Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is a rollicking international murder mystery. I found the book humorous, if a bit far fetched at times. This will make a great series!

DNF due to clumsy NetGalley formatting. Impossible to read. Will try again when I get my hands either on the physical copy or a completed ebook.

A fun mystery, complete with quippy footnotes and lots of twists and turns. I enjoyed this but don’t think I will be seeking out the next installment in this new series. There just wasn’t enough substance in the mystery for me.

Every time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies by Katherine Mack in the book we meet Eleanor – after a fabulous Italian vacation she wrote a book about it and it has since become a series and a smash with fans. She also made it a mystery and added real life Connor Smith to the story and after almost a dozen books he is getting on her nerves and she desperately wants to kill off his character in the next novel. Because real life Connor and her ex has really made his self a nuisance but while doing research for her next book she is fretting over 86ing the fictional Connor. When he tells her that someone really is trying to kill him she at first doesn’t believe him but after a couple of unexplained incidents she start to think she may not be the only one trying to get rid of a Conner Smith. To make matters worse her sister Rosie is hiding something from Eleanor and Eleanor believes she is ready to have a life away from being her assistant. Will Eleanor live through this vacation and if so will Connor? I read this book a couple of weeks ago and loved it but didn’t know what to write in my review there is so much to the story it is hilarious quirky intelligently done and I thought it was fast paced with an awesome ending. There were some things I didn’t like in the book but they are personal things that I don’t think will effect any other reader and it isn’t enough to mention this really is a great choice if you want a entertaining mystery. I don’t know why but I love when authors characters are also writers Catherine Mac never disappoints and she certainly didn’t with this great read! I want to thank Saint Martin’s press for my free art copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

At one point I was quite sure I had solved Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. But I totally underestimated the twists the Catherine Mack had included in this novel. Mack explores the not-so-glamorous life of a best selling author., who never reads messages or the itineraries for the book promotion trips she is required to take. Mack's protagonist, Eleanor, is no heroine, and in fact, she seems to be clueless about the world she inhabits. Eleanor is thoughtless and often rude. She uses people without ever thinking of the pain she inflicts, and so of course, it seems reasonable that someone would want to murder her.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies was a fun read, with lots of clever touches and a good deal of humor. The setting is Italy. I have visited every single location described in Mack's novel. So naturally I enjoyed the descriptions, good food, and good wine. Mack makes liberal use of authorial intrusion and happily trips over the fourth wall. There are deliberate clues and information about being a writer and publishing a novel. Reading Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies was fun. The characters are interesting and there are many suspects, as well.

Thank you to Mack, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for me to read and review. This is my honest review. Reading Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies was fun and will make a good summer beach read. Mack's novel didn't drag, and there were many places to laugh. I do recommend Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies.

Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies is a GREAT book title. It is also a quirky, humorous murder mystery beach read set in Italy. It's a unique first person style that breaks the fourth wall often, and I probably would have enjoyed the footnotes more if I'd read a hard copy.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the electronic copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.5/5
🌶️ 1.5/5 (references to spicy activity, closed door, minimal details)

Thank you to NetGalley and Catherine Mack for proving me with an ARC and allowing me to share my honest thoughts with other readers!

As a huge lover of cozy mysteries and particularly those set on vacation, this is exactly all the vibes I was hoping for. If there is any excuse to mentally be vacationing in Italy in July, I am all about it. The descriptions and setting works was delightfully executed seamlessly taking readers through the intricacies of each city and sight through the advancement of the plot. A special shout out to the delicious drink recipes, THANK YOU! I immediately made an aperol spritz (lemon spritz is next) when I read this to continue reading 🍊🍹

I don’t think the footnotes style is going to be for everyone, but it was for me. I loved how the footnotes brought out the FMC’s distinct personality, fierce sarcasm and inner thoughts. They were also interesting for context and as distractors, serving as a brilliant technique for red herrings. The author becomes a magician as she perform sleight of hand using only words.

There are so many obvious red herrings pointed out which again, is truly a demonstration of the skill of the craft here as they become clues that point to what is happening and to the clues that aren’t - both are beautifully intertwined throughout.

This was a fascinating set of characters that include a complicated dual love triangle… or maybe it’s more of a square? Truly it becomes more of an intertwined food web honestly. It adds a level of authentic drama and legitimacy to the relationships, especially centering around Eleanor but not exclusively so. The hints of romance and the painful memories and moments of longing linger like a fresh wound that still stings and are beautifully written.

As a huge fan of Agatha Christie’s works, I loved the references made throughout to her and her characters. A lovely tribute.

I found myself feeling included and involved in theorizing what was going on long before I was officially invited in the third act. I fell along into each of the carefully constructed traps made in turn accusing each character, which made this such a rollercoaster of a read. There was such an interesting intimacy and rapport the main character builds with the reader by breaking the fourth wall and addressing/directing questions directly. It gave this book a “choose your own adventure” feel that was so unique and nostalgic. Also, the mentions and repetition of the FMC being a liar, introducing the idea of being an unreliable narrator, and then what the reader thinks she did or didn’t do. The reader WANTS to trust the narrator but at the same time is left weary of doing so… but don’t worry there’s a brilliant conclusion at the end!

This is a quirky, light-hearted but heavy handed murder mystery, set on Vacation in Italy that is filled with comedy and sarcasm in spades. For fans of Agatha Christie, you will not be disappointed. 🍋 🔪

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This book sounded like such a fun book. A murder mystery author who finds herself involved in a murder investigation while on vacation. And maybe it would have been if there was more plot, more character development and less gimmicks. The whole conflict in the book could have been avoided if the It seemed to me that this book really wants to become a celebrity studded tv series. Why bother describing what the character looks like when you can mention the celebrity who should play them?

There were 237 nonsensical footnotes in a 304 page novel. Publishers, if your to-be-published work includes things such as murder board diagrams, book blurbs, and endless footnotes, please enure that formatting of the ARC is as you intend for the finished product. You did not do this book any favors by having multiple footnotes placed in the middle of a sentence.

These characters do not deserve a sequel. This should be one and done and let's never speak of it again. And for the love of all things literary, enough with the footnotes!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I am required by law to disclose this.

I had the pleasure of both reading and listening to this book. I really liked the foot notes and thought the audio did a great job of incorporating the humor into the main story line. It’s a bit cheesy, but it is a great summer mystery that you can fly through quickly! It was also fun to see bookstagrammers as side characters.

I loved the Italian setting, having been to Rome and Naples myself 3 years ago I can easily picture some of the locations. The meta aspect of the story is fun, and I liked the relationship between the two sisters, at least once they cleared the air. I didn't like all the footnotes, which were cute at first and then annoying, and there were too many characters too keep track of.

This one unfortunately wasn’t for me, I DNF at about 25% of the way through. I struggled with the footnotes, and the additional grammar Marks in the arc just made it too hard to get into.

For fans of the fury, you will enjoy this take on a who done It murder mystery set.

Eleanor Dash, best selling author, is invited on a book tour in Italy with her sister, both of her ex boyfriends, her exes ex, her stalker, and a few other people who have grudges against her. What can go wrong?

What’s unique about this story is told with lots of cliff notes and annotations at the bottom of the page. While i was reading, It really threw off the flow of the sentences for me. I did listen via audiobook to some of It and the narrator did a great job making them sound so natural. The overall story itself is just pretty basic. Kind of cheesy. A few parts made me chuckle. Nothing to knock your socks off, but still good!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this reading copy! These opinions are entirely my own.

"Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies" had an interesting concept: a mystery centered around a writer on a book tour in Italy. Unfortunately, the characters and the execution of the humor detracted from the story's potential.

The protagonist, Eleanor, was difficult to root for. The author's portrayal of her relationship with her sister, Harper, fell flat. Eleanor was too dependent on her sister and Connor wasn’t that great either.

The author's attempt at humor through footnotes felt forced and disruptive to the
narrative flow. While some readers might enjoy this style, it fell flat for me.

Overall, "Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies" wasn't a satisfying read. The characters were unlikable, and the humor felt out of place. The mystery itself failed to hold my attention." Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC.

“Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, and three bodies.”

This book was fun.

I loved the Italian setting, the backdrop of the publishing world, and bookish media.

I really liked the flawed nature of the main character, as it gave her real depth.

I didn’t love how shallow the secondary characters were, the also-ran nature of the romance, and how many plot points were just glossed over. We’re to believe that Connor has the brains to mastermind multiple, modern-day bank heists, but given zero indicators to back it up.

I also don’t think it helped that the book gave me serious “Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone” vibes, a book I really enjoyed, but wasn’t as well executed.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin, and Macmillan Audio for this romp of an ARC.

This book is so fun! Mack bobs and weaves a tale so funny, so mysterious that it will keep you glued to the page until the bitter end. Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies is a book lovers dream. Our main character is a mystery author on a book tour in Italy. While she struggles to plot out her next murder on the page, it seems someone is trying to make one happen in real life. With twists and turns and laugh-out-loud moments around every bend, Mack delights in this Emily Henry turned murder mystery. I loved every single character in this book and cannot wait for the next one in this series. Seriously, so good. The mystery book of the summer!

Some people might say they chose this book despite the title. Mystery lover that I am - I chose it because of the title. I wasn't familiar with Catherine Mack, but the title intrigued me, and the publisher's description intrigued me even more. I love authors writing about authors, and (when it's well-done) especially love when they break that fourth wall and speak directly to the reader. And Mack handled it very well indeed with this book about an author who's accidentally fallen into writing a best-selling mystery series that was initially based on an incident from her life. But now she's struggling to write book #10 in the series, where her plan is to write out (more accurately kill off) the male lead in the books so that she can get the real-life guy out of her life. On an authors' tour in Italy with other mystery writers, she and Connor (the real life former lover and current thorn in her side) find themselves in some dicey situations and bodies begin to drop. It's all fun, and the narration by Elizabeth Evans just adds to the experience - she does a great job with different accents and with giving characters their own voices. It was an entertaining read/listen - and it made me want to go back to Italy, both for the scenery and for the food. I started out reading this one, but ended up mostly listening to the audiobook. I'm looking forward to the next book in this planned series.
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing copies for an unbiased review.

A wonderful humorous cozy mystery that I expect to see everywhere this summer season. Simply a must have summer or any time vacation escape read.

LOVE LOVE LOVE. I think i found my new favorite summer read (or anytime read, let's be honest). This book was a great combination of mystery and humor. I could not put it down!.....is book two out yet? (asking for a friend, its me. I'm the friend)

THE. FOOTNOTES. I absolutely loved the footnotes through out the book. They were witty, funny, ADHD thoughts that were a fantastic addition. I loved how Catherine Mack broke the fourth wall with these. More books need to have these.

I really enjoyed the authors writing style of this book. It was fresh and easy to read. It feels like she breaks down her own process for writing books in the book through Eleanor. The plot was attention-holding and honestly, I thought I knew who did it (I did not). 10/10 would read again.

What a fun murder mystery from an authors POV. I thought it was pretty funny and I enjoyed reading from Els POV and trying to figure out who is trying to kill who. It wasnt a binge read for me and some parts did seem like it was going in circles but overall it was one I was able to read from start to finish.

El is an author who became one because she wrote fiction book in a real experience she had on vacation with her at the time boyfriend Conner. The truth of what happened is not in the book but it was a way for her to get the experience out. This murder left some people very upset as well as close friends and family surrounding El and Conner. So when El is summoned to go on a book tour and another murder surrounds her who is it? And is she next?

This was a fun mystery/women’s fiction the style was cheeky and somewhat reminded me of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone but in sunnier locations.