Robin Yocum is known for his fiction set in the Ohio River Valley.
His novel, The Last Hitman, which is set in Steubenville, Ohio, was released Dec. 2, 2025, by Crooked Lane Books.
He is the author of six additional works of fiction:
The Sacrifice of Lester Yates (2021 - Arcade Publishing)
Perfect Shot (2018 – Seventh Street Books)
A Welcome Murder (2017 - Seventh Street Books)
A Brilliant Death (2016 - Seventh Street Books);
The Essay (2012 - Arcade Publishing); and
Favorite Sons (2011 - Arcade Publishing)
Favorite Sons was named the 2011 Book of the Year for Mystery/Suspense by USA Book News. A Brilliant Death was a Barnes & Noble No. 1 bestseller and a finalist for both the 2017 Edgar Award and the Silver Falchion Award for best adult mystery. The Sacrifice of Lester Yates was a finalist for the 2021 Dashiell Hammett Award for outstanding crime writing.
He has written two works of non-fiction: Dead Before Deadline . . . and Other Tales from the Police Beat (2004 – University of Akron Press); and Insured for Murder (1992 – Prometheus Books), which he co-authored with Cathy Candisky.
Robin also is the host of the podcast, Dead Before Deadline, a true-crime podcast that features crimes Yocum covered when a police and investigative reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. He worked at the paper for 11 years, including six years as the senior reporter on the investigative desk. He won more than 30 local, state and national journalism awards in categories ranging from investigative reporting to feature writing. Before joining the investigative team, he covered the police beat for four years, which was the basis for his book, Dead Before Deadline.
He is the owner of Yocum Communications, a public relations and marketing consulting firm in Galena, Ohio, which he founded in 2001.
Yocum grew up in the Ohio River village of Brilliant, Ohio, and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University.
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