, and that is not the only trouble ahead! Emma has received threatening notes that indicate that someone is going to die at the wedding. Can Eleanor figure it out before her friend's wedding is ruined? It's a witty, amusing and fast-paced murder mystery that breaks the fourth wall. Catherine Mack has great dialogue, and I love all the footnotes and banter. I am looking forward to the next in the series.

A Murder Mystery...written by a Swiftie. Need I say more?
I adored Every Time I Go On Vacation..., and needless to say I am a HUGE FAN! (Not Eleanor's stalker, Crazy Cathy type fan, jsyk)
This mystery has it all: beautiful setting, swoony MMC sidekick, hilarious banter, and all of the red herrings that will keep your guessing until you reach THE END. Thank you so much, Catherine Mack, for your wit and your Footnotes. They are top notch.

Thank you, NetGalley and Minotaur, for an ARC of No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding. Pub Date: May 13, 2025.

I didn’t love this one. I really enjoyed Every Time I go on Vacation Someone Dies so I was excited for the next book in the series. A big issue for me was the footnoted. It was addressed before the start of the book that the formatting was off on the arc so I knew it going in. The footnotes are some of the funniest points so I felt like I really missed out. The story didn’t captivate me like the first one. Would recommend but I didn’t love.

I was obsessed with every time I go on vacation someone dies so when I got approved for this I immediately started it. This was just as much of a fun ride as the last.

Interesting format, more layers than a princess wedding dress! With a look into Hollywood movie production and the books they are based on setting up lots of opportunities for deceit and intrigue. This tale keeps the readers interest with the many twists and turns. A great read!

Fast-paced and funny, with a crazy group of characters (including many from the first book) and another vacation setting with a locked room vibe. Eleanor and crew are on an island for a wedding, with a hurricane bearing down and, it turns out, a murderer on the loose. While I did struggle a bit with the number of potential killers (everyone is a suspect! How can they all be so awful!?) and with the resolution, the story moved so fast and the footnotes were so much fun, it was easy to just ignore any overkill and enjoy reading!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an ARC of this book. I absolutely adore Eleanor Dash and the characters in her orbit. This book is the perfect cozy mystery to read this summer. The snippets of Hollywood glam and the California setting pair perfectly with a day in the sunshine. I don't always love when an author breaks the fourth wall but Catherine Mack does it right. Tell me why the footnotes bring back the nostalgia of Lizzie McGuire's inner dialogue via her cartoon self, makes for such a fun read!

💒 No One my Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding - Catherine Mack

4 ⭐️ - Welcome back to the world of hilarious, whimsical murder mysteries. I was so happy to be back in Eleanor Dash’s chaotic author/detective life. This one is just as bantery, funny, and mysterious as the first book!

It’s so weird to say that a murder mystery book is fun; but this series is! It gives me the same feeling as when I read Finlay Donovan. I am invested in the murder mystery as well as the characters and their banter and connection, the storylines, and the fun they also have. This one is a classic wedding on an island, bad storm, Agatha Christie vibe. It was fun, ridiculous, and mysterious at the same time. You don’t necessarily need to read the first book to read this one BUT I highly recommend that you do. There’s a lot of characters and their backstories, connections, and storylines will make more sense if you read book 1 first. I love this series and I can’t wait to continue reading it!

Thank you to Catherine Mack, Minotaur Books, and Netgalley for the early ARC! This one hits shelves on 5/13!

Catherine Mack is back with a vengeance in No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding, the hilarious and suspenseful sequel that proves murder is definitely a bad plus-one.

Bestselling author Eleanor Dash is off to Catalina Island for her best friend's movie-star wedding. What could go wrong, right? Well, for starters, a threatening note predicts a death, a storm is brewing, and Eleanor's ex is the groom.

Mack serves up a delicious cocktail of laugh-out-loud humor, zany characters, and a twisty plot that will keep you guessing until the very end. Eleanor's signature wit and fourth-wall-breaking asides make you feel like you're in on the investigation, and just when you think you've figured it out, Mack pulls the rug out from under you.

If you're looking for a mystery that doesn't take itself too seriously but still delivers a satisfying whodunit, No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding is your perfect escape. Think Agatha Christie meets a modern-day comedy of errors, with a dash of Hollywood glamour and a boatload of laugh-out-loud moments.

This is the second of a series featuring mystery author, Eleanor Dash. Although I read the first in the series, I didn’t remember much, and I found it wasn’t really necessary to read the first to enjoy this book.

I find these mysteries fresh and enjoyed the mystery and humor. In this sequel. Eleanor is on Catalina Island for her best friend’s wedding. Since her friend is an actress starring in the dramatization of one of Eleanor’s books, there is lots of Hollywood info. I really enjoyed Eleanor’s take on the filming process, the Catalina Island setting, and Eleanor’s sly asides and the hilarious footnotes.

A very enjoyable read!

Cute and twisty!! I have to say, I think I liked the first one more- it felt very fresh and fun and this one almost felt like the same book in a vaguely different location?? I also think I enjoyed the footnotes more in the first book, in this one they felt less funny to me (more factual maybe?? and less quippy inside thoughts). Aside from the similarities, the twists were unique and overall I liked the story and the whodunnit aspect. I didn’t see the ending coming which is always a win. I am looking forward to reading the third one when it comes out though! I really enjoy the world that Catherine Mack is building here!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC. All opinions are my own :)

Eleanor Dash, author extraordinaire, will be attending the wedding of her best friend, Emma Woods, after wrapping up the movie adaptation of her Eleanor’s first novel. Emma is starring in the movie along side Fred Winters whom she will be marrying on Catalina Island now that the filming of the movie is finished.
Thank you Netgalley and Storm Publishing Minotaur Books for the early copy. This is the second book I have read by Catherine Mack and this review is my honest opinion.
What I did not like:
So many characters were introduced in the first chapter I had to go back and read it again to keep them straight.
I also did not like the footnotes as I thought they were distracting. (The author did acknowledge this may be the case for some readers.)
What I did like in this pleasurable book:
The amusing and snarky dialogue of the characters, especially Eleanor.
All the twists and red herrings.
The love interest between Eleanor and Oliver.
The “whodunit” at the end
The intro “cliffhanger” for the author’s next book.

This was such a fun, fast-paced mystery with just the right mix of humor and suspense! Even though I hadn’t read the first book in the series, I had no trouble jumping right in—everything made sense, and the characters were easy to connect with. Catherine Mack’s writing is sharp and engaging.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book in the series. “No One Was Suppose to Die at This Wedding” is the follow up and it is quick paced. However, I wanted to like the second one, but there were some things that kept it from living up to the first novel. I felt “No One Was Suppose to Die at This Wedding” was all over the place with the plot and it was difficult to follow all of the characters throughout. In addition, parts of the book was trying too hard to pinpoint other characters as the murderer, but it doesn’t add to the story. Overall, this was an okay novel, just wasn’t as great as the first.

An enjoyable second book in this mystery series. This reminded me of Jen Lancaster's memoirs (due to the clever use of footnotes to talk directly to the reader). Fans of the recent Netflix show The Residence will enjoy this book.

One caution for readers new to the series - there are many references to book 1; this is not a great starting place to jump into the series. However, readers who have read book 1 previously will not need to reread book 1 to enjoy book 2.

Looking forward to many more adventures in this series.

2nd in a series. I highly recommend reading book 1 prior to this one!
A cast of quirky characters - some new and some from book 1 makes this a fun novel to read. Lots of great humor.
I found following the characters and the footnotes a little awkward. The author does say the footnotes are not necessary to follow the novel but the quips and inside info are not to be missed!

This series has been a lot of fun so far.

I really like Eleanor and was happy to see that she was still with Oliver. But Connor is always there in the background. This one takes place at Catalina Island. Eleanor's best friend is getting married to a costar. There is a huge storm heading towards the island and there are death threats. Eleanor starts investigating to keep Emma safe and her wedding perfect. Then the first body is found after some near misses with the others. Just like with the first book, there's a lot of humor and footnotes. I'm glad that the book ended with a hint for a third one.

I gave this book 4 1/2 stars. Thank you to Netgalley for my earc.

WOW! This book was unbelievable, and even better than the last. I DEVOURED this book in less than a day. Totally recommend this series!

The plot was INCREDIBLE, and HOLY CRAP the plot twists were chef's kiss! I am in love with Catherine Mack's writing style and how it is a never-ending flow of entertainment. I really dig the footnotes thing she does, too!

The way that mystery was the main plot, but left room for some romance, was perfection.

I need the next book here ASAP!

If you loved Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies, you will love No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding. I was so happy to be able to read an ARC of this book by Canadian author Catherine Mack.

What it's about:
Eleanor Dash is headed to Catalina Island for the wedding of her best friend Emma to famous leading man Fred Winters, who are filming the film adaptation of Eleanor's book When In Rome.
With a major storm coming & evacuation orders for the island, Eleanor, OIiver, Harper, Connor, Emma, Fred and some others are left on a pretty deserted island when threats start to arrive and bodies start piling up.

What I thought:
This was just as fun as the first book. I love Eleanor's ongoing internal monologue, her wit and sarcasm, and how she "speaks" to the reader (and the footnotes)!.
Just like the first book, she's leaving clues throughout, but I get so distracted by how entertaining it is, that I stop thinking and trying to figure out who did it.
Overall, I think this is a really fun, entertaining, cozy murder mystery.

Eleanor’s mystery book, “When in Rome,” is being made into a movie. Her best friend is playing the lead and fell in love with her costar during filming. Now, the whole cast and crew are on a remote island off the coast of California for their wedding. New and familiar characters arrive, a storm is brewing on the horizon, and threats start to arise. “No One Was Supposed to Diet at This Wedding”, but things don’t always go as planned. Many of the characters have surprise connections and motives at play. Eleanor must jump in and do her best to solve the case before her best friend is murdered. This story was just as fun as the first installment of the series. The writing style is cheeky and filled with humor. I loved the combination of wedding, Hollywood, island, and mystery-solving!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.