The Palm Beach Murders

by James Patterson

James Patterson sets this bestselling thriller in Florida’s wealthiest zip code. Palm Beach doesn’t just have billionaires, yachts, and private planes—it also has the best murder plots money can buy. The Palm Beach Murders (previously published as Let's Play Make-Believe): Both survivors of the divorce wars, Christy and Martin don't believe in love at first sight and certainly not on a first date. But from the instant they lock eyes, life becomes a sexy, romantic dream come true. That is, until they start playing a strangely intense game of make-believe—a game that's about to go too far. (with James O. Born)  Everyone who knows Tim says he's a good guy. But the popular advertising exec has a a lot of the people who know him are getting murdered. And by the time he figures out why, Tim won't feel so good anymore. (with Tim Arnold) When a teenager goes missing on a Caribbean beach, the local police are baffled. It's up to the Stingrays, a world class team that solves the unsolvable, to unearth the a truth that no one will believe. (with Duane Swierczynski)  

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Thriller, Crime, Suspense, Mystery Thriller

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 23, 2021

About the author

Official US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a trio of stories. The first, good. The second is alright. The third is a travesty of ink to paper and worthy of a loss of a star. 5 of 10 stars

[QuinnReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am marking this as done and moving on. I was unimpressed overall. I made it through two of three books so DNF is at around 67%.

I mean, they weren't horrible but I decided that this wasn't the quality that I expect from anything with James Patterson's name on it and I'm just gonna save myself further frustration.

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s Play Make-Believe
5 Stars
Oddly enough, I really enjoyed this book! I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but this one reminded me of the Fear Street series (by R.L. Stine) that I used to read when I was a teen. It gets you hooked and you think something is going to happen and then BAM! something else happens! I loved the surprise at the ending! I thought it was going to turn out a whole different way! Loved it!

Nooners
2.5 Stars
Eh, this is one I could've passed on. The story wasn't really interesting but it moved fast so that was a plus.

Stingrays
4.5 Stars
I actually liked this bookshot. I thought it moved at a good pace and I only got distracted like once or twice. 😁 The murder was quickly solved and I like the group that handled the whole thing. I'd read another one if they decided to make a series with this.

[Denise Gyuricza · Rating 1 out of 5]

Being an avid James Patterson book fan, I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED in this recently released book, The Palm Beach Murders. By FAR, it is the worst book I have ever read. The writing was poor and elementary. The storyline was nonsensical, and abruptly ended JUST when there “might” have been a chance for this poorly constructed story to gain some steam. Although a phenomenal success, James Patterson needs to rethink who he chooses to write his future books. If his next book is as weak as this one, I will no longer be a fan for what is to come.

[John (Just bought an Oculus 2 VR, so less time to read these days!) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is actually 3 short stories

The first short story I had never read. It was a bit sloppy with poor editing, but was still pretty good. The other two I already read before. I would recommend Nooners as the best of three and just read it separately.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trust me - James Patterson did NOT write these three pathetic novellas. Each one was worse than the one before. I keep getting suckered in at the NEW section of my library. At least it was a quick read👎

[Kath · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one is a misnomer, not new but had previously been released as Lets Play Make Believe and 3 novellas, only 1 of which takes place in Palm Beach. The first Palm Beach novella was okay but the other two were trite and juvenile. So disappointed.

[Ivana - Diary of Difference · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished - full review to come. Three short stories, all set at Palm Beach. I enjoyed 2 out of 3, so not too bad - interesting writing and interesting mysteries, although some were a bit predictable.

[Roger McGaffin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a good book.; any of the stories. Shallow characters and abrupt endings. Spend your money on something else. A rare stinker from JP.

[VALawAKA06 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the stories but I am reducing my rating because I feel that there should have been some kind of warning that these stories are all previously published Bookshots with no new material. Just a new title on the compilation. Definitely deceptive.

[LuAnn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful

All 3 were awful. I had to double check that it was a James Patterson book it was so bad. Geez Louise.

[Nicholas Martucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall the book was pretty good! It’s divided into three different stories which I did not expect. All three stories are very well written. However, one thing I did not like is that the stories seem to end very abruptly. Overall very good read if you’re looking for a quick read!

[Autumn Roche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t a huge fan of this book, mostly due to the writing style and the fact that it contained three unrelated short stories. The first one was good and kept me interested, the second was alright (but i couldn’t stand the main character), but the last one was definitely a flop for me.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge James Patterson fan but this had so much potential and just failed, The Palm Beach Murders could have been an amazing stand alone full length story. Why do 3 short stories?? Just do one amazing one instead. I am not a fan of his bookshots, and need to remember to make sure that it’s a normal size story instead of 3 small ones. So dissapointed.

[Beverly Ford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the lowest rating I have ever given. The first story was tolerable but the other two were a waste of time.

[John Mirmina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not his best work at all.

The Palm Beach Murders (originally titled “Let’s Play Make Believe”) was eh for me. 2 stars

Nooners: I don’t even know what to say about this. Not much plot. Basically was extremely obvious who the killer was. Just wasn’t invested. 1-1.5 stars, although 1.5 is generous.

Stingrays: Clearly the best out of the 3 stories in this collection. I liked the different POVs and the characters had some definition for a short story, which was much appreciated, and a steady moving plot. -3 stars

Overall though, I would say this book should have stayed buried in the Palm Beach sands.

[Jennifer Kayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 short stories. Enjoyed first one the best. Last one reminded me of Natalie Holliday

[Donna Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I missed this book from 2021 about upper and middle-upper class life in ritzy Palm Beach. Bad guy leads good girl astray, bad girl leads good guy astray, everybody leads everybody on a roller coaster. An entertaining look at how the fun set gets into trouble.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three different stories, going from OK to 2nd: Poor, to 3rd: even worse

[Michael crage · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book of novelettes I have read by Patterson and they were equally bad. I have come to the conclusion not to bother to read anything by him except full sized novels. This book had three stories in it. all equally bad.

[Adnamy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really average. Predictable but readable as well

[Carol Irvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the 1st story, 2nd one pretty good and not so much for the 3rd...

[Shirley Mortensen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. This book has 3 separate stories. I barely got through the first one & didn’t read the next 2.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stopped reading James Patterson books when he stopped writing them. These days he just slaps his name in large print on the covers, dwarfing the names of the true authors. The few of these I read were terrible, so I vowed no more. But I got this one as a gift so I had to at least try it.
This book is actually three novellas, or short stories, not sure what the cutoff is, by three different authors. I'm sure he wrote none of them because there aren't nearly enough words in italics. The stories are actually pretty decent though. There's not much substance to them, they are short after all, but this is a nice, light beach read. There's a murder in each story but none of them are especially violent or gory.
I'm definitely not going to go out of my way to read any more books with Mr. Patterson's name on them, but if you're looking for a nice cotton candy book (all fluff, no substance, but it tastes good in the moment), you could probably do worse.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short story format takes a particular writing talent and the three stories here in "The Palm Beach Murders" provide us a whole range of "meh" to Okay!...The first one deals with a Palm Beach divorcee and her path to revenge...The second deals with a NYC adman whose agency seems to be targeted by a murderer...And the third deals with an investigative team of specialist investigating the disappearance of a Natalie Holloway-like young woman in the islands...Meh!

[Deb Marra-Yurek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three short stories each written by James Patterson and each along with a second author. I would rate the first two stories with only two stars, and the third one I would give 3.5 stars. Overall, I gave the book a three star rating. Saying that, I must state that I do not like short stories anyway because there is never enough time to truly develop the characters.

[Lynn’s Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are three separate stories in this book. The first story was outstanding and is a 5 star. The second story, even though it’s easy to figure out, is a 4 star. The third story was blah to me and hard to keep up with the characters. It was a 3 star.

[P.D. Workman]

Three short murder mysteries with rather unreliable narrators.

James Patterson is always readable. But I think I prefer his longer works with more deeply-developed characters. These shorts were plot driven rather than character driven. Clever, but I still saw the twists coming quite a ways out.

[Lynn Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was quite a suspenseful book. The ending blew me away.
Beware of a woman scorned.

[Mary Kamrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a typical book of 3 murder mysteries set in the Caribbean and Florida. Good stories and quick to read.