This Weekend Doesn't End Well for Anyone by Catherine Mack

As the narrator even notes, there are a LOT of people in this book. There were nine people that were going to be integral to the story introduced within the first 11% of the book (might have been 10, 11 is just when I looked.) I had to write them all down just to keep track of how each one was related to the narrator. And I've read the other two books in this series. The ending was a bit complicated but the clues were there if you listened.

Eleanor is going to a writing conference. Just because her last two vacations have contained murder doesn't mean this is going to end badly, right? Sun, sand and writing. It should be a blast.

Except that they walk right into a dead body. The hotel is, of course, wanting to downplay the incident. Eleanor is ready to leave but her boyfriend, Oliver, and her sister/assistant, Harper aren't as enthusiastic. They want to stay. 

Eleanor decides that she has not other option but to stay at a conference that contains not only the people she loves, but her ex-boyfriend Connor, his former partner (who Eleanor included in her books), her own ex-best-friend, and a BookToker who doesn't like ANYONE'S books. Oh, and crazy Kathy (sp?), Eleanor's very own stalker. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out April 28, 2026

The Vacation Mysteries #3

Follows No One Was Supposed to Die at this Wedding

ARC audiobook kindly provided by Minotaur Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

No One Was Supposed to Die at this Wedding by Catherine Mack

Best-selling mystery writer Eleanor Dash has many reasons to celebrate. She's back together with the man she loves, the first movie based on her book has just wrapped, and her best friend, the star of the film, is about to get married. In fact, Emma's marrying the male lead of the film, internationally known Fred Winters. Their wedding is supposed to happen on an island after the last days of filming. Too bad someone is trying to kill Emma. And, of course, there are no shortage of suspects.

I really enjoyed this book for the most part. Some recurring characters felt shoehorned in (I'm side-eyeing you, Connor) and some of the plot points were a little shakey but the story was a good one and fairly clued. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 13, 2025

The Vacation Mysteries #2

Follows Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies

Followed by This Weekend Isn't Going to End Well for Anyone

ARC kindly provided by Minotaur Books and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack

10 years ago, Eleanor Dash wrote a bestselling mystery novel. That would be great for many people, but hers came with some drawbacks. First, being an author was her sister's dream; Harper is now Eleanor's assistant. Second, she based her detective on a real man, Connor Smith (used his name and everything), and the story is based on a mystery they solved together. But he's blackmailing her with... something.
In true first-person-narrator mystery fashion, our author may not be telling us the unvarnished truth. Some of it may be lies she's telling us, others may be lies she's telling herself. Either way, she's on a tour celebrating the anniversary with her sister, Connor, his ex-wife (also an author, a biography based on living with Connor), a TikTok influencer who wrote a book stunningly similar to Eleanor's, Connor's ex-partner from their detective agency (who also wrote a book about Connor), Connor's latest fling, and Shek, an author whose book sales are waning. Oh, and there are the paying guests, a BookFace group, including Eleanor's stalker, and a tour guide who doesn't seem to know what she's talking about.
Connor is convinced that someone is trying to kill him, but he's not the one who dies.

Four stars

This book comes out April 30, 2024

The Vacation Mysteries #1

Followed by No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding

ARC kindly provided by Minotaur Books and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own