Eleonor is back and better than ever in Catherine Mack's "No One Was Supposed to Die at the Wedding"! This time around, she's funnier and far more relatable as she navigates my absolute favorite cozy mystery setup – an isolated island with a storm brewing on the horizon. Talk about perfect timing for a murder, right?

What struck me most about this installment is how much more human Eleonor feels. Her constant worry that her relationship might crumble adds this beautiful layer of vulnerability that made me connect with her on a whole new level. We've all been there, solving murders while simultaneously panicking about our love lives. Okay, maybe not the murder part, but you get what I mean!

Her detective work had me giggling and gasping in equal measure. The way she pieces clues together with help from the supporting cast creates this delightful dance of personalities that kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish. Each character brings something unique to the investigation, making the sleuthing process feel like a group project gone wonderfully right.

Can we talk about those fourth-wall breaks and footnotes? They're like having a secret conversation with Eleonor throughout the book. These narrative quirks might not work in every story, but here they're absolutely perfect, pulling you deeper into her world with each aside.

For anyone who loves their mysteries with equal parts charm and tension, this locked-room whodunit delivers everything you could want – quirky characters, atmospheric setting, and a protagonist who feels like she could be your slightly more adventurous friend. This book reminded me why I fell in love with cozy mysteries in the first place.

Thank you, Minotaur Books and NetGalley, for my free books for review.

Best selling author Eleanor Dash is attending the impromptu wedding of her BFF Emily to co-star Fred Winters. But the weekend celebrations on Catalina Island are dimmed with the approach of a rare hurricane. Someone has been sending threatening notes to Emily about her impending nuptials. And the bodies start to pile up. Cut off from help due to the hurricane, it's up to Eleanor, Connor, Oliver & co. to investigate the deaths and hopefully allow the wedding to take place.

Sadly, book 2 is not as fun and engaging as the first book. Eleanor's internal monologues and use of footnotes is hard to follow in this digital ARC file. The ID of the culprit was not a huge surprise.

3 stars

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and St Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.

Elenor Dash is back with her second vacation mystery. This time Elenor and her regular cast of characters are solving murders that occur when the stars of the film production of her book “ When in Rome” celebrate their wedding. Things get as crazy as they did in the first book.

I will say, this writing style is not going to be for everyone. The plot is not overly complicated, characters aren’t very deep and motives are pretty obvious. However, the story is light and provides a bit of sarcasm and laughter which you don’t see in most mysteries. An easy read when you are looking for something to cleanse the palette.

Thank you to St. Martins Press-Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a funny and cute mystery novel but overall the writing style was not for me. Having footnotes in a fictional work took me by surprise (I did not know this was a sequel). It takes away from the story if you plan on reading a digital copy.

Eleanor Dash is back! And as we know, where Eleanor goes, bodies are sure to follow! Eleanor is scattered and chaotic and I adore every bit! This is a fun coxy mystery that doesn't take itself too seriously and isn't afraid to make fun of itself. This story had its share of twists and turns, and red herrings too keep you guessing until the end. Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC. Already looking forward to the next book in the series!

The wedding? On Catalina Island. The guest list? Movie stars. The drama? Off the charts. The problem? Someone’s getting murdered before the vows are even exchanged.

📚 Reasons to Read No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding
Second book in series – Eleanor Dash is back and sharper than ever, bringing her vacation mystery expertise to another high-stakes event.


Movie adaptation – The wedding drama gets even juicier with actors, egos, and Eleanor’s ex playing her fictional love interest.


Spontaneous wedding – It’s supposed to be a dreamy post-filming celebration... until a murder threat turns it into a nightmare.


Catalina Island – A stormy, secluded island makes the perfect backdrop for a glamorous yet chilling whodunnit.

One of the things I love about this series is the way the main character, Eleanor, talks to us. She uses funny jokes, footnotes, and lots of internal monologue to bring us on the trip. It does take place pretty close to the first book, Everytime I go on Vacation Someone Dies, so if you haven’t read that one yet, you should. Some of the characters are morally grey, but you still really love hanging with them. The ending was kind of expected, but also a twist I didn’t see coming. And that’s all I can say. There is a book 3 coming, and if you read all the way to the end of this book, the title is revealed!

The story was completely awash with red herrings and plot twists that hit like the hurricane pummeling the island in this book. The book truly felt like a roller coaster and I found myself wondering throughout the story if any of the characters were who they were pretending to be. The author did such a great job with the wrap up only to throw a final monkey wrench into the story that I truly did not see coming. It even seemed like no one was going to survive the wedding. El was the true star of the story with everyone relying on her to put things together and secretly hoping she wouldn't. Her sister and Oliver were very supportive of her but probably the least interesting of the characters on the island.
The story was presented in a truly unique manner, the author was speaking to us in what I guess could be considered breaking the fourth wall in a book. I have never read a book with quite that style and I admit it made me feel very connected to the action. There are a lot of times throughout the story that the author alludes to book one which I need to read. I think the author found a gold mine with this series and with its clever plot twists. The only thing I did not like was the footnotes which I read others reviewed negatively in the previous book. My advise if this footnotes both you is to do as I did and simply ignore them. I don't feel I missed anything by ignoring them and wouldn't mind if they were not a part of the next story.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Book 2 in The Vacation Mysteries kicks off with a bang - another murder at an event when there shouldn't ever be one. A film is being produced about the protagonist's first book, quite similar to the actual first book in the series, and it all begins with a note predicting a future death. Toss in some Agatha Christie moments, and you've got books layered in books layered in books in this one. But it's fairly easy to stay current in the plot, as the author catches us up on pertinent info. Relationships cross lines a few times where I had to remember what actually happened in the book versus what is playing out in this sophomore effort - and not in a bad way. Editing must have fun in this one! The murder mystery is good - brings together some history we knew and history we didn't know. A bevy of film characters, each developing a motivation for wanting someone dead. But there's more than one death again, and it creates a conundrum for our interesting amateur sleuth and fiction writer protagonist. I liked this one more than the first book in the series, mostly because the characters are becoming more real and less of a caricature... I think given the plot, they have to be to stand out in a book within a book becoming a film, right?

Another fun and ridiculous murder mystery starring novelist Eleanor Dash. One of her books is being made into a movie starring her best friend Emma. Emma is marrying her costar Frank in a surprise wedding at the end of filming. Before the wedding weekend, Emma gets a death threat and of course Eleanor is on the case. A hurricane is headed their way and of course nothing goes to plan with the wedding. Just when you think you have it figured out, something new happens and you're guessing again. It took me awhile to really get into this book and overall I enjoyed it. I just found it a bit slow getting going. Once I was really into the story, I was excited to keep reading.

*3.5 stars*

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC of this book.

I liked the first book in this series, and I really like the books by this author’s other name, Catherine McKenzie, but I didn’t enjoy this one as much.

Eleanor Dash is a mystery author who had someone die on her vacation in the first book in the series. She wrote a book about that, and now it’s being made into a movie. Her best friend Emily is starring as her in the movie version. Emily is marrying Fred, the leading man, who is playing Connor, Eleanor’s ex-boyfriend. Are you following? There are lots of actors playing real people and backup actors playing those actors. There are boyfriends and ex-boyfriends and various cast and crew and producers, etc. and I found it hard to keep track of who was who, even though I read the first book. Lots of twists and turns and a breezy pace. Maybe I just wasn’t in a breezy-pace-constant-twists sort of a mood when I read this. This might be a TV show, and maybe I’d have an easier time following if I was visualizing the characters on screen who was who.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES MAY 13, 2025.

I enjoyed the first book in this series even though it dragged quite a bit in the end, but I was very disappointed in this second book. The characters are all very interesting except Eleanor. Her antics get on your nerves almost immediately and the plot is just lame. I miss the publishing aspects of the first one as well.

Another funny and fun one from Mack - but then, I'm a sucker for footnotes and potentially unreliable narrators and sisters.

Another sequel that isn’t as good as the previous, but fun nonetheless. Still distracted by the footnotes (but can’t help but love them) and still extremely annoyed by Eleanor and Oliver. While some of the characters from the previous book overlapped, we meet some new ones that are just abhorrent. Easy to hate which keeps it a light and fun murder mystery yet again.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press!

Just like the first book in the series, this is going to be SO GOOD on TV! As someone who can’t picture things as I’m reading, the exposition made my head spin sometimes. I’d love to get some stars to act it out for me.

Mack has settled into writing in the main character, Eleanor’s, voice, and I think this book was better than the first. We’re coming back to Eleanor’s life, instead of building it from scratch, which is why I love series. This is definitely one I’ll stick with.

No One was Supposed to Die at this Wedding 💍 by Catherine Mack is the second book in The Vacation Mysteries Series and just as fun! I loved the humor in this book and the footnotes that the main character Eleanor includes often! I like that this book has an underlying mystery, but the humor, the setting and the unique characters kept me reading!

The setting of Catalina Island was perfect for this book, especially since there is a big storm coming right before the scheduled wedding! This book can be read as a standalone, but it is more fun since we are introduced to a lot of the characters in the first book! If you've read the first book and enjoyed it, I highly recommend this one! It's not too late to pick up Book 1, Everytime I Go on Vacation Someone Dies,

As was the first one, this next installment in the Eleanor Dash series was so freaking fun! I love a good cozy but also high stakes and Murder-y mystery that has my head spinning but also has me laughing out loud, and Catherine Mack has yet to disappoint! Instead of a whole continent, we were whisked away to a beautiful island this time, and of course, Murder and mystery abounds. The dynamics between Connor and Allison/David and Eleanor/Oliver were a joy to maneuver, and had me feeling all the things and asking so many questions. The movie script behind this was a great interlude. This is just such a unique combination of things all wrapped up in one series, one book, even, and I cannot explain it to you but you need to pick this book up for your summer reading. Just do it. Not only is it a fun time but the mystery is GOOD, guys. Like so good that you think you have it, then you absolutely don’t, then you really totally don’t, and you’re flipping back to see what you’ve missed. Well done!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur books for giving me an eARC of this book. This is book two in a series, but you do not need to have read book one to jump into this one (I didn't). Mack does a good job within the book of keeping you in the loop so you never feel left out when they reference the first book.

Eleanor is the writer on the set of a movie being made based on her last book. The star? Her best friend Emma. Emma however, has a problem: someone is sending her threats. At the end of filming the movie, the cast and crew are off to a wrap party and then onwards to an island - despite a hurricane warning telling people not to - for Emmas wedding to her costar Fred.

If you have read Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone and enjoyed it, please read this. The two series have a similar sense of humour to add levity to their mysteries. I enjoyed the added footnotes within this book along with the asides, though I do think the book would have benefitted from slightly fewer. After a while they were just taking me out of the story and breaking the fourth wall a bit too often. This could have been a "me" issue, but I hope as Mack continues this series this is a consideration given.

I enjoyed my time with this and I will be looking into giving the first one a read (although fair warning, this book does spoil the first) and I'm looking forward to the next. My favourite characters? Oliver and Harper, though honestly Emma is a very close third.

If you like a mystery with a lot of humorous banter, this book is for you. As the FMC says, she knows dialogue!

I read this book without having read the first book. While I was a little behind on some of the goings on, I did catch up pretty quickly. The quick retelling and footnotes helped. The footnotes were actually extremely fun for me and I am usually not a footnote person. This book took some turns but definitely kept things interesting. It did move really quickly and rely a lot on following dialogue.

I have since requested the first book in the series from the library.

While I didn’t love this one quite as much as the first, I do enjoy the framework of this series. In the first book, the footnotes and asides added to the story and helped build suspense in my opinion. In this one, it felt like a lot of them were thrown in just because this is now a gimmick the author has committed to. Still, I do recommend this book for anyone who likes comedic whodunnits and I will definitely continue with this series.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for an early electronic arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Let me encourage you to pick up book one, Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies before reading book 2. It will introduce you to all of the repeat characters, creating an atmosphere of fun watching how and why they all get together again.

Book 2 in The Vacation Mysteries Series shows some growth of characters and certainly some of the same bad behaviors. There is even a cameo of a past character that is a fun pop up. This time the group is headed to Catalina Island for the wedding of Eleanor's best friend. This had great appeal to me as I lived on the island decades ago. So much remains the same. I can visualize the Wrigley House.

As the weekend wedding celebration gets under way, you got it, bodies start to show up. Then a hurricane threatens the island and wedding. Add in Eleanor is now with her more recently ex while yet another ex is in the wedding party as well. There are exes everywhere.

A fun romp that continues to entertain and I look forward to where the next Vacation Mysteries Series takes me.