Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies

2.5 rounded down.

I didn't enjoy this book. I did not like how it was written. I found it hard to physically read, so I listened to the audio version, which was slightly better.

As a new cozy mystery fan, this one wasn't for me. I found the FMCs bouncing around and footnotes annoying, I found it super repetitive and the “you already know this” “you'll figure it out” type comments grated on me.

I had such high hopes that I had already pre ordered book two, but have since cancelled it.

Fun and in a nice setting, perfect summer read. It was a bit more flair in it than some cozies, I can get bored when the MC is just having tea with suspect after suspect.

You are either going to love or hate the footnotes, I didn’t mind them but I did mind that every character got assigned a celebrity lookalike (a pet peeve of mine).

I wouldn’t call the MC likable but I did find the story enjoyable (she has done something I hate and I struggle to like her because of it… and other things). Will read the next one in the series.

This was a fun, cozy, fourth-wall-breaking salute to publishing and murder mystery fans. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

DNF-ing it after 63% because I would have killed soneone if I carried on.
The title and the premise is as misleading as the main characters ability to write a novel. I haven't seen a “cosy crime” book this bad in a long long time. maybe things drastically get better in the last few chapters but honestly you couldn't pay me to push through the rest of the book. skip it, please. and someone compensate me for the emotional damage caused by it.

Not a fan of the 4th wall character narration

This was a really fun read! I haven't enjoyed a mystery like this in a while. I love the author's humor, style of writing, and characters. While they were fun in the beginning, the footnotes did get a little tedious after a while. I'm just not a big fan of footnotes but I will admit these were very fun little add-ons.

While reading this one, it was reminiscent of Clue, at least for me. That was an added joy on top of everything else. This is definitely a good one for people who enjoy mysteries, but like a little humor and romance thrown in. Adding this one to my 2024 favorites.2024 favorites.

I sincerely appreciate Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

The publishers give a “warning” that there are footnotes throughout the book, but seriously it was way too much. It was actually this formatting which makes me dislike the story. It was hard to get into because you had to keep going to read the footnotes in case something important to the mystery was there.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

Absolutely loved this! I'm usually not a fan of cozy mysteries, but I was completely invested and didn't want to leave when the book was over. I had so much fun with the the fourth wall breaks and enjoyed it more because the audiobook embedded the footnotes within the story (I heard the footnotes are literal footnotes in text copies, which would've probably gotten on my nerves).
I'm a little annoyed that this is a debut book as I can't read anything else by Mack right away. Hurry up with book two!

If you're a fan of the Finlay Donovan series, I think you will probably enjoy this. It's funny and puts a unique spin on the mystery genre. I always think it's fun when the MC engages with the reader. I think there will be a lot of cozy mystery readers who will like this series.

With that said, I personally didn't enjoy this very much. The tone and humor just wasn't for me, and the mystery just felt way too obvious from the beginning.

***Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with the Audiobook for free via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This novel was so cute. I loved it and was hooked from the start! I could sympahtize with the characters so easily and really felt like I was sitting down with a friend when reading this. I felt some influence from Agatha Christie, but a modern take on it. This was also a very uniquely formatted novel with the addtion of footnotes that gave more insight into the novel. I truly felt that it was Eleanor writing the book. I really look forward to the next book in the series. I highly recommend this novel!