A bestselling author on a book tour in Italy gets caught up in a real-life mystery in Catherine Mack’s fun and clever new novel, EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES.

A decade ago, novice writer Eleanor Dash stumbled her way onto the bestseller list when she turned a vacation romance with charming rogue Connor Smith into her first novel. When in Rome was based on the pair’s real-life efforts to discover who was responsible for a series of bank robberies in the Eternal City.

"Mack pairs the book’s self-aware tone with picture-perfect settings that come to life on the page.... With its breezy humor and likable heroine, EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES is delightful, escapist fun."

Though Eleanor and Connor’s relationship fizzled out long ago, he is still very much a part of her life. After Connor learned he was the main character in her book, he cannily demanded a share of her advance and royalties. Ten years later, he’s still taking his cut, much to Eleanor’s frustration. She’s ready to be done with him for good. Her plan for getting rid of her personal Poirot? Kill him off in her next book. She’s only plotting a murder in the literary sense, but when Connor insists that someone is trying to kill him in real life, things quickly get complicated.

Eleanor and Connor have reunited in Rome for a special tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of her debut novel. The other attendees include Eleanor’s sister/personal assistant, Harper (herself a frustrated novelist); Emily Ma, a writer whose first novel rips off the plot of When in Rome; and Connor’s ex-wife, Allison Smith, who wrote her own book about her time with him. Also on the trip are Connor’s former business partner, Guy Charles; Abishek Botha, another author with whom Connor had a falling-out; and Oliver Forrest, a novelist and Eleanor’s ex who has been dragooned into the tour by their mutual publisher. Flitting about them are the “BookFace Ladies” --- a crew of loyal fans of the Vacation Mysteries series who are eager to tour Italy with their favorite writer.

At first, Eleanor brushes off Connor’s concerns about his impending demise. But soon, she begins to suspect that he might not be spinning a tale, especially when it seems she also might have been targeted by the killer. Of course, everyone on the tour --- including herself --- has a reason to want Connor dead. And a few of them might not be sad to see Eleanor go as well.

Catherine Mack is a pseudonym for Catherine McKenzie, the author of straightforward thrillers such as HAVE YOU SEEN HER and I’LL NEVER TELL. As the title suggests, she adopts a lighter touch in EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES. Eleanor might not be the world’s most adept detective when faced with an actual crime, but she knows her way around a mystery story. The book is peppered with footnotes where Eleanor directly addresses the reader on everything from her opinions on Netflix’s “Bridgerton” and Taylor Swift to the conventions of the mystery genre itself. “Come on, you know this is foreshadowing, right?” reads one early aside. In a chapter towards the end of the book, Mack breaks the fourth wall to drop a few clues about what’s ahead in the novel’s third act and invite readers “to play along” and solve the mystery themselves.

Mack pairs the book’s self-aware tone with picture-perfect settings that come to life on the page. (It’s no surprise that a TV series is already in the works.) Eleanor and the rest of the characters tour the Colosseum, take a day trip to Capri, and visit the Amalfi Coast, all while sipping Aperol spritzes and dining on plates of lemony pasta or delicate fish in a white wine sauce. If the threat of murder wasn’t hanging over the trip, it would be the perfect Instagram-worthy getaway. With its breezy humor and likable heroine, EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION, SOMEONE DIES is delightful, escapist fun.