I’m not running a contest this week. After my move, I really don’t have a lot of books to give away. I did want to congratulate the winners of the last contest. Mark B. from Santa Clarita, CA won Murder Out of Character. Rental Person Who Does Nothing is going to Kimberly V. from Oakton, VA. I’ll get these out in the mail as soon as the weather cooperates.

Here’s a fun book I am finishing for review. Catherine Mack’s Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies will be released on April 30. I’ll remind you of this one around release date. The book and its sequels were sold for development into a TV series with the author writing the pilot script.

The format is a little unusual. The author uses footnotes (yes, in a mystery) to directly address the reader. I liked the narrator’s voice. Others might get a little tired of the footnotes. I found them funny. Decide for yourself, if you read the book. It’s the first Vacation Mystery.

Here’s the publisher’s blurb for the book.

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

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, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life—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 the irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour that turns into a real-life murder mystery, as her life starts to imitate the world in her books.

Several quotes mentioned “Knives Out” when writing about this book. The protagonist reminds me of the lead in the Jersey Girl Legal Mysteries by E.J. Copperman. If you’re looking for something a little different in May, something with humor, you might want to put this one on your list.

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack. Minotaur Books, 2024. ISBN 9781250325853 (hardcover), 352p.