Essay Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Essay | 2012 | Buy |
| Red Dog Road | 2013 | Buy |
Non-Fiction
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Insured for Murder | 1993 | Buy |
| Dead Before Deadline | 2004 | Buy |
Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Favorite Sons | 2011 | Buy |
| A Brilliant Death | 2016 | Buy |
| A Welcome Murder | 2017 | Buy |
| A Perfect Shot | 2018 | Buy |
| The Sacrifice of Lester Yates | 2021 | Buy |
| The Last Hitman | 2025 | Buy |
Robin Yocum grew up in Brilliant, a small town in eastern Ohio, where his family worked in steel mills, coal mines, and on the railroad. He earned a journalism degree from Bowling Green State University and went on to report for several Ohio newspapers before joining the Columbus Dispatch in 1980. His years covering crime and investigations gave him firsthand material that would later shape his fiction.
His novels are rooted in the small towns and working-class communities of the Ohio River Valley. Favorite Sons, A Brilliant Death, and A Welcome Murder all draw on the kinds of people and places Yocum knew growing up. His debut novel, The Essay, tells the story of a boy from a troubled home whose life changes when a teacher pushes him to enter a writing contest.
Yocum also co-authored the true crime book Insured for Murder with fellow Dispatch reporter Catherine Candinsky, and wrote Dead Before Deadline, a collection of non-fiction pieces. He currently runs Yocum Communications, a public relations firm based in Columbus.