This is the latest novel from Catherine Mack, the pseudonym used for the bestselling Canadian/American author of over a dozen novels. Television rights to “Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies” and its forthcoming sequels were sold in a major auction to Fox TV for development into a series, with Mack writing the pilot script.
Eleanor Dash, the bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series, wants nothing more than to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next book. Connor’s character is based on her real-life ex-boyfriend Connor, who inspired the series after he helped solve a bank robbery investigation in Rome ten years ago. Connor has since been blackmailing Eleanor for a cut of her book royalties and she’s had enough.
Travelling with Eleanor are four rival mystery authors, as well as Connor, her sister Harper, a group of rabid fans, a stalker, and another ex-boyfriend Oliver. As the group travels from Rome to Pompeii to the Amalfi Coast, someone tries to kill both Connor and Eleanor. One of the members of the group is clearly the culprit, but each of them claims their innocence and has theories about who’s behind it all. When one of the authors is murdered in plain sight, things go from dangerous to deadly. Eleanor immediately assumes that she is the real target, and she must unravel the mystery before her time is up!
This is a great first installment in a new mystery series. The story is fresh, fast-paced, and a lot of fun! The protagonist, Eleanor, is also the narrator of the story and often addresses the audience with funny puns, clues of what’s to come, and reminders of what’s already unfolded. This makes for a very enjoyable listening or reading experience.
The novel is broken up into three acts, with the first act introducing all the characters, the potential suspects, and all of their motives. There is plenty of drama and many interesting settings in the second and third acts as the company continues their tour of Italy and the danger escalates. Although the story doesn’t have any shocking twists, there are a few surprises in the third act, which makes for great entertainment and also sets up potential plot lines for the next book in the series.
The book also has a great set of interesting characters, almost all of whom have a personal vendetta against Connor. Although Eleanor rekindles a relationship with Oliver in the story, the two seem to lack great chemistry. Instead, the banter between Eleanor and Connor is much more entertaining. It’ll be very interesting to see how these relationships further develop in future books.
Narrator Elizabeth Evans does a stellar job bringing Eleanor to life and delivers a very strong overall performance, especially when she addresses the audience with mystery and sarcasm in her tone. Evans also does a formidable job portraying all the different characters and their various accents and personalities, which makes for a captivating listen.
Overall, this may not be the best whodunnit mystery you’ll read or listen to this year, but the entertainment value from the characters, unique storyline, settings, and top-notch narration make this one a must-listen!
