Summerween is a readathon hosted by GabbyReads that runs in early July each year. This year’s readathon was hosted July 5th through 11th with the following prompts: read a book in the dark, read a thriller or horror book, read a book with a night sky on the cover, read a book with 5 words in the title, and read a book set during the summer. For more information click HERE.
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack Series: The Vacation Mysteries #1
Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on April 30, 2024
Format: Audio/Physical (352 pages) • Source: Everand, Purchased
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A USA Today Bestseller
#1 Toronto Star Bestseller in Canadian Fiction
A Globe and Mail Bestseller in Canadian Fiction
A Vancouver Sun Bestseller in New ReleasesAn Indie Next List Pick (May 2024)
An Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense (May 2024)
Library Journal’s Mystery Pick of the Month (April 2024)Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for.
"Quick, captivating, and oh-so-much-fun! This delicious mystery is as spellbinding as Knives Out."—Elle Cosimano, New York Times bestselling author of the Finlay Donovan series
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.
Okay, this was really fun for me! I can absolutely see this as a polarizing book and the low-ish rating doesn’t surprise me. I think you have to be in the mood for something a little different, where the narrator breaks the third wall and involves the reader in the story. There are a couple of other reasons people don’t love this one but I’ll get into that shortly.
This book follows Eleanor, bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series, as she travels on a “book tour” kind of giveaway event in Italy. Along for the ride are a few other authors (including her ex), the man who inspired her first book, her sister (slash person who manages her entire life), and some fans who won a giveaway to join them. Connor, the hero-turned-nemesis, thinks someone is trying to kill him and the group spends the book trying to figure out who’s doing it, if he’s the real target, and more.
I haven’t yet read EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE but from what I understand about the narrative style, this is very similar but a cozy mystery. At one point, the narrator/Eleanor says “okay now let’s recap, here are all the clues, etc.” – I thought this was really fun and enjoyed the footnotes with her commentary throughout the story as well.
I’ll be honest though – the first half of the book is a LOT of setup. Not a lot happens, she’s setting the scene and giving a lot of background for the second half and the rest of the series, and (semi-spoiler) there’s no real murder or dead bodies yet. Some readers didn’t mind the unique voice but didn’t appreciate how long it took to set up the story.
I enjoyed it for the most part and thought the final reveal was well-done. The audiobook narrator is one of my favorites but I’m pretty sure I’ve only listened to her read Sarah J. Maas books so it was a little hard to get into at first! All in all, I would recommend this if the premise intrigues you and you think the narrative voice would work for you. Just be prepared that this really feels like a first book with a lot of setup.
Summers End by Juneau Black Series: Shady Hollow #5
Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on July 9, 2024
Also by this author: Shady Hollow, Cold Clay , Mirror Lake, Twilight Falls
Format: eBook (288 pages) • Source: Libby
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A unique take on dark academia, featuring everyone's favorite vulpine sleuth, Vera Vixen.
It's late August in Shady Hollow, and intrepid reporter Vera Vixen agrees to chaperone the school’s annual field trip to Summers End, an ancient tomb built by an early woodland culture. Naturally, her good friend Lenore Lee comes along to help her.
But when the group enters the tomb one morning, they find a corpse that is distinctly more. . . modern than expected. Digging deeper, Vera and Lenore discover that the deceased was involved in the recent excavation at the site, and very unpopular with their colleagues—including Lenore’s sister, Ligeia. Now the fox and raven must delve into the dark world of academia and archaeology to clear Ligeia’s name. Some creature at Summers End thought they were clever enough to get away with the perfect murder. Can Vera and Lenore unearth the truth in time?
I’ve been really enjoying the Shady Hollow series and for whatever reason it’s become one of my must-reads each time the new book comes out. I was the first person to grab it on Libby on release day to read during Summerween but unfortunately didn’t finish it until the weekend after the readathon ended.
This installment follows Vera and her friend Lenore as they chaperone a field trip to Summerhill, where Summers End is located (an ancient tomb). They find a murdered professor in the tomb one morning and naturally Vera is on the case, along with a young mentee that has joined them.
I really liked the ending to this one actually and didn’t predict it, which was a change from I think the last book or two? I don’t read these ones for the groundbreaking mystery – it’s purely for the vibes of woodland creatures solving crimes. I’ll admit that the setting switching up to Summerhill and away from Shady Hollow wasn’t my favorite, but I do think it was necessary. There are only so many crimes that can occur in one quaint town! They needed a switch-up for the plot. I hope the next book is back in Shady Hollow though.
I didn’t focus too much while reading and a lot of the professors kind of blended together but like I said, the ending was good and it was a cute, short, cozy mystery with a dark academia twist!
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