The Cassie Black Trilogy

Work at a funeral home can be mundane. Until you accidentally start bringing the dead back to life.

Cassie Black works at a funeral home. She's used to all manner of dead bodies. What she's not used to is them waking up. Which they seem to be doing on a disturbingly regular basis lately.

Just when Cassie thinks she has the problem under control, the recently deceased Busby Tenpenny insists he's been murdered and claims Cassie might be responsible thanks to a wicked brand of magic she's been exposed to. The only way for Cassie to get her life back to normal is to tame her magic and uncover Mr. Tenpenny's true killer.

Simple right?

Of course not. Because while Cassie works on getting her newly acquired magic sorted, she's blowing up kitchens, angering an entire magical community, and discovering her past is more closely tied to Busby Tenpenny than she could have ever imagined.

If you like comic fantasy whodunits with plenty of wry humor, a cast of unforgettable characters, a touch of paranormal mystery, and piles of pastries, you'll find it hard to pry yourself away from this first book of the Cassie Black Trilogy.

Perfect for fans of…

Comic fantasy mysteries full of magical mayhem, plots that twist in all the right places, and wry humor that'll leave you laugh-snorting.

Magic in the most unlikely places, especially where it has a tendency to go spectacularly wrong

Accident-prone heroines learning to navigate unpredictable, occasionally explosive magical skills while trying (and failing) to not make things worse

C.K. McDonnell, Jodi Taylor, and Ben Aaronovitch, with supernatural murder mysteries, witty banter, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting

What readers are saying…

"The Undead Mr. Tenpenny is a clever, hilarious romp through a new magical universe that can be accessed through the closet of a hole-in-the-wall apartment in Portland, Oregon." —Sarah Angleton, author of Gentleman of Misfortune

"When I saw the book title…my first thought was, “another zombie apocalypse”. A wonderful surprise greeted me with an entertaining story that was written with humor, a great story line and new twist on the undead." —J. Tate, Eugene Reviewer

"Man oh man, did I love this book! …The plot was great, and got even better as things progressed…. I think the biggest pro of this book is the characters." —Jonathan Pongratz, author of Reaper

"…suffused with dark humor and witty dialogue, of the sort that Painter excels at…a fun read for anyone who enjoys fast-paced, somewhat snarky, somewhat twisted, fantasy adventures." —Berthold Gambrel, author ofVespasian Moon’s Fabulous Autumn Carnival

"Wow and wow again! I absolutely loved this book! You get such a feel for the characters and the story is so fast paced you don't want to put it down." —Goodreads Reviewer

About the Series

The Cassie Black Trilogy is a fish-out-of-water tale that takes you from the streets of Portland to the Tower of London. It's got magic and mystery, pastries and zombies, sentient gnomes and an evil wizard...because there's always an evil wizard, isn't there?

The Cassie Black “Trilogy” has now grown to a very un-trilogy-like six books that include…

The Undead Mr. Tenpenny (#1 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 1.0)

The Uncanny Raven Winston (#2 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 1.0)

The Untangled Cassie Black (#3 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 1.0)

The Unusual Mayor Marheart (#1 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 2.0)

The Unbearable Inspector Oberlin (#2 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 2.0)

The Unexpected Mr. Hopkins (#3 of The Cassie Black Trilogy 2.0)