''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 reas ...

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 a ...

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''. She is also known as a film historian with expertise in Black horror. Due teaches a cours ...

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. Career ...

. The book was released on June 19, 2007, through Atria Books 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 or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship, often living in her residence or having to be present at her beck and call. The term ''gigolo'' usually implies a man who adopts a lifest ...

. 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 Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

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 March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

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 inv ...

and

Zane The name Zane may be a 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''. An Arabic name Zain, Zayn, or as it is often anglicized Zane, is an Arab ...

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 and the African-American-owned bookstore

Eso Won Books Eso Won Books, an independent bookstore located at 4327 Degnan Boulevard in the Historic Leimert Park Village neighborhood of South Los Angeles, is one of the largest Black-owned bookstores in the U.S. In 2021, ''Publishers Weekly'' awarded th ...

Reception

Critical reception was mostly positive. ''

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

'' 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 B ...

'' 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