Could Tracy Caruso Be a Murderer in a Whodunit? Meet Palm Beach Author Tom Turner and Find Out
Going to a warm-weather place, sitting by the pool, and reading a murder mystery, is one of the most relaxing pleasures of life, which is one of the reasons I moved to Florida, where reading by the pool is a lifestyle choice.
Many love reading books that take place where they live or someplace they dream of visiting. Good news for Floridians or those who want to be like them, there’s a series of murder mystery books by Tom Turner that takes place in Palm Beach, and the places mentioned in the books are real.
Turner, a former copywriter, always wanted to write books, and now he does. Turner lives in South Florida, where he plays golf and tennis and writes seven hours a day so that lucky readers can get a fix a few times a year of glamorous murder mysteries. As incredible as it sounds, Turner writes three to four books a year and has no plans of slowing down.Â
In his own words;
A native New Englander, Tom Turner dropped out of college and ran a Vermont bar. Limping back a few years later to get his sheepskin, he went on to become an advertising copywriter, first in Boston, then New York. After ten years of post-Mad Men life, he made both a career and geography change and ended up in Palm Beach, renovating houses and collecting raw materials for his novels. After stints in Charleston, then Skidaway Island, outside of Savannah, Tom recently moved to Delray Beach, where he’s busy writing about passion and murder among his neighbors. Tom has written twenty-two crime thrillers and mysteries and is probably best known for his Charlie Crawford series set in Palm Beach.
Turner’s most popular book series takes place in Palm Beach, where he lived and played for a time. Currently, he lives in trendy Delray Beach. Turner has written three different series of books and a few stand-alone novels. His books take place in charming places where he has lived, such as Charleston and Savannah; his latest, Delray Deadly, was inspired by his new digs. But Turner is not done with the Palm Beach series. He says that people from all over the country enjoy the glitz of Palm Beach. Everybody wants more homicide cop Charlie Crawford and Palm Beach glamour.Â
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Readers may get more Palm Beach than ever. Recently, Turner was approached by a producer from the TV show Law & Order with the opportunity of a lifetime, the possibility of a TV series based on his Palm Beach Murders series. If all goes well, Floridians may see some characters on TV resembling their neighbors, and the rest of the country can get a glimpse into a lifestyle the rich and famous have been enjoying for decades.Â
I asked Turner if any of his characters are based on real people. The answer is yes, in part. They are composites of people he knows. One of the comments he often hears is that his characters seem so real. For the core characters in his series, Turner says he “knows them so well that they practically write themselves.”
I asked Turner if I could be a character in one of his books. He said yes. He will make me a “nice character, not a murderer.” I immediately told him I wanted to be the murderer and that people would expect no less from me. Will the next murderer in Turner’s book be an editor at large for a conservative media outlet? It’s all a mystery. You’ll have to read his next books to find out.Â
Note: Tracy Caruso runs a monthly book club.
Tom Turner will discuss his book, Palm Beach Perfidious, via Zoom, at 7:00 PM EST on April 24th. If you would like to join, please send a message to [email protected]Â
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