UM English Instructor Releases New Crime Thriller Book

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

University of Mississippi English instructor Eliot Parker has released his latest thriller, “A Final Call,” the second in the thriller series featuring Cleveland Homicide Detective Stacy Tavitt.

This book follows the 2017 series debut titled “Code for Murder.”

In this new book, Tavitt returns and is contacted by a former college classmate who asks for help in finding her missing son, Colton. Still reeling physically and emotionally from her last investigation – which led to the disappearance of her brother – Stacy reluctantly agrees.

When Colton becomes the primary suspect in the murder of an ex-girlfriend, it’s a race against the clock as Stacy tries to find out what happened to her brother and clear his name, all while stopping a lethal killer.

New York Times bestselling author Amanda Eyre Ward says that she was “riveted by the latest Eliot Parker thriller. I will miss spending time with Stacy in his atmospheric Cleveland,” according to the book’s publishing company, Headline Books.

Parker, a West Virginia native and former Ohio resident has won the West Virginia Literary Merit Award as well as the PenCraft and Feathered Quill Book Awards for his works and his novel, “Fragile Brilliance,” was a finalist for the Southern Book Prize in Thriller Writing in 2017.

“A Final Call,” is based in Clevland, Ohio, a place where Parker spent a lot of time while visiting family in the city.

“Clevland was like a second home to me,” he said. “Clevland is a great place for this kind of story. So much diversity there … it’s just a great place to set a story.”

Parker believes readers who enjoy investing time to sit down and read a thriller would enjoy his newest book.

“It’s going to make you turn the pages and hold your attention,” he said of his book. “Anyone who wants to read a story of a strong, capable female detective who is taking on crime and criminals would also enjoy this story.”

His other books include, “Breakdown at Clear River,” “Making Arrangements,” Fragile Brilliance,” “Code for Murder” and “A Knife’s Edge.”

Parker has taught Writing and Rhetoric at Ole Miss for four years. He’s currently working on another book tentatively titled, “Double Cross.” He hopes to have it completed in the spring.

The book can be purchased in paper, audio and e-book formats on the Headline Books website.