Robin Yocum is known for his fiction set in the Ohio River Valley. He has authored two non-fiction books and six novels. His most recent novel, The Sacrifice of Lester Yates, was released in April of 2021 by Arcade CrimeWise, and was a finalist for the 2021 Dashiell Hammett Award for outstanding crime writing. 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. He also is the host of the true-crime podcast, Dead Before Deadline, which features stories Yocum covered when he was a police and investigative reporter for the Columbus Dispatch, where he won more than 30 local, state, and national journalism awards. He is the principal at 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. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University.