What do you think?
Rate this book
Mississippi Blue 42
Not yet published
Expected 5 Aug 25Edgar-winning author Eli Cranor throws a glorious Hail Mary in this series debut starring an FBI agent whose very first case lands her in a college football empire in Mississippi—where not everything goes according to the playbooks.
Compson, Mississippi, 2014: Newly-minted FBI Special Agent Rae Johnson knows a thing or two about the gridiron. She practically grew up on the football field, alongside her father, a legendary national-championship-winning college coach. Which is why she’s perfect for her first assignment out of to investigate illicit money flows in a booming football town in central Mississippi. White-collar crime.
Rae brings fresh knowledge to the sting, but her mission to bust the so-called bagmen—diehard fans who effect recruiting decisions and game outcomes through under-the-table cash bonuses to players—has been unsuccessful. Things get complicated when the star quarterback of the University of Central Mississippi team is flung off a roof to his death, a money-filled gym bag beside him. Rae isn’t there to investigate murder, it’s not in her jurisdiction—but try as she may to push it away, something’s going on in Compson, Mississippi. Something not quite right.
To get to the bottom of it, Rae must ingratiate herself with the people of Compson—the players, and gridiron girls, and coaches, and politicians, who comprise the complex social machinery of the small-town football empire. A heart-pounding noir thriller, Edgar-winning author Eli Cranor’s latest is an ambitious and well-researched dive into the crooked corners, the tenuous alliances, and the power-hungry sideliners of America’s most popular game.
Compson, Mississippi, 2014: Newly-minted FBI Special Agent Rae Johnson knows a thing or two about the gridiron. She practically grew up on the football field, alongside her father, a legendary national-championship-winning college coach. Which is why she’s perfect for her first assignment out of to investigate illicit money flows in a booming football town in central Mississippi. White-collar crime.
Rae brings fresh knowledge to the sting, but her mission to bust the so-called bagmen—diehard fans who effect recruiting decisions and game outcomes through under-the-table cash bonuses to players—has been unsuccessful. Things get complicated when the star quarterback of the University of Central Mississippi team is flung off a roof to his death, a money-filled gym bag beside him. Rae isn’t there to investigate murder, it’s not in her jurisdiction—but try as she may to push it away, something’s going on in Compson, Mississippi. Something not quite right.
To get to the bottom of it, Rae must ingratiate herself with the people of Compson—the players, and gridiron girls, and coaches, and politicians, who comprise the complex social machinery of the small-town football empire. A heart-pounding noir thriller, Edgar-winning author Eli Cranor’s latest is an ambitious and well-researched dive into the crooked corners, the tenuous alliances, and the power-hungry sideliners of America’s most popular game.
384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication August 5, 2025
73 people want to read
About the author
Eli Cranor
15Ìýbooks418ÌýfollowersEli Cranor played quarterback at every level: peewee to professional, and then coached high school football for five years. These days, he's traded in the pigskin for a laptop, writing from Arkansas where he lives with his wife and kids.
Eli's novel Don't Know Tough was awarded the Peter Lovesey First Crime Novel Contest and will be published by Soho Press in 2022. Over the course of his career, Eli's fiction has garnered multiple awards (2018-The Missouri Review; 2017-Greensboro Review). Along with fiction, Eli writes a nationally-syndicated sports column, and his craft column, "Shop Talk," appears monthly over at CrimeReads. Eli is currently at work on his next novel.
Eli's novel Don't Know Tough was awarded the Peter Lovesey First Crime Novel Contest and will be published by Soho Press in 2022. Over the course of his career, Eli's fiction has garnered multiple awards (2018-The Missouri Review; 2017-Greensboro Review). Along with fiction, Eli writes a nationally-syndicated sports column, and his craft column, "Shop Talk," appears monthly over at CrimeReads. Eli is currently at work on his next novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 26, 2025
This book was a thriller that had heart- peocedural, satire, and lots of action! Eli Cranor knows football and he knows how to write! These characters and this story of the NCAA behind the curtain will stay with me
April 4, 2025
Eli Cranor writes from a place of knowledge when it comes to the Southern part of America’s REAL pastime. For those who think the game we love is fundamentally broken in today’s world of NIL and transfer portal, Cranor rewinds to just a few years ago when corruption ruled and everybody profited off the big business of college football legally � except those who played.
From sleazy bagmen to the layers of corruption it takes to build a football fiefdom, Cranor takes us on a sweaty fever dream though a world where a cliche-spitting evangelist puppet coach, skeezy politicians and pay-for-play schemes may seem over-the-top but truly aren’t far removed from reality.
This is the seedy underbelly of a sport where we love the taste but don’t always want to see the process by which the product’s made. But Cranor gives us a rip/roaring good time along the ride.
From sleazy bagmen to the layers of corruption it takes to build a football fiefdom, Cranor takes us on a sweaty fever dream though a world where a cliche-spitting evangelist puppet coach, skeezy politicians and pay-for-play schemes may seem over-the-top but truly aren’t far removed from reality.
This is the seedy underbelly of a sport where we love the taste but don’t always want to see the process by which the product’s made. But Cranor gives us a rip/roaring good time along the ride.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.