Local author in the running

GALENA — Award-winning Delaware County novelist Robin Yocum has been named a finalist for the 2021 Dashiell Hammett Prize for his mystery, “The Sacrifice of Lester Yates.”

The announcement was made recently by the North American Chapter of the International Association of Crime Writers, which sponsors the award. Yocum is one of five finalists.

“It’s a little humbling to be a finalist for the Hammett, which has such a rich history and an impressive list of past winners and finalists,” Yocum said.

Yocum is known for its fiction set in the Ohio River Valley. “The Sacrifice of Lester Yates” is his sixth novel.

“The Sacrifice of Lester Yates” is the sequel to “Favorite Sons”, which was named the 2012 USA Book News Book of the Year for Mystery/Suspense. Her novel, “A Brilliant Death”, was a finalist for the 2017 Edgar Allan Poe Prize and the Silver Falchion Award for Best Mystery.

The award is named after famed detective novelist Dashiell Hammett, who wrote classic novels such as ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and ‘The Thin Man’.

Yocum, a former Columbus Dispatch reporter, operates Yocum Communications, a public relations and marketing company in Galena.

The other finalists are SA Cosby for “Razorblade Tears”; William Deverell for “Stung”; James Kestrel for “December Five”; and Colson Whitehead for “Harlem Shuffle”.

Yocum

Submitted by BEC Planning + Organization