The Arkansas Center for the Book is pleased to share our Great Reads selection for Adults: Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor (New York: Soho Crime, 2025). “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.”
Nationally-bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author Eli Cranor played quarterback at every level: peewee to professional. These days, he serves as Writer in Residence at Arkansas Tech, where he also lends his expertise to the university’s football team, an experience he mined while drafting Mississippi Blue 42.
As part of the 2025 Library of Congress’s National Book Festival’s Festival Near You, explore Great Reads from Great Places selections chosen by various state affiliates of the Center for the Book. From the Ozarks to the Smokies, the bayous to the bluegrass: Great Reads for 2025 features authors James Seay Brown (Alabama), Eli Cranor (Arkansas), David D. Schafter and Todd Mildfelt (Kansas), Ken Wells (Louisiana), and Kevin Wilson (Tennessee) discussing their titles selected for the 2025 Great Reads from Great Places.
Running Time: 38 minutes 53 seconds
Celebrate American literature with the 2025 Great Reads from Great Places Challenge, and see how many of the selections from all fifty-six Centers for the Book affiliates you can read!
Views expressed by Great Reads authors do not necessarily reflect the views or official policies of the State of Arkansas, the Arkansas Department of Education, or the Arkansas State Library.