Book ~ "A Brilliant Death" (2016) Robin Yocum

From Goodreads ~ Amanda Baron died in a boating accident on the Ohio River in 1953. Or did she? 

While it was generally accepted that she had died when a coal barge rammed the pleasure boat she was sharing with her lover, her body was never found. Travis Baron was an infant when his mother disappeared. After the accident and the subsequent publicity, Travis’s father scoured the house of all evidence that Amanda Baron had ever lived and her name was never to be uttered around him. 

Now in high school, Travis yearns to know more about his mother. With the help of his best friend, Mitch Malone, Travis begins a search for the truth about the mother he never knew. The two boys find an unlikely ally: an alcoholic former detective who served time for falsifying evidence. Although his reputation is in tatters, the information the detective provides about the death of Amanda Baron is indisputable - and dangerous. 

Nearly two decades after her death, Travis and Mitch piece together a puzzle lost to the dark waters of the Ohio River. They know how Amanda Baron died and why. Now what do they do with the information?

This story takes place in the small town of Brilliant, OH, in the 1970s. Teenager Travis has always been told that his mom, Amanda, died in a boating accident in 1953 with her lover when he was a baby. No body was ever found and nobody in town really talks about it, especially his uncaring abusive father. Did she drown or did she fake her death so she could run off with her lover? Curious, Travis ropes his best friend, Mitch, who comes from a loving and stable family who take care of Travis often, into helping him dig into the past (they call it "Project Amanda"). Over the next few years, they find out the truth but don't know what to do about it.

I liked this story. It's told by Mitch years later (he became a journalist and also told his cousin, Duke's story in A Perfect Shot) and is written mostly in first person perspective in his voice. I don't usually enjoy young adults as the main characters but I found Mitch and Travis likeable. As a head's up, there swearing and violence.

Book ~ "A Perfect Shot" (2018) Robin Yocum

From Goodreads ~ Nicholas "Duke" Ducheski is the most important man in the eastern Ohio steel town of Mingo Junction. Nearly two decades after he made the winning shot in the state championship basketball game, he remains much adored and the focal point of community pride. Hardly a day passes when someone doesn't want to talk about "the game." Now approaching forty, Duke no longer wants to be defined solely by something he did when he was eighteen. So he decides to parlay his local popularity into a successful restaurant - "Duke's Place."

But no sooner does he get his restaurant up and running than disaster strikes. One day "Little Tony" DeMarco, his brother-in-law and a known mob enforcer, comes into the restaurant and murders Duke's oldest friend. Now Duke faces the hardest decision of his life. DeMarco thinks he's untouchable but Duke discovers a way to take him down, along with his mob superiors.

To do so, however, means leaving Mingo Junction and sacrificing his treasured identity as the town legend. And if he follows through, what will remain of his life?

Duke peaked in high school when he got the winning shot in a state championship basketball game. He was offered university scholarships but had to pass on them when Nina, his girl friend, got pregnant. They married and he ended up working in the mill. Timothy, their son, had medical issues when he was born and had been in an convalescent home all his life (20+ years). The marriage was now loveless but Nina refused to give Duke a divorce. So Duke's life sucked.

Duke has always wanted to be known for more than something he did decades ago and reinvented himself by opening a restaurant called "Duke's Place". Tony, Nina's brother, worked for the mob and forced himself into Duke's business, something Duke wasn't happy about but there's nothing he could do about it. Finally fed up and potentially fighting for his life, Duke knew he couldn't continue this way and was determined to do something about it.

I liked this story and was cheering for Duke. It starts with Mitch, Duke's cousin and a reporter, telling us that Duke and his car disappeared one day and was never seen again. It's written in third person perspective except in the first and last chapters when it's in first person perspective in Mitch's voice. As a head's up, there swearing and violence.

Book ~ "A Welcome Murder" (2017) Robin Yocum

From Goodreads ~ After his unspectacular professional baseball career ends with a knee injury in Toledo, Ohio, Johnny Earl gets busted for selling cocaine. After serving seven years in prison, all he wants to do is return to his hometown of Steubenville, retrieve the drug money he stashed before he went to jail and start a new life where no one has ever heard of Johnny Earl. 

However, before he can leave town with his money, Johnny is picked up for questioning in the murder of Rayce Daubner, the FBI informant who had set him up on drug charges in the first place. Then his former prison cellmate shows up - a white supremacist who wants the drug money to help fund an Aryan nation in the wilds of Idaho. 

Five memorable characters, each with a separate agenda, come together in this layered tale of murder, deceit and political intrigue.

In high school in a small town in Ohio, Johnny Earl was popular and a star athlete.  He was drafted onto a major league baseball team but an injury, though, cuts his career short.  He drifts into selling coke and is sent to prison for seven years when he is caught.  In prison, his cellmate is a nut who is a white supremacist who wants to kill the president and take over the United States.  Needless to say, Johnny is relieved when he is released from prison and heads home.

As Johnny is getting ready to go get the money he had hidden before he went to prison, Rayce Daubner, the FBI informant who had ratted on Johnny and got him sent to prison, is murdered.  Johnny is an obvious suspect.  Around this time, his former cellmate is released and comes looking for Johnny to give him his hidden money so he can started his Aryan nation.  Sheriff Roberson tries to solve the murder before the FBI agents can.  He has aspirations to eventually become president plus he has secrets of his own that he'd like to remain hidden.

This is the first book I read by this author and I enjoyed it.  It wasn't your typical murder mystery.  I liked the writing style and it amusing.  It is written in first person perspective from various points of view (the chapters are labeled so you know whose voice it is) ... Johnny, Francis (Johnny's former best friend in high school and now sheriff of the town), Allison (Francis' wife), Dena Marie (Johnny's former girlfriend from high school who seems to be sleeping with everyone in town) and Smoochie (Dena Marie's wimpy husband).  The characters were all a bit wacky but likable.  As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity.

I look forward to reading other books by this author.