with Tom Turner
We are delighted to welcome author Tom Turner to Omnimystery News today.
Tom's first crime novel set in sunny south Florida is titled Palm Beach Nasty (The Permanent Press; January 2015 hardcover and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to catch up with him to talk more about it.
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Omnimystery News: We understand that Palm Beach Nasty is the first of a series. Why did you elect to create a cast of recurring characters for your books?
Photo provided courtesy of
Tom Turner
Tom Turner: Two answers. 1. Because series sell and publishers like them. 2. Because I like the idea of fleshing out recurring character even more in sequels. I think the detectives in my second Palm Beach book are funnier, more intuitive and more well-rounded than in the first. I expect they'll be even more so in the third.
OMN: Into which genre would you place Palm Beach Nasty? Are there any advantages or disadvantages in categorizing them as such?
TT: I would call my books crime novels with a heavy dose of humor. I don't know what the disadvantages would be unless readers don't find them believable or funny.
OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
TT: More than anything I consider my books satires. Specifically of the rich and powerful. I know them well — whether they be in Palm Beach, Charleston or New York — and find that they make for really good villains.
OMN: Write what you know, or so they say. True for you?
TT: My characters and settings I know well, but my protagonists — detectives and cops — I've had to learn.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?
TT: Edit, edit, edit, then edit some more.
OMN: Tell us about your writing process.
TT: I get up at five and start writing in my crusty old barcalounger, then at 9:30 I go to the Charleston Library Society — same chair, same desk — and write until 2. I like it there because it's got coffee and candy and very nice librarians.
OMN: How did you go about researching the plot points of the book?
TT: I spent a lot of time with detectives in Palm Beach. In Charleston, I have a guy who I play racquetball with who's an ex-homicide cop and whose wife is a former sex crimes cop.
OMN: How true are you to the settings of your books?
TT: I try to be completely accurate to both Palm Beach and Charleston or else I'd hear it from my readers.
OMN: How involved were you with the design of the cover?
TT: This is a sore subject because my publisher and I went to war on the Palm Beach Nasty cover, He won. P.S. I still don't like my cover.
OMN: Suppose Palm Beach Nasty were to be adapted for television or film. Who do you see playing the key role?
TT: Good question. Leonardo deCaprio would be my Charlie Crawford. He's be perfect. And, just so happens, the Hollywood film agent who sold The Wolf of Wall Street is trying to sell Palm Beach Nasty to a studio. Stay tuned!
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any of these found their way into your books?
TT: I wouldn't call it a hobby, I'd call it a job. I buy, renovate and sell houses in Charleston. You will notice my books are populated with people in the real estate business.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
TT: I read every Hardy Boys book there was. They were kid detectives, so I guess they were my biggest influence.
OMN: What do you read today for pleasure?
TT: I love biographies. I just read one about Tennessee Williams and am now reading one about Raymond Chandler.
OMN: Just considering crime novels, do you have any favorite characters?
TT: Dave Robicheaux from James Lee Burke's crime novels and any character from Elmore Leonard's books.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
TT: Top 5 places you should visit: 1. Russia; 2. Cuba; 3. Australia; 4. South Africa; and 5. Vietnam and Cambodia.
OMN: What's next for you?
TT: I'm going to be on several panels at Sleuthfest starting February 26th. It is one of the great crime/mystery/suspense writer conferences.
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A native New Englander, Tom Turner ran a bar in Vermont after college, then moved to New York and spent time as an award-winning copywriter at several Manhattan advertising agencies. After years of post-Mad Men life, he made a radical change and got a job in commercial real estate. A few years later he ended up in Palm Beach, buying, renovating and selling houses. While at a wedding, he fell for the charm of Charleston, South Carolina, and moved there.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at TomTurnerWrites.com, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Palm Beach Nasty
Tom Turner
A Crime Thriller
Burned out New York homicide cop, Charlie Crawford, goes south to take it slow and ends up in steamy Palm Beach, Florida. But after six months of pink and green collar crime, he's bored out of his mind and desperate for a face-down stiff with a little rigor setting in. Palm Beach has plenty of glitz, glam and hedonism, but murder — not a one in the last ten years.
Finally one Halloween night, Crawford is first on the scene and finds a twenty year old male swinging from a stately banyan tree. This sets in motion colliding plots involving a billionaire with a thing for young girls, a far-reaching art scam with Crawford's girlfriend playing a starring role, and a ruthless hustler passing himself off as the long lost son of one of the richest men in town. Add to the mix a sultry real estate broker who knows where all the bodies are buried, a gorgeous forensic cop usually one step ahead of Crawford, a Mutt and Jeff combo of stone cold killers and you've got Palm Beach Nasty.
