Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies: A Novel (The Vacation Mysteries, 1)

A USA Today Bestseller
#1 Toronto Star Bestseller in Canadian Fiction
A Globe and Mail Bestseller in Canadian Fiction
A Vancouver Sun Bestseller in New Releases

An Indie Next List Pick (May 2024)
An Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense (May 2024)
Library Journal’s Mystery Pick of the Month (April 2024)

Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for.

"Quick, captivating, and oh-so-much-fun! This delicious mystery is as spellbinding as Knives Out."—Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of the Finlay Donovan series

All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series—is that too much to ask?

Clearly it is, because when an attempt is made to kill the real Connor—the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can’t get out of her life—Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case.

Contending with literary competitors, rabid fans, a stalker—and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly—theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder?

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is an irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour where life starts to imitate the world in her books when she’s caught up in a real-life murder mystery.

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352 pages

Average rating: 6.7

43 RATINGS

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carrmel21

Feb 26, 2025

10/10 stars

In this delightful mystery, bestselling author Eleanor Dash embarks on a book tour in Italy. Her goal? To kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next installment of her Vacation Mysteries series. But when an attempt is made on the real Connorâs lifeâthe infuriating con man from Eleanorâs pastâsheâs enlisted to solve the case. Amid literary rivals, rabid fans, and unexpected reunions, theories abound, and hearts are laid bare. Is someone truly trying to get away with murder? Catherine Mackâs debut introduces us to a world where fiction and reality collide, leaving readers guessing until the very end.

Colleen Haasmann

Feb 21, 2025

6/10 stars

Honestly not bad as far as a a novel in the odd subgenre of mystery novelists solving mysteries, but all a bit predictable. The ending is unsatisfying and if the author is going for this unreliable narrator thing that doesnât really work out if she is going to also want us to want the narrator to succeed (sorry if that doesnât make sense, the narrator is unreliable and the style creates unsatisfying mixed feelings about her). It seems she wants to be both lighthearted as in the Ernest Cunningham series but also have dark character backstories that are only hinted at like in the Horowitz and Hawthorne series and I donât think the two styles are meshing perfectly yet. I am interested to see both how the style grows and the characters grow more robust as the series continues.

hideTurtle

Jan 27, 2025

7/10 stars

This was a fun, different approach to breaking the fourth wall. The mystery wasn't altogether unpredictable, but still, I enjoyed the reading experience.

Anonymous

Dec 11, 2024

6/10 stars

Meh. I didnât care for the 4th wall.

JoyfulReader_82

Dec 11, 2024

7/10 stars

I loved how there were certain chapters that let the reader actually interact with the story line. The killers were definitely not who I expected.