NATCHEZ — New York Times best-selling author and Natchez resident, Greg Iles, will host a book-signing event Saturday to benefit the Natchez Stewpot, a nonprofit that feeds hungry citizens in the community.

Iles will be signing first editions of his latest work, “Cemetery Road,” for $30 each from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Edelweiss — a house owned by Iles and his wife, Caroline, and located at 209 S. Broadway St.

All proceeds from the event will contribute to a good cause, Stewpot Director Amanda Jeansonne said.

Saturday’s signing would be the first opportunity for the public to get their hands on “Cemetery Road,” which won’t have an official release until March 5, Jeansonne said.

“This is it,” Jeansonne said. “It will be released first in Natchez. … We have a lot of books, so I’m hoping people will come out on Saturday to buy them. We’ll have refreshments and live music playing and hopefully have a beautiful day on the bluff.”

“Cemetery Road” follows the story of the fictional character Marshall McEwan, a successful journalist in Washington, D.C., Iles said.

He returns to his fictional hometown of Bienville, Mississippi, where he learns that his father is terminally ill — only to find that the Bienville Poker Club has nearly run the town into the ground, his family’s 150-year-old newspaper is failing and his former lover, Jet Turner, has married into the family of one of the club’s powerful patriarchs.

To make matters worse, two murders bring chaos near the closing of a business deal with a billion-dollar industry that promises to save the town from extinction—and McEwan and Turner have to team up to solve the case.

“It’s really about what is happening in the rivertowns in Mississippi,” Iles said, “ — Natchez, Greenville, Vicksburg and Clarksdale. We all know that in the ’60s and early ’70s, those were vibrant towns, but now those towns are shells of themselves. They’ve shrunk as the face of the world has changed … and those towns are desperate for some sort of economic salvation. … But deep down, it’s really about family and secrets.”

Iles said the book is selling quickly, adding that more than half of approximately 800 copies available have already been claimed.

“I hope people realize, the luxury of a lot of time to get one of these books doesn’t exist,” he said. “You only have to go on the Stewpot rounds one day to realize, ‘Wow, this matters.’”

Iles has done several early releases to benefit various charitable causes in Natchez, Jeansonne said. However, this is the first of Iles’ book signings that has been designated to benefit the Stewpot. 

Iles has done similar book signings in the past with previous works for various charitable causes in Natchez, Jeansonne said, but this is the first one designated for the Stewpot. 

“He called in January and said that he’d done this in the past for the Trinity Episcopal School and Natchez Children’s Services, and wants to branch out and include us,” Jeansonne said. “He has done this for every release since the beginning. … I hope everyone will come out to support it.”

For those who can’t make it Saturday but would still like to contribute, the book can be shipped for $40. To preorder, call 601-446-9549 or email ntzstewpot@gmail.com.