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Mississippi Blue 42
(2025)(The first book in the FBI Special Agent Rae Johnson series)
A novel by Eli Cranor
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 the university’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.
Genre: Mystery
‘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 the university’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.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"Filled with humor, heart, and an insider's knowledge of the American South and its favorite sport, Mississippi Blue 42 is the kind of read that keeps a smile on your face as you compulsively turn the pages. If you haven't read Eli Cranor yet, now's the time." - Alafair Burke
"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
"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
"Cranor's new novel channels Elmore Leonard through the world of dark money college football, as a newly minted FBI agent is assigned to track down a shadowy cabal in central Mississippi pouring dirty money into a football-obsessed community. Cranor's prose has never been sharper and he knows this world inside and out. This is quite likely the most fun you'll have with a crime book all year." - Dwyer Murphy
"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
"Former professional quarterback and Edgar-winning author Eli Cranor delivers four quarters of full-contact action - and the clock never seems to stop. Cranor's colorful characters - and their peculiar Mississippi blend of unsportsmanlike conduct - will keep readers turning the page. Race, gambling, murder, blackmail, corruption, politics, and football . . . this book has it all." - Neil White
"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
"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
"Cranor's new novel channels Elmore Leonard through the world of dark money college football, as a newly minted FBI agent is assigned to track down a shadowy cabal in central Mississippi pouring dirty money into a football-obsessed community. Cranor's prose has never been sharper and he knows this world inside and out. This is quite likely the most fun you'll have with a crime book all year." - Dwyer Murphy
"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
"Former professional quarterback and Edgar-winning author Eli Cranor delivers four quarters of full-contact action - and the clock never seems to stop. Cranor's colorful characters - and their peculiar Mississippi blend of unsportsmanlike conduct - will keep readers turning the page. Race, gambling, murder, blackmail, corruption, politics, and football . . . this book has it all." - Neil White
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