Tennyson Hardwick returns with a softer edge. The painful ordeal of solving his previous case matured and humbled him in a subtle way.  Now his primary focus is negotiating familial relationships, having brought both his disabled father and a teenage runaway to live with him, as well as attempting to navigate love's minefield with his girlfriend.

In the wake of T.D. Jackson's acquittal from charges that he murdered his wife, Tennyson turns down T.D.'s personal request for his bodyguard services.  Days later, T.D. is murdered.  Obligation and Tennyson's unique brand of good-guy morality blend to land him exactly where he doesn't want to be, sleuthing for answers about T.D.'s death. To solve this mystery, he must uncover the true details of the murder of T.D.'s wife and the insidious generational secrets stemming from a racially-charged bowl game in 1967.

Blair Underwood, Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due weave a phenomenal story, somehow incorporating modern day fanaticism, race relations and familial obligations and comparing them to the racial environment of the `60's, fraternal bonds, perverse loyalty and generational sins. And, as with real life, there are no clear winners and losers here, no "aha" moment where an obvious culprit is handcuffed.  Make no mistake, Tennyson finds the answers, but, as with most race related travesties, the answer is one no one really wants to know.

IN THE NIGHT OF THE HEAT trumps Casanegra, if that is possible, delivering a multifaceted and ingenious story that left me craving for more.

Reviewed by *Guest Reviewer A. Kai
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers