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A Welcome Murder
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.
269 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2017
32 people are currently reading
1108 people want to read
About the author
Robin Yocum
19 books312 followersRobin Yocum is the author of the award-winning, critically acclaimed novel, Favorite Sons (June 2012, Arcade Publishing). Favorite Sons was named the 2011 USA Book News Book of the Year for Mystery/Suspense, and is a Choose to Read Ohio selection for 2013-14. His latest novel, The Essay, was released in October 2012 by Arcade. He also is the author of Dead Before Deadline, a compilation of stories from his days as a crime beat reporter with the Columbus Dispatch, and Insured for Murder, which he co-authored with Dispatch colleague Catherine Candisky. Robin joined the Columbus Dispatch as a reporter in 1980 and worked at the paper for eleven years, spending four years on the crime beat, followed by a post as senior reporter on the investigative desk. He won more than 30 local, state and national awards while at the paper. Yocum has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
October 31, 2017
A Welcome Murder by Robin Yocum details the murder of disliked, local degenerate Raynce Daubner with plenty of suspects to go around. The story circles around Johnny Earl, when as a young teenager was known as the outstanding high school athlete of Stubennville, Ohio. Earl, now an adult and serving a prison sentence after peaking too quickly and falling even quicker, is due to return to Stubennville and set to face both new and old foes.
Along the way, a wide range of questionable characters, including an ambitious sheriff, his even more ambitious wife, the town milquetoast and Johnny's past high school girlfriend, pop up to create headaches and even bigger problems for Earl.
The novel reads like a Cohen brothers movie where characters tend to keep sending their own lives into wild, uncontrollable spirals of havoc while trying to achieve their own selfish desires. Rather than told in a clear, slapstick manner, the writing rather suggests the problems faced by the characters depicted in the novel would be those found facing every day people thrown into out of the ordinary circumstances.
The book unfolds with alternating chapters narrated by the different interesting characters in the telling of the story and is highly recommended for an enjoyable read that some call "rust belt noir."
Along the way, a wide range of questionable characters, including an ambitious sheriff, his even more ambitious wife, the town milquetoast and Johnny's past high school girlfriend, pop up to create headaches and even bigger problems for Earl.
The novel reads like a Cohen brothers movie where characters tend to keep sending their own lives into wild, uncontrollable spirals of havoc while trying to achieve their own selfish desires. Rather than told in a clear, slapstick manner, the writing rather suggests the problems faced by the characters depicted in the novel would be those found facing every day people thrown into out of the ordinary circumstances.
The book unfolds with alternating chapters narrated by the different interesting characters in the telling of the story and is highly recommended for an enjoyable read that some call "rust belt noir."
March 26, 2017
I really enjoyed this book! I've been overloaded with police procedurals lately, and this book approaches solving a murder in a much different way. It doesn't focus on the investigation, instead it focuses on the characters and their potential involvement, or how they're connected to the victim. It was definitely something that I enjoyed and not nearly as heavy in the investigation like most crime thrillers can be.
We follow the perspective of 5 different characters: Johnny Earl, Sheriff Francis Roberson, his wife Allison Roberson, Vincent "Smoochie" Xenakis, and his wife Dena Marie Xenakis. When Rayce Daubner turns up murdered the small Ohio town of Steubenville is trying to solve who did it. Rayce wasn't known for having many friends, and had plenty of enemies that could have done it. With the information coming out that he was an FBI informant, Sheriff Roberson must work hard to find out who the killer was before the FBI takes control of the investigation. Not wanting to be upstaged because of his aspirations to become a Congressman, and one day the President of the United States.
I've said it before, I always love the thrillers where the stories bounce from character to character. We get questions answered as we go and clarification on events. I definitely wasn't expecting the end - I had a few guesses throughout as to who the killer was but I was wrong! Robin Yocum did a great job building and developing the characters. Since they were all from the same small town growing up, there were some deep connections and history between them all. Johnny, the all star athlete turned drug dealer. Dena Marie, the prom queen turned mother of two, divorced once, and married to the band geek. Vincent "Smoochie", the band geek that married the prom queen. Sheriff Roberson, football player that left for FBI training just to return home to become the sheriff, and his wife, Allison, who will stop at nothing to be sure her husband becomes a Congressman.
This was a quick read and kept me guessing. Who doesn't love drugs, murder, deceit, and political intrigue in a crime thriller?
Thank you to Prometheus books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
We follow the perspective of 5 different characters: Johnny Earl, Sheriff Francis Roberson, his wife Allison Roberson, Vincent "Smoochie" Xenakis, and his wife Dena Marie Xenakis. When Rayce Daubner turns up murdered the small Ohio town of Steubenville is trying to solve who did it. Rayce wasn't known for having many friends, and had plenty of enemies that could have done it. With the information coming out that he was an FBI informant, Sheriff Roberson must work hard to find out who the killer was before the FBI takes control of the investigation. Not wanting to be upstaged because of his aspirations to become a Congressman, and one day the President of the United States.
I've said it before, I always love the thrillers where the stories bounce from character to character. We get questions answered as we go and clarification on events. I definitely wasn't expecting the end - I had a few guesses throughout as to who the killer was but I was wrong! Robin Yocum did a great job building and developing the characters. Since they were all from the same small town growing up, there were some deep connections and history between them all. Johnny, the all star athlete turned drug dealer. Dena Marie, the prom queen turned mother of two, divorced once, and married to the band geek. Vincent "Smoochie", the band geek that married the prom queen. Sheriff Roberson, football player that left for FBI training just to return home to become the sheriff, and his wife, Allison, who will stop at nothing to be sure her husband becomes a Congressman.
This was a quick read and kept me guessing. Who doesn't love drugs, murder, deceit, and political intrigue in a crime thriller?
Thank you to Prometheus books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 2, 2017
Vincent "Smoochie" Xenakis is married to Dena Marie Xenakis, who is having affairs with Johnny Earl and Sheriff Francis Roberson (who is married to Allison) and we get a glimpse into the world through each of these five points of view. Confusing? Not really. Robin Yocum does a great job with these multiple POVs. Set in a small town where everyone grew up together and have checkered pasts, this story is set around the murder of Rayce Daubner. No one really cares that he's been murdered. He's not well liked. But no one wants to be convicted either and they all have reasons to have wanted him dead.
Mostly this is centered around Johnny Earl - a high school sports hero who couldn't make it in the big leagues and turned to drug dealing instead. Set up by Rayce and sent to prison, he emerges seven years later and is suspect number one when Rayce is murdered.
I wasn't sure how I felt about this book when I first started reading it but as the pages turned, the more invested I became and wow are each of these characters screwed up in one way or the other. I love it! The author layers each of their stories in an easy to read way and I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting, staying up later than I had intended. It reminded me of Clue - "Mrs. So-and-So, in the basement, with her steel thighs." Haha. Quite the fun read and at less than 300 pages, perfect for that interim book if you want something not so hefty.
Thank you to Prometheus and Seventh Street Books for this ARC in return for my honest review.
Mostly this is centered around Johnny Earl - a high school sports hero who couldn't make it in the big leagues and turned to drug dealing instead. Set up by Rayce and sent to prison, he emerges seven years later and is suspect number one when Rayce is murdered.
I wasn't sure how I felt about this book when I first started reading it but as the pages turned, the more invested I became and wow are each of these characters screwed up in one way or the other. I love it! The author layers each of their stories in an easy to read way and I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting, staying up later than I had intended. It reminded me of Clue - "Mrs. So-and-So, in the basement, with her steel thighs." Haha. Quite the fun read and at less than 300 pages, perfect for that interim book if you want something not so hefty.
Thank you to Prometheus and Seventh Street Books for this ARC in return for my honest review.
December 15, 2025
“My plan had been going so well when suddenly there was a dead possum, bloated and ready to explode, right in the middle of my road to the governor’s mansion.”
Johnny Earl is the all-star high school athlete destined for the big leagues and turned drug dealer when his dreams vaporized after a debilitating knee injury. Dena Marie is the perpetually horny, outrageously oversexed high school prom queen who never met a man she wouldn’t be happy to hop into bed with. “Smoochie” is the high school geek nicknamed for his oversized lips who managed to snag Dena Marie as his wife when he caught her on one of her many rebounds. Sheriff Roberson is the second place high school athlete who, despite having perpetually languished in Johnny Earl’s shadow returned to his home town to become their sheriff and dreams of a seat in the US Congress eventually rising to his destined role as president. Last but not least, his wife Allison is a clever soft-spoken woman, the woman behind the man as it were, who will do whatever it takes to ensure her husband doesn’t take any wrong turns on the road to their joint destiny in politics.
Five different characters, brilliantly developed, and five different narrators in interwoven alternating chapters, each telling their perception of the story of the small town murder of an FBI snitch (oops … confidential informant) that absolutely nobody is sorry to see leave this world.
A WELCOME MURDER can be viewed from three different perspectives that I thought blended into a 5-star Top Ten 2025 gift to lovers of the mystery genre – first, a well-crafted plot with plenty of red herrings that, despite the limited cast of suspects (à la locked room mystery novel format), still managed to surprise with the final revelation of the murderer; second, a master class in character development used to move the plot forward brilliantly in a first rate example of “show, don’t tell” writing; and, last but not least, an absolutely hilarious send-up of smalltown USA and its politics, personality, and cultural behaviour that I would hope is intended as slightly tongue-in-cheek satire.
Definitely recommended.
Johnny Earl is the all-star high school athlete destined for the big leagues and turned drug dealer when his dreams vaporized after a debilitating knee injury. Dena Marie is the perpetually horny, outrageously oversexed high school prom queen who never met a man she wouldn’t be happy to hop into bed with. “Smoochie” is the high school geek nicknamed for his oversized lips who managed to snag Dena Marie as his wife when he caught her on one of her many rebounds. Sheriff Roberson is the second place high school athlete who, despite having perpetually languished in Johnny Earl’s shadow returned to his home town to become their sheriff and dreams of a seat in the US Congress eventually rising to his destined role as president. Last but not least, his wife Allison is a clever soft-spoken woman, the woman behind the man as it were, who will do whatever it takes to ensure her husband doesn’t take any wrong turns on the road to their joint destiny in politics.
Five different characters, brilliantly developed, and five different narrators in interwoven alternating chapters, each telling their perception of the story of the small town murder of an FBI snitch (oops … confidential informant) that absolutely nobody is sorry to see leave this world.
A WELCOME MURDER can be viewed from three different perspectives that I thought blended into a 5-star Top Ten 2025 gift to lovers of the mystery genre – first, a well-crafted plot with plenty of red herrings that, despite the limited cast of suspects (à la locked room mystery novel format), still managed to surprise with the final revelation of the murderer; second, a master class in character development used to move the plot forward brilliantly in a first rate example of “show, don’t tell” writing; and, last but not least, an absolutely hilarious send-up of smalltown USA and its politics, personality, and cultural behaviour that I would hope is intended as slightly tongue-in-cheek satire.
Definitely recommended.
April 6, 2017
Set in the small town of Steubenville, Ohio and focusing on five very different characters, with five very different agendas, A Welcome Murder by Robin Yocum explores a layered tale of murder and deceit. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this highly developed story.
I loved the narrative style of this book. Each character in this book has a fully elaborated back-story explaining their individual motivations and motives; no stone is left unturned as their POV is explored throughout the chapters. These perspectives gave a completely unique perspective and flow to the crime fiction genre and your regular run-of-the-mill police procedural style novel.
This one kind of reminded me a little bit of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night; all the characters are fully immersed and wrapped up in each other with their criminal involvement and their romantic relationships. This one was as juicy as any fiction novel and as equally suspense filled.
I also loved the secondary layer to the plot that followed the issues Johnny Earl faced with the added stress of his Aryan brotherhood hunting him down for their money.
My absolute favourite part in the novel was the development of Smoochie. It was absolutely hilarious to watch and I loved how Yocum let this seemingly secondary character take on a complete mind of his own.
Overall, I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something completely different; I think you’ll love to find yourself sucked into Steubenville!
5/5 stars!
I loved the narrative style of this book. Each character in this book has a fully elaborated back-story explaining their individual motivations and motives; no stone is left unturned as their POV is explored throughout the chapters. These perspectives gave a completely unique perspective and flow to the crime fiction genre and your regular run-of-the-mill police procedural style novel.
This one kind of reminded me a little bit of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night; all the characters are fully immersed and wrapped up in each other with their criminal involvement and their romantic relationships. This one was as juicy as any fiction novel and as equally suspense filled.
I also loved the secondary layer to the plot that followed the issues Johnny Earl faced with the added stress of his Aryan brotherhood hunting him down for their money.
My absolute favourite part in the novel was the development of Smoochie. It was absolutely hilarious to watch and I loved how Yocum let this seemingly secondary character take on a complete mind of his own.
Overall, I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something completely different; I think you’ll love to find yourself sucked into Steubenville!
5/5 stars!
March 31, 2017
A Welcome Murder by Robin Yocum is a highly recommended small town murder mystery told through multiple points-of-view.
There is no question in many people's mind that Rayce Daubner deserved to be shot and left for dead in an isolated park. The question is who is responsible for the murder? Steubenville, Ohio is the setting for a widely diverse cast of characters and several suspects for Rayce's murder.
Johnny Earl, a former professional baseball player was just released from prison. He was busted for selling cocaine when Rayce worked as an informant with the FBI and set him up for the drug sting. Smoochie (Matthew) Xenakis's wife, Dena Marie Conchek Androski Xenakis, was having an affair with Rayce (and many others). Sheriff Francis Roberson, former FBI agent, dreams of running for congress and eventually the presidency. He needs to solve this case to look good and keep Dena out of his office. Allison Roberson, the sheriff's wife just wants her husband's plan to succeed so she can get out of Steubenville.
Each chapter in the narrative is told from the first person point-of-view of one of these character, often with thoughts that are widely divergent from what the other characters are thinking. None of these characters are particularly likeable or trustworthy. One character will be thinking one thing while the thoughts of the other are completely opposite of what is assumed. Many of these characters are still basking in the glory of their high school days.
The novel is really pretty funny and clever as it quickly moves from one character's thoughts to the next. We aren't following the murder investigation; rather we are just following the thought processes of the different characters during this time. There is a bit of a surprise reveal and a satisfying conclusion. This is a well-written, entertaining mystery that is easy to follow, and a pure pleasure to read.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Prometheus Books.
There is no question in many people's mind that Rayce Daubner deserved to be shot and left for dead in an isolated park. The question is who is responsible for the murder? Steubenville, Ohio is the setting for a widely diverse cast of characters and several suspects for Rayce's murder.
Johnny Earl, a former professional baseball player was just released from prison. He was busted for selling cocaine when Rayce worked as an informant with the FBI and set him up for the drug sting. Smoochie (Matthew) Xenakis's wife, Dena Marie Conchek Androski Xenakis, was having an affair with Rayce (and many others). Sheriff Francis Roberson, former FBI agent, dreams of running for congress and eventually the presidency. He needs to solve this case to look good and keep Dena out of his office. Allison Roberson, the sheriff's wife just wants her husband's plan to succeed so she can get out of Steubenville.
Each chapter in the narrative is told from the first person point-of-view of one of these character, often with thoughts that are widely divergent from what the other characters are thinking. None of these characters are particularly likeable or trustworthy. One character will be thinking one thing while the thoughts of the other are completely opposite of what is assumed. Many of these characters are still basking in the glory of their high school days.
The novel is really pretty funny and clever as it quickly moves from one character's thoughts to the next. We aren't following the murder investigation; rather we are just following the thought processes of the different characters during this time. There is a bit of a surprise reveal and a satisfying conclusion. This is a well-written, entertaining mystery that is easy to follow, and a pure pleasure to read.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Prometheus Books.
October 17, 2020
"We spent three days in Steubenville; I couldn’t wait to leave. The town was depressing and dirty, and everyone spoke with a hillbilly twang and called us 'yunz guys.' It’s a place where they keep their chipped-chopped ham in the icebox, where they drive 'Chivies,' and where every plant with a petal is a 'flahr' and every plant with a thorn is a 'jaggerbush.' It was like living in the lyrics of a bad country song."
A WELCOME MURDER is the second in a loose trilogy of crime novels set in the author's native Ohio River Valley, each spotlighting one of a trio of cousins in neighboring towns. And it is flat-out terrific, a crime novel with a perfect balance of darkness and light, funny and yet full of the pathos that comes with the desperation of people trying to find their way to another day in a dying steel town.
It's also a quantum leap forward from the brilliant A BRILLIANT DEATH, which was more of a hushed and muted affair, a somber coming-of-age-story with a crime at its center more than a crime novel. A WELCOME MURDER, by contrast, takes a cheerful mud bath in murder and mayhem, it benefits from the author's broadened ambition to share multiple viewpoints, and each POV character is a sleazy charmer:
— There's Johnny Earl, the "greatest athlete to come out of Steubenville, Ohio," a sports equivalent to the town's favorite son, Dean Martin. A career minor leaguer who had a cup of coffee in the major leagues before blowing out his knee, Johnny drifts into cocaine use, then sales, and and then prison. When he finally gets out, he goes back to Steubenville for what he hopes will be as short a stay as possible, but, like Nicolas Cage in RED ROCK WEST, he finds this stutifying small town to be its own kind of prison.
— Francis Robeson is the local sheriff, and a mostly honest one, as he and his father plan, in all seriousness, for him to work his way up the Ohio political food chain, all the way into the White House. But his ambitions outstrip his brains, and his lust for his high school best friend's girl outstrips both, endangering not just his plans but his liberty.
— Allison Robeson is the wife who agreed to leave the urban life of an FBI agent's wife to help her husband fulfill his political ambitions. She loves him but is clear-eyed about his weaknesses, and when it appears that Fran's missteps might cost him his plans, or worse, trap him in Steubenville forever, she leaps into action behind the scenes to save her plan to get out.
— Smoochie Xenakis is a good man who most people view as weak, dating back to the big-lipped childhood that earned him his unfortunate nickname. His wife cheats on him, his boss disrespects him, and no one takes him seriously. But when the man who cuckolded him turns up murdered, he sees an opportunity to change the way the town regards him — and a way to save his marriage and his career.
— Dena Marie Conchek is a piece of work — a high-school beauty turned grocery clerk who can't get over the fact that she was once the center of the Steubenville universe. She can't get over teen sweetheart Johnny Earl, she can't keep her legs crossed for any man who gives her heavy-breathed attention, and she can't quite wrap her head around the fact that she's married to Smoochie.
Add a couple of megalomaniacal neo-Nazis, a vindictive FBI agent, and a crazy jail inmate who narrates every bowel movement as if it were a World Series game, among others, and together you have a cheerfully volatile stew of conspiracies and opportunistic power grabs that keep the pages flying on deceptively ljght feet without ever letting up on depth of theme, setting or character. Being "twisty" without being shallow, or bending character's proclivities to the needs of the plot, is one of the trickiest acts to pull off in crime fiction, but Robin Yocum pulls it off with sleekness, style and exceptional substance.
It's immensely quotable. Some favorite lines:
— "I dated the most beautiful girl in the school—Dena Marie Conchek. That’s another fact. If you want proof, look at my senior yearbook. She was the head cheerleader, she was the homecoming queen, and she had the most incredible ass in Jefferson County. I was tapping that action every Friday and Saturday night and getting head on Sunday afternoons when her parents were visiting her grandmother at the nursing home. Since we weren’t married, Dena Marie thought it was sinful to have intercourse on Sundays but apparently didn’t think God had a problem with oral sex."
— "I love being the sheriff of Jefferson County. I love the uniform and the badge and the pistol hanging at my side. I love leading the Fourth of July parade in my cruiser and tossing bubble gum to the kids on the curb. I love walking into the diner for breakfast and seeing heads turn and hearing men say, “G’ morning, Sheriff.” I love all that.
"It’s being a cop that I hate."
— "My brother was smart. I was pretty. I thought that was important. With that as a foundation, I’ve been able to secure a fine career as a twenty-hour-a-week cashier at the A& P grocery store."
— "When you serve as a punching bag for kids who don’t have big lips and bad acne, you tend to spend a lot of time watching television."
A WELCOME MURDER simply succeeds on every level. It's close to perfect. And the fact that you're probably only dimly aware of it, if aware of it at all, it is testament to the sad reality of crime-fiction publishing: it's largely shallow, twist-a-minute thrillers precision-tooled for the market of the moment that consume most of the oxygen in its community. And anything that doesn't fit that fungible formula gets shunted to the side, marketing-wise and across the social-media spectrum.
It's truly tragic that a novel twice as good as the one preceded it got less than half as many reader reviews, because A WELCOME MURDER is a timeless, truly great American novel for virtually any reader's taste.
A WELCOME MURDER is the second in a loose trilogy of crime novels set in the author's native Ohio River Valley, each spotlighting one of a trio of cousins in neighboring towns. And it is flat-out terrific, a crime novel with a perfect balance of darkness and light, funny and yet full of the pathos that comes with the desperation of people trying to find their way to another day in a dying steel town.
It's also a quantum leap forward from the brilliant A BRILLIANT DEATH, which was more of a hushed and muted affair, a somber coming-of-age-story with a crime at its center more than a crime novel. A WELCOME MURDER, by contrast, takes a cheerful mud bath in murder and mayhem, it benefits from the author's broadened ambition to share multiple viewpoints, and each POV character is a sleazy charmer:
— There's Johnny Earl, the "greatest athlete to come out of Steubenville, Ohio," a sports equivalent to the town's favorite son, Dean Martin. A career minor leaguer who had a cup of coffee in the major leagues before blowing out his knee, Johnny drifts into cocaine use, then sales, and and then prison. When he finally gets out, he goes back to Steubenville for what he hopes will be as short a stay as possible, but, like Nicolas Cage in RED ROCK WEST, he finds this stutifying small town to be its own kind of prison.
— Francis Robeson is the local sheriff, and a mostly honest one, as he and his father plan, in all seriousness, for him to work his way up the Ohio political food chain, all the way into the White House. But his ambitions outstrip his brains, and his lust for his high school best friend's girl outstrips both, endangering not just his plans but his liberty.
— Allison Robeson is the wife who agreed to leave the urban life of an FBI agent's wife to help her husband fulfill his political ambitions. She loves him but is clear-eyed about his weaknesses, and when it appears that Fran's missteps might cost him his plans, or worse, trap him in Steubenville forever, she leaps into action behind the scenes to save her plan to get out.
— Smoochie Xenakis is a good man who most people view as weak, dating back to the big-lipped childhood that earned him his unfortunate nickname. His wife cheats on him, his boss disrespects him, and no one takes him seriously. But when the man who cuckolded him turns up murdered, he sees an opportunity to change the way the town regards him — and a way to save his marriage and his career.
— Dena Marie Conchek is a piece of work — a high-school beauty turned grocery clerk who can't get over the fact that she was once the center of the Steubenville universe. She can't get over teen sweetheart Johnny Earl, she can't keep her legs crossed for any man who gives her heavy-breathed attention, and she can't quite wrap her head around the fact that she's married to Smoochie.
Add a couple of megalomaniacal neo-Nazis, a vindictive FBI agent, and a crazy jail inmate who narrates every bowel movement as if it were a World Series game, among others, and together you have a cheerfully volatile stew of conspiracies and opportunistic power grabs that keep the pages flying on deceptively ljght feet without ever letting up on depth of theme, setting or character. Being "twisty" without being shallow, or bending character's proclivities to the needs of the plot, is one of the trickiest acts to pull off in crime fiction, but Robin Yocum pulls it off with sleekness, style and exceptional substance.
It's immensely quotable. Some favorite lines:
— "I dated the most beautiful girl in the school—Dena Marie Conchek. That’s another fact. If you want proof, look at my senior yearbook. She was the head cheerleader, she was the homecoming queen, and she had the most incredible ass in Jefferson County. I was tapping that action every Friday and Saturday night and getting head on Sunday afternoons when her parents were visiting her grandmother at the nursing home. Since we weren’t married, Dena Marie thought it was sinful to have intercourse on Sundays but apparently didn’t think God had a problem with oral sex."
— "I love being the sheriff of Jefferson County. I love the uniform and the badge and the pistol hanging at my side. I love leading the Fourth of July parade in my cruiser and tossing bubble gum to the kids on the curb. I love walking into the diner for breakfast and seeing heads turn and hearing men say, “G’ morning, Sheriff.” I love all that.
"It’s being a cop that I hate."
— "My brother was smart. I was pretty. I thought that was important. With that as a foundation, I’ve been able to secure a fine career as a twenty-hour-a-week cashier at the A& P grocery store."
— "When you serve as a punching bag for kids who don’t have big lips and bad acne, you tend to spend a lot of time watching television."
A WELCOME MURDER simply succeeds on every level. It's close to perfect. And the fact that you're probably only dimly aware of it, if aware of it at all, it is testament to the sad reality of crime-fiction publishing: it's largely shallow, twist-a-minute thrillers precision-tooled for the market of the moment that consume most of the oxygen in its community. And anything that doesn't fit that fungible formula gets shunted to the side, marketing-wise and across the social-media spectrum.
It's truly tragic that a novel twice as good as the one preceded it got less than half as many reader reviews, because A WELCOME MURDER is a timeless, truly great American novel for virtually any reader's taste.
September 6, 2017
Very unique set up. Five or six people tell the story in the first person in their , alternating chapters.
Tight story, set in a small town in Ohio.
Ending was strong ,as it could have been 1 or more suspects.
Tight story, set in a small town in Ohio.
Ending was strong ,as it could have been 1 or more suspects.
February 19, 2023
Early on reading this book, I was not too sure I would like it as much as Yocum’s previous novels, as this was written in alternating first person perspectives for 5 main characters and I suspected I’d be dealing with unreliable narrator(s) as the mystery unfolded. These characters seemed a bit caricature-ish. And yet…. I found it a fun read after all. Quite entertaining, in fact. I read the last two thirds in one sitting (insomnia). A reviewer compared it with Coen Brothers movies and that is spot on. I chuckled out loud sometimes. Great read.
April 4, 2017
A WELCOME MURDER is a slow burn murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie. It's highly descriptive and slow moving and gives the reader every chance to try to figure out whodunnit.
I do enjoy getting into the characters lives, but there came a point about halfway that the the story just began to drag and I began to skip over parts. I needed to know who killed the guy so I kept going, and it was a twist.
I ended up deciding on a 3.5 star rating. I received my copy from the publisher.
I do enjoy getting into the characters lives, but there came a point about halfway that the the story just began to drag and I began to skip over parts. I needed to know who killed the guy so I kept going, and it was a twist.
I ended up deciding on a 3.5 star rating. I received my copy from the publisher.
April 4, 2017
Robin Yocum's A Welcome Murder introduces a roguish cast of losers, sad sacks, nymphomaniacs, drug dealers, and unscrupulous politicians, all against the backdrop of decay in a once-proud Ohio steel town.
The beauty of this engaging, jigsaw puzzle of a novel is the rise and fall of fortunes, fueled by ambition, bad behavior, and even worse decisions. Yocum paints the corners of the plate like a Cy Young Award winner, achieving a rare balance between police procedural and social farce that truly works. Rich and complex, A Welcome Murder is a joyful portrait of dreams fumbled and recovered.
The beauty of this engaging, jigsaw puzzle of a novel is the rise and fall of fortunes, fueled by ambition, bad behavior, and even worse decisions. Yocum paints the corners of the plate like a Cy Young Award winner, achieving a rare balance between police procedural and social farce that truly works. Rich and complex, A Welcome Murder is a joyful portrait of dreams fumbled and recovered.
May 17, 2017
After a career-ending sports injury, Steubenville native Johnny Earl gets set up for selling cocaine by a jealous former high school classmate Rayce Daubner. After serving seven years in prison, Johnny returns to Steubenville and soon after, Rayce is found murdered. Johnny is the prime suspect, but he didn't do it--so who did?
Told from the viewpoints of several different characters (each with their own secrets), the story keeps you guessing till the end. The small town Ohio River feel is authentic and I agree with the comment that there is a definite Carl Hiassen feel to the story!
Told from the viewpoints of several different characters (each with their own secrets), the story keeps you guessing till the end. The small town Ohio River feel is authentic and I agree with the comment that there is a definite Carl Hiassen feel to the story!
April 21, 2017
My review of this one is now a Mystery Scene magazine online exclusive: http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/61-art...
June 17, 2017
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.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2017/06...
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.
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2017/06...
January 17, 2019
What happens when a person that everyone in town hates is murdered? How far will the local police go knowing that this murder victim was a federal informant?
The story is told through the eyes of local sheriff, his wife and several potential suspects, as well as one suspect’s wife who just may offer more to the story than the reader expects!
Rayce Daubner – murder victim and all around pain in the butt, who previously set up the local sports hero in a Federal Drug Sting.
Johnny Earl – local legend until he is sent to federal prison for selling cocaine (thanks to Daubner). After completing his sentence he returns to Steubenville, Ohio and literally - publicly lays Rayce out just a couple of days before the murder.
Sheriff Francis Roberson – somehow caught between friendship and betrayal. Could Rayce have had something on the sheriff as well? Maybe, information on Dena Xenakis and the sheriff’s indiscretion; or, is he about to put the sheriff’s dream of becoming the President of the U.S. to bed?
Allison Roberson – the sheriff’s wife, who wants her husband’s political aspirations to become a reality so she can get out of Steubenville.
Mathew Vincent ‘Smoochie’ Xenakis - who recently confronted Rayce because of his dalliance with his wife.
Dena Marie Conchek Androski Xenakis – well, she is indeed in the middle of everything!
And, what about Johnny Earl’s cellmate, The General, a white supremacist with plans of creating a new country within the borders of the United States?
So many possibilities; but, the real question remains…who dunnit?
A 5 star read!
May 26, 2018
This is the first book I've read by this author and I look forward to enjoying more Robin Yocum titles. This murder mystery kept me guessing until the last page and I love that! Most mysteries are so predictable or easy to guess, but this one kept me turning the pages. I highly recommend 'A Welcome Murder' but be aware that it is sexually explicit.
July 1, 2020
Loved this. Funny and entertaining!
September 13, 2021
This was a fun? book with a good mystery, quirky characters and not knowing till the end who the bad guy is. Lots of suspects, so the reader is never really sure. I liked it!
February 17, 2022
What a fun read! Some of the expressions that Yocum used made me laugh out loud! Whoever would have thought that a murder could be "welcome?" But it surely was...such a despicable man. The fun was reading all of the different points of view, sometimes totally contradicting the previous one and sometimes totally contradicting the same view. Kept me guessing until the end! Quick, easy read - great for the beach or vacation, or just lounging on a sofa on a grey day.
February 5, 2022
I really appreciate Robin Yocum’s writing. He has a great ability to convey the quirkiness of small town America. His characters are interesting and his stories complex. A Welcome Murder sees a truly hateful person become the victim, hence, no one is mourning the loss. And there is no shortage of possible perpetrators. As the story unfolds, it reveals wasted lives, relationship issues, and unfulfilled desires.in a town that has seen better days. A quick, fulfilling read told with wit.
December 5, 2017
I shouldn't have gone into this thinking it would be like the author's other novel, A Brilliant Death, which I absolutely loved. I know better. Because of that, I spent at least half of the book being annoyed at the humor which I felt was taking away from the seriousness of the story. Then I realized, it's not that serious of a story, so I relaxed and totally enjoyed the humor and all of the awful, terrible human beings who were the main characters.
Definitely kept me interested and entertained, if not disgusted by human behavior and motive.
I think Yocum is a great writer, and I'm about to start his non-fiction book Dead Before Deadline. Maybe even re-read A Brilliant Death. Write more, Robin!
Definitely kept me interested and entertained, if not disgusted by human behavior and motive.
I think Yocum is a great writer, and I'm about to start his non-fiction book Dead Before Deadline. Maybe even re-read A Brilliant Death. Write more, Robin!
April 20, 2017
Several viewpoints makes an intriguing tale, but this won’t be at the top of my list of best reads
Johnny Earl was at the height of his life. He had everything going for him, until it all fell apart. He had a promising baseball career that ended with an injury, which led to him selling cocaine. It didn’t take long for him to end up in prison for seven years. Prison is just another obstacle for him to overcome. Once out, his only goal is to retrieve the drug money he stashed before being arrested and leave town. Before he is even able to start getting his things together, he is picked up for questioning in the murder of the FBI informant who sent him away. To top matters off, his former cellmate shows up in town wanting Johnny’s money to use to fund an Aryan nation group. Johnny is stuck between a rock and a hard place and it might just be a jam he can get out of.
Let me break this one down into the good and the bad. The good would have to be the storyline. The murder mystery was interesting and with the dialogue between the viewpoints it made it even more interesting to see who was involved and how. The bad is that about does it for the good. Even though the story was interesting, I couldn’t get into it as much as I would have liked because of all the harsh language and sex. That might not bother some people but for me it was far too much. The book is short and I did get through it quickly but I still can’t say it is one I enjoyed much or can recommend.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.
Johnny Earl was at the height of his life. He had everything going for him, until it all fell apart. He had a promising baseball career that ended with an injury, which led to him selling cocaine. It didn’t take long for him to end up in prison for seven years. Prison is just another obstacle for him to overcome. Once out, his only goal is to retrieve the drug money he stashed before being arrested and leave town. Before he is even able to start getting his things together, he is picked up for questioning in the murder of the FBI informant who sent him away. To top matters off, his former cellmate shows up in town wanting Johnny’s money to use to fund an Aryan nation group. Johnny is stuck between a rock and a hard place and it might just be a jam he can get out of.
Let me break this one down into the good and the bad. The good would have to be the storyline. The murder mystery was interesting and with the dialogue between the viewpoints it made it even more interesting to see who was involved and how. The bad is that about does it for the good. Even though the story was interesting, I couldn’t get into it as much as I would have liked because of all the harsh language and sex. That might not bother some people but for me it was far too much. The book is short and I did get through it quickly but I still can’t say it is one I enjoyed much or can recommend.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.
March 6, 2017
Told in an intriguing way -- so that although really none of the characters were likeable, I was still engrossed.
July 12, 2021
This is a review of two of Robin Yokum’s books, “A Brilliant Death” and “A Welcome Murder”. These were recommended by some folks back home, Robin writes about the Steubenville, Ohio area. My Grandfather was born in Bellaire, Ohio, my mother in Cleveland, and my father and I were born 12 miles east of Youngstown, Ohio.
“Younz gotsta red up your room, then we go down Long Gavanue for a hang sang wich wit mang ga naze, ya know?”
I suggest reading books in the order the author wrote, Brilliant came in 2016, 2017 for Welcome. They share a story arc, I guess there is a third, A Perfect Shot, and I have a request into the Library. The books are based in same area, similar time frames, but are quite different. I will try not to spoil any plot points.
A Brilliant Death has a single narrator and is the better plotted of the two, but suffers from poor editing. I think Robin is a good yarn spinner, and really did grow up in the shadow of Steubenville. However, when an author names specific items, then unless it is a fantasy sci-fi, that item must stay true to form. His proof-reader/editor let him down!
Brilliant is small community along the Ohio River, south of Steubenville, and southwest of Pittsburgh, PA. Besides humans, a supporting actor is a black 1957 Chevrolet automobile, described in great detail. Let’s give Robin a break and blame typos, but an earthly automobile in 1957 has certain physical properties, that can’t change unless it becomes a fantasy. One is the fuel delivery system; fuel injection or carburetor - it can’t have both. It can have a standard transmission with a clutch or it can be automatic, but in this car, it can’t have both. It is not a Chrysler Fluid Drive. In more detail, the transmission he named, Turbo 350 was first built in 1969, not available in 1957.
I am one of those people who drive newspapers crazy when they print a picture, state the date, but the picture includes an American car whose style was changed every year that had not yet been built at that date. One of my favorite authors, Karen Abbott, who wrote the current non fiction best seller, “Ghosts of Eden Park” , (which happens to happen just down the Ohio River in Cincinnati), found out how wrong newspapers can be. She was writing about the real-life bootlegger, George Remus, and newspapers reported his extravagant 1921 party where he and his wife gave everyone new Pontiacs. Except the Pontiac nameplate didn’t come into existence until 1926. So, the earliest a 1957 Chevrolet was available would be autumn of 1956, but Big Frank got his in the spring of 1954.
So maybe the car facts don’t mean anything to you, here’s a major continuity flaw: Travis found a box in the attic above Big Frank’s bedroom. It could not be there. You’ll have to read the whole story to learn why. After you have read it, then I’ll be glad to explain.
In the second book, Robin did not fall into that trap, I didn’t see any big plot errors in A Welcome Murder, even with multiple narrators, mostly because the time line seems more continuously straight forward. There was a typewriter, but I will let it go for now. A few characters from A Brilliant Death are woven into it, and there was a time when I stopped reading, and put the book down because of Dena’s narration. I slogged through the nasty people encountered in prison, but Dena was all over the place. This book has much more sex and profanity than Brilliant, so much so, that the author apologized to his mother in the dedication at the beginning. So much so, that it makes for a limited vocabulary and becomes redundant and boring! So much so, that even an old Veteran like me who has heard every word just got tired of it. So much so…get my point?
Except for the car details, Brilliant is the better book, I thought Welcome wrapped things up at the end as if the author had run out of pages. Just too cut and dried for me, - a happy ending for everyone except the dead guy. . Days prior to Robin’s books, I read two of the Sunny Randall series by Robert B. Parker. Prior to his death, Mr. Parker had woven Sunny into his Jesse Stone series and even into Spenser (for Hire). That is the writing I feel at the top of the fiction pile, along with a well-worn Travis McGee that I retrieved immediately after finishing Robin, to cleanse my reading palate.
I read A Perfect Shot and gave it a review. I gave it 5 stars, a superior book. If anyone knows how to pass this on to Robin, be my guest! Yokum Communications email doesn’t work.
John Weyrick
“Younz gotsta red up your room, then we go down Long Gavanue for a hang sang wich wit mang ga naze, ya know?”
I suggest reading books in the order the author wrote, Brilliant came in 2016, 2017 for Welcome. They share a story arc, I guess there is a third, A Perfect Shot, and I have a request into the Library. The books are based in same area, similar time frames, but are quite different. I will try not to spoil any plot points.
A Brilliant Death has a single narrator and is the better plotted of the two, but suffers from poor editing. I think Robin is a good yarn spinner, and really did grow up in the shadow of Steubenville. However, when an author names specific items, then unless it is a fantasy sci-fi, that item must stay true to form. His proof-reader/editor let him down!
Brilliant is small community along the Ohio River, south of Steubenville, and southwest of Pittsburgh, PA. Besides humans, a supporting actor is a black 1957 Chevrolet automobile, described in great detail. Let’s give Robin a break and blame typos, but an earthly automobile in 1957 has certain physical properties, that can’t change unless it becomes a fantasy. One is the fuel delivery system; fuel injection or carburetor - it can’t have both. It can have a standard transmission with a clutch or it can be automatic, but in this car, it can’t have both. It is not a Chrysler Fluid Drive. In more detail, the transmission he named, Turbo 350 was first built in 1969, not available in 1957.
I am one of those people who drive newspapers crazy when they print a picture, state the date, but the picture includes an American car whose style was changed every year that had not yet been built at that date. One of my favorite authors, Karen Abbott, who wrote the current non fiction best seller, “Ghosts of Eden Park” , (which happens to happen just down the Ohio River in Cincinnati), found out how wrong newspapers can be. She was writing about the real-life bootlegger, George Remus, and newspapers reported his extravagant 1921 party where he and his wife gave everyone new Pontiacs. Except the Pontiac nameplate didn’t come into existence until 1926. So, the earliest a 1957 Chevrolet was available would be autumn of 1956, but Big Frank got his in the spring of 1954.
So maybe the car facts don’t mean anything to you, here’s a major continuity flaw: Travis found a box in the attic above Big Frank’s bedroom. It could not be there. You’ll have to read the whole story to learn why. After you have read it, then I’ll be glad to explain.
In the second book, Robin did not fall into that trap, I didn’t see any big plot errors in A Welcome Murder, even with multiple narrators, mostly because the time line seems more continuously straight forward. There was a typewriter, but I will let it go for now. A few characters from A Brilliant Death are woven into it, and there was a time when I stopped reading, and put the book down because of Dena’s narration. I slogged through the nasty people encountered in prison, but Dena was all over the place. This book has much more sex and profanity than Brilliant, so much so, that the author apologized to his mother in the dedication at the beginning. So much so, that it makes for a limited vocabulary and becomes redundant and boring! So much so, that even an old Veteran like me who has heard every word just got tired of it. So much so…get my point?
Except for the car details, Brilliant is the better book, I thought Welcome wrapped things up at the end as if the author had run out of pages. Just too cut and dried for me, - a happy ending for everyone except the dead guy. . Days prior to Robin’s books, I read two of the Sunny Randall series by Robert B. Parker. Prior to his death, Mr. Parker had woven Sunny into his Jesse Stone series and even into Spenser (for Hire). That is the writing I feel at the top of the fiction pile, along with a well-worn Travis McGee that I retrieved immediately after finishing Robin, to cleanse my reading palate.
I read A Perfect Shot and gave it a review. I gave it 5 stars, a superior book. If anyone knows how to pass this on to Robin, be my guest! Yokum Communications email doesn’t work.
John Weyrick
July 1, 2017
I love books that offer a good mystery to them that keeps you hanging until the end. This book didn't have a suspenseful edge to it but I still couldn't put it down.
This book is based in Steubenville Ohio. The hometown baseball legend of the great Johnny Earl who was the best sports player to come out of Steubenville. Johnny tried go into pro baseball got hurt and ended up back home. He went into drug dealing and was setup by Rayce Daubner who is an FBI informant and spent several years in prison. Upon being released he went back home where Sheriff Francis Roberson was back home after being with the FBI and took a position with the Jefferson county sheriff dept. He had ambitions to become president was using the sheriffs position as his stepping stone.
Shortly after Johnny Earl is back home from prison Rayce Daubner is found murdered. Johnny Earl is the number one prime suspected until the FBI move in. Then they are questioning Vincent "Smoochie" Xenakis who's wife was sleeping with Rayce Daubner. The FBI agent who comes to town hates Sheriff Francis Roberson because he stole his girlfriend when they were fresh out the academy and he never forgave him. The FBI agent is trying to pin the murder on Sheriff Francis Roberson. And its possible that any of them had the motive, ability and power to kill Rayce Daubner so who did it?
This book is told by many of the main characters Johnny Earl, Sheriff Francis Roberson, his wife Allison Roberson, Vincent "Smoochie" Xenakis, and his wife Dena Marie Xenakis. Each chapter is a different person and the story flows from one persons view point to another picking up where the last persons part ended. It made you want keep flipping pages as you really weren't sure how this was going to end.
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
This book is based in Steubenville Ohio. The hometown baseball legend of the great Johnny Earl who was the best sports player to come out of Steubenville. Johnny tried go into pro baseball got hurt and ended up back home. He went into drug dealing and was setup by Rayce Daubner who is an FBI informant and spent several years in prison. Upon being released he went back home where Sheriff Francis Roberson was back home after being with the FBI and took a position with the Jefferson county sheriff dept. He had ambitions to become president was using the sheriffs position as his stepping stone.
Shortly after Johnny Earl is back home from prison Rayce Daubner is found murdered. Johnny Earl is the number one prime suspected until the FBI move in. Then they are questioning Vincent "Smoochie" Xenakis who's wife was sleeping with Rayce Daubner. The FBI agent who comes to town hates Sheriff Francis Roberson because he stole his girlfriend when they were fresh out the academy and he never forgave him. The FBI agent is trying to pin the murder on Sheriff Francis Roberson. And its possible that any of them had the motive, ability and power to kill Rayce Daubner so who did it?
This book is told by many of the main characters Johnny Earl, Sheriff Francis Roberson, his wife Allison Roberson, Vincent "Smoochie" Xenakis, and his wife Dena Marie Xenakis. Each chapter is a different person and the story flows from one persons view point to another picking up where the last persons part ended. It made you want keep flipping pages as you really weren't sure how this was going to end.
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
September 30, 2017
I listened to this book on audio in my car. Never has one murder made life better for so many (thus the "welcome murder") nor has it unearthed so many suspects with motive! The story mostly takes place in Steubenville, Ohio where Johnny Earl was a stellar HS athlete. He went on to play college and pro baseball. An injury, however, ended his short career. As Johnny was trying to re-script his life, he got involved in dealing cocaine. He was pretty good at it and made good money until his partner and old classmate, Rayce, became an FBI informant and turned Johnny in. At the start of the story, Johnny is just being released from federal prison after spending seven years there.
Shortly after Johnny's release, Rayce is found murdered. Johnny, of course, was a suspects as well as numerous others in town who had reason to hate and possibly kill Rayce. The story unfolds as the murder is investigated. "Who Dunnit?" Was it the chief of police with political aspirations? Was it the meek and mild social worker who was beat up by Rayce when he accused Rayce of having an affair with his wife? Was it the chief's jealous wife? Was it Johnny's crazy prison cellmate? Was it Johnny's crazy ex HS girlfriend? Was the murder covered up? You do discover the answers at the end as well as how the murder of Rayce has benefited all the suspects. It is a tangled web that will hold your interest. So...what ever happened to all the money Johnny had during his drug dealing years... Read this mystery to discover the truth.
Shortly after Johnny's release, Rayce is found murdered. Johnny, of course, was a suspects as well as numerous others in town who had reason to hate and possibly kill Rayce. The story unfolds as the murder is investigated. "Who Dunnit?" Was it the chief of police with political aspirations? Was it the meek and mild social worker who was beat up by Rayce when he accused Rayce of having an affair with his wife? Was it the chief's jealous wife? Was it Johnny's crazy prison cellmate? Was it Johnny's crazy ex HS girlfriend? Was the murder covered up? You do discover the answers at the end as well as how the murder of Rayce has benefited all the suspects. It is a tangled web that will hold your interest. So...what ever happened to all the money Johnny had during his drug dealing years... Read this mystery to discover the truth.
March 14, 2019
It seems I read Yocum's books in bursts. That's probably because when I read one, I once again realize what a great writer he is and I want another. A Welcome Murder differs from the books I've read in that while yes, it does deal with adolescence and growth, it mostly all takes place within a few days in the characters' adulthood. Moreover this is the first book of his that have multiple narratives. Yes, they all speak in first person as Yocum usually writes, the chapters alternate between the various players in this story.
One of the primary characters, Johnny Earl, is cousin to the narrator of A Brilliant Death, however we hear little of his relations in this story. Instead he and other characters from his high school days are linked by the murder of two-bit criminal Rayce Daubner, a man who set up Earl to be arrested for drug dealing, and who has connections to each of the narrators in some unsavory manner. Of course, they all have their problems as well.
Most of his stories I've read deal with teens as the come of age or what happens later. A key aspect of most if the narrators is an inability of each to set aside the accomplishments or the failings of their adolescence. It's prominent with Johnny Earl, whose high school athleticism fails to bring him success afterwards, but also shows in Dena Marie and "Smoochie" Xenakis. For some to succeed, some have to learn to set aside the pitfalls of their youth - both the successes and their failures.
Overall, I enjoyed this. I always look forward to the next book by Yocum.
One of the primary characters, Johnny Earl, is cousin to the narrator of A Brilliant Death, however we hear little of his relations in this story. Instead he and other characters from his high school days are linked by the murder of two-bit criminal Rayce Daubner, a man who set up Earl to be arrested for drug dealing, and who has connections to each of the narrators in some unsavory manner. Of course, they all have their problems as well.
Most of his stories I've read deal with teens as the come of age or what happens later. A key aspect of most if the narrators is an inability of each to set aside the accomplishments or the failings of their adolescence. It's prominent with Johnny Earl, whose high school athleticism fails to bring him success afterwards, but also shows in Dena Marie and "Smoochie" Xenakis. For some to succeed, some have to learn to set aside the pitfalls of their youth - both the successes and their failures.
Overall, I enjoyed this. I always look forward to the next book by Yocum.
June 9, 2024
This was a short, fun read with a little bit of a twist. Rayce Daubner, town derelict, federal informant, and all-around douchebag is murdered. Rather than the typical police procedural, we are given the points of view from five different characters that have a stake in Rayce's demise. Sheriff Francis Roberson has aspirations of being elected to Congress and eventually the presidency, but only if he can "solve" Rayce's murder. Alison Roberson is the Sheriff's wife with aspirations of her own to be a congressman's wife and maybe even first lady someday. Johnny Earl was the high-school star athlete and even made it to the major league until he blew out his knee and Rayce set him up on a federal drug dealing charge. Dena Marie Xenakis was Johnny's childhood sweetheart but married "Smoochie" Xenakis. "Smoochie" Vincent Xenakis is the town milquetoast. He knows that Dena is still in love with Johnny and that she's also been cheating on him with Rayce Daubner and with the sheriff. My what a tangled web we weave!
May 27, 2017
The dead body of Rayce Daubner, local low-life and FBI informant is found riddled with bullet wounds from a 38 calliber revolver. The story is alternately revealed through the eyes of Steubenville sheriff (Francis Roberson), his wife (Allison), former Steubenville star athlete but now recently released drug dealer (Johnny Earl), doormat social worker (Matthew Vincent “Smoochie Xenakis) and his promiscuous wife (Dena Marie) who was the high school beauty queen. None of these characters are particularly likeable or trustworthy. The novel is clever and amusing as it quickly moves from one character's thoughts to the next. We don’t so much follow the murder investigation as the thought processes of the different characters.
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