Racism, bribery, political corruption, and a disregard for players' well-being score thematic touchdowns in Mississippi Blue 42. Eli Cranor's skill in creating fully formed characters, especially FBI Special Agent Rae Johnson, elevates the plot in this first volume of a planned series.
Fresh out of Quantico, Rae is sent to Compson, Miss., to work with burned-out agent Frank Ranchino, who's more focused on retirement than on the stymied undercover investigation into fraud in the University of Central Mississippi Chiefs football program. Rae is ambitious, laser-focused, and--as the daughter of legendary University of Arkansas coach Chuck Johnson, whom she worships--an authority on football. The investigation takes a turn when the Chiefs' star quarterback, Matt Talley, a white senior who was poised for national attention, dies after falling from the rooftop of a college bar. Money from a gym bag is found scattered next to his body. Rae wonders whether Matt jumped, was pushed, or fell accidentally. Disregarding Frank's insistence that they are supposed to probe financial crimes, not murder, Rae ramps up her investigation by posing as a sports journalist, because she believes a politician is trying to bribe Chiefs backup quarterback Moses McCloud, a Black freshman, and she wants to get to the bottom of it.
Although Edgar Award-winning author and former professional football player Cranor includes myriad scenes on the field coupled with details about the game, it's not necessary to have an intimate knowledge of football to enjoy his riveting novel, Mississippi Blue 42. Instead, Cranor's brisk narrative explores greed, the perversion of the sport, its often naive players, and hero worship. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer