Mississippi Blue 42

Eli Cranor

Hardcover

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Pre-order: Ships Aug 5th, 2025

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Former quarterback turned Edgar-winning author Eli Cranor throws a glorious game winner in this series debut starring a rookie FBI agent who finds herself caught in the tangled web of a college football empire--and the bloody greed that fuels it.

"Former college quarterback Eli Cranor scores big with Mississippi Blue 42, a fun, provocative crime novel that takes aim at the heart of the American game."--Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author of An Honest Man

Special Agent Rae Johnson grew up on football fields alongside her father, a national-championship-winning coach. Which is exactly why, fresh out of Quantico, she's sent down to Compson, Mississippi, to investigate the illicit money flowing into a bustling football program in the heart of the Delta. But two days into the assignment things take a dire turn when UCM's star quarterback is flung from the roof of a college bar, lands on a bag of money, and dies.

Hoping to turn a routine fraud case into a career-defining bust, Rae ingratiates herself with the fans, coaches, players, and politicians who make up the university's complex social hierarchy. With rumors of corruption rustling through the kudzu vines, Rae soon realizes there's more to the game than what she'd learned as a child. And in order to win, she'll have to put all her father's lessons to the ultimate test.

In the vein of Carl Hiaasen and Sue Grafton, Mississippi Blue 42 takes a hard and often hilarious look at the big-money world of college athletics. In Cranor's capable hands, football isn't just a game, it's a front-row seat to the great American show.

Book Details

Publisher: Soho Crime
Publish Date: Aug 5th, 2025
Pages: 384
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 0.00in - 0.00in - 0.00in - 1.25lb
EAN: 9781641296977
Categories: • Thrillers - Crime• Sports• Southern

About the Author

Nationally bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author Eli Cranor played quarterback at every level: peewee to professional. These days, he serves as the "Writer in Residence" at Arkansas Tech, where he also lends his eye--and sometimes, his arm--to the university's football team. Eli's column, "Where I'm Writing From," appears weekly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. His previous works include Don't Know Tough, Ozark Dogs, and Broiler.

Praise for this book

Praise for Mississippi Blue 42

"With a sure hand and a knowing smirk, Eli Cranor guides us through a world that is like a religion for some while never losing sight that college football--despite all the money, fame, and power which orbits that world--is still a game. A game played by young men who put everything on the line for a chance to lift themselves and their families out of the perdition of poverty and play under the bright lights on the biggest stage. Mississippi Blue 42 is an amazing achievement by a powerful voice in crime fiction."
--S. A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of All the Sinners Bleed

"Former college quarterback Eli Cranor scores big with Mississippi Blue 42, a fun, provocative thriller that takes aim at the heart of the American game."
--Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author of An Honest Man

"Mississippi Blue 42 is a captivating read by a writer delivering a sure enough win. The characters are sharply observed, the story unfolding with cold-eyed precision."
--Gary Phillips, author of Ash Dark as Night

Praise for Eli Cranor

"Southern noir at its finest, a cauldron of terrible choices and even more terrible outcomes . . . There is a raw ferocity to Cranor's prose, perfectly in keeping with the novel's examination of curdling masculinity."
--Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review

"Readers may think they know what happened, but Cranor has some twists in store--in a plot that calls to mind Megan Abbott's depictions of claustrophobic competitive cultures. A former quarterback who coached for five years at an Arkansas high school, Cranor brings an insider's understanding of the game, the region and human nature."
--Paula Woods, Los Angeles Times

"Brilliant . . . A major work from a bright, young talent."
--USA Today, **** out of **** stars

"At once a crime novel packed with violence and desperation, a modern Southern Gothic tale drenched in darkness, and a touching, brutally honest take on football as religion."
--Gabino Iglesias, Southwest Review

"A searing and stunningly poignant study in what makes us and what breaks us and ultimately what brings us to a place of peace. Eli Cranor is that rare writer who can make you gasp, cry and cheer often in the same paragraph."
--S.A. Cosby, New York Times best selling author of Razorblade Tears