''Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick Story'' is a 2007

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...

by actor

Blair Underwood Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film '' Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''. Underwood has ...

and writers

Tananarive Due Tananarive Priscilla Due ( ) (born January 5, 1966) is an American author and educator. Due won the American Book Award for her novel '' The Living Blood'' (2001), and the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, the Shirley Jackson Award for Best ...

and

Steven Barnes Steven Barnes (born March 1, 1952) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer. He has written novels, short fiction, screen plays for television, scripts for comic books, animation, newspaper copy, and magazine articles. Earl ...

. The book was released on June 19, 2007, through

Atria Books Atria may refer to: Science *Atrium (heart) (plural: atria), an anatomical structure of the heart *Atria (genus), a flatworm genus in the family Dendrocoelidae * Atria (star) or Alpha Trianguli Australis, a star in the constellation Triangulum Aus ...

and is the first book in the ''Tennyson Hardwick'' series. ''Casanegra'' follows the adventures of Tennyson Hardwick, an actor and former

gigolo A gigolo ( ) is a male escort, call boy or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship. The term ''gigolo'' usually implies a man who adopts a lifestyle consisting of a number of such relationships serially rat ...

. A sequel, ''In the Night of the Heat'', was released in 2009. Underwood has expressed interest in filming an adaptation of ''Casanegra'' with himself potentially starring as the character of Tennyson Hardwick.

Synopsis

Tennyson "Ten" Hardwick is an actor trying to make it big in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, which is made difficult by his past as a gigolo that sold his body to anyone willing to pay the right price. This past has caused a distance between Tennyson and his family, especially his

LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

captain of a father. However overcoming his past proves to be harder than he imagined after Tennyson finds himself the prime suspect for the murder of Afrodite, a rapper and former client of his.

Development

Underwood came up with the book's concept after working on a project with

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

that would have had the two acting as a client and her gigolo. The project never came to fruition, but Underwood continued to work on the concept until he approached Due with the idea of writing a novel based upon a gigolo. The first draft of ''Casanegra'' was written by Due and subsequent drafts were co-written with Underwood and Barnes. The team drew on

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private in ...

and

Zane Zane may be a unisex given name or a surname. Its Western usage derives from the Venetian form of ''Gianni'' or an alternate spelling of the German and Jewish name ''Zahn''. Zane can also refer to the Arabic personal name more commonly spelt Zain me ...

for some of the book's influences and included several recognizable Hollywood features such as the restaurant chain

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles is an American soul food restaurant chain that operates seven locations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded by Herb Hudson in 1975. The ''Los Angeles Times'' has referred to Roscoe's as "su ...

and the African-American-owned bookstore Eso Won Books.

Reception

Critical reception was mostly positive. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' both gave mostly positive reviews for ''Casanegra'', with ''Publishers Weekly'' praising the book as a "seamlessly entertaining novel".

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.tananarivedue.com/casanegra.htm, Official page for Tananarive Due 2007 American novels American mystery novels African-American novels Novels set in Los Angeles Novels by Tananarive Due Atria Publishing Group books Mystery novels set in California