Work at a funeral home can be mundane. Until you accidentally start bringing the dead back to life. "...a clever, hilarious romp through a new magical universe" --Sarah Angleton, author of Gentleman of Misfortune 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 believes 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 contemporary fantasy with snarky humor, unforgettable characters, and paranormal mystery such as Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series or Wilkie Martin's Inspector Hobbes, you'll find it hard to pry yourself away from this first book of the Cassie Black Trilogy. Selected as one of Apple's Most Anticipated Books of 2021 - Winner of the Novel Excerpt Prize from the League of American PEN Women - Finalist in the Yeah You Write Novel Contest 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? Note: While this book delivers plenty of wry giggles and a few hexes, it's fairly clean with only an itty-bitty bit of light cursing, one fight scene, and no hanky panky or sexual situations. 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. --Jonathon 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 of Vespasian Moon's Fabulous Autumn Carnival ...a fun and entertaining read. Great wit too. --Carrie Rubin, author of The Bone Curse