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

If you’re in dire need of a vacation, what could be more refreshing than tagging along with a fictional author on her book tour turned murder mystery? Settle in for a rollercoaster of meta-fictional delight. Bestselling author Eleanor Dash just wants to finish her book tour in Italy and bump off her main character, Connor Smith. But alas, life is never that simple, especially when your ex-boyfriend shows up uninvited and someone is actually trying to bump off the real-life Connor. Cue the dramatic music. But alas, life has other plans, and Eleanor finds herself entangled in a real-life murder mystery. How inconvenient! Amidst the chaos, there are moments of genuine hilarity and heart. Mack has a knack for weaving together humor and suspense, keeping you guessing until the very end. And if you're a fan of twists and turns, well, let's just say you won't be disappointed.

Mack masterfully weaves a web of intrigue, throwing in not just one, but three bodies for good measure. Because what's a vacation without a little homicide, right? As Eleanor gets embroiled in a real-life murder mystery that seems straight out of her own novels, you can't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all. Literary rivals, rabid fans, and a stalker? Check, check, and check. It's like Agatha Christie meets "The Devil Wears Prada," with a sprinkle of Italian flair. And through it all, Eleanor must navigate a minefield of suspects while maintaining her cool authorial façade. Is it the stalker, the ex, or perhaps even Eleanor herself trying to bump off her fictional creation in real life? The only certainty is that with this book, you’ll never look at a vacation the same way again.

Mack’s meta-fictional approach is as delightful as a scoop of gelato on a scorching Italian day. You'll find yourself chuckling at the witty banter and rolling your eyes at the sheer audacity of the plot twists. And let’s not forget the footnotes – because who doesn’t love a book that practically requires a magnifying glass to read? It's like a mystery within a mystery, wrapped in sarcasm, and sprinkled with literary snark.

So, if you have a penchant for page-turning thrillers with a side of existential crisis and a dash of footnoted humor OR if you're looking for a book to read while lounging on a beach with a piña colada in hand, this book is your next guilty pleasure. Just don't blame me if you suddenly feel the urge to pack your bags and head to Italy... or start plotting your own murder mystery series.

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 Connor’s life—the infuriating con man from Eleanor’s past—she’s 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 Mack’s debut introduces us to a world where fiction and reality collide, leaving readers guessing until the very end.

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 doesn’t really work out if she is going to also want us to want the narrator to succeed (sorry if that doesn’t 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 don’t 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.

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

Meh. I didn’t care for the 4th wall.