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 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.

Note: While this book delivers a contemporary fantasy tale with snarky 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 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)

What readers have to say about the series so far...

"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.""More, please!""I was unable to put this down when I started reading it. The author combines humour with a fast paced murder mystery all packed into a funeral home.""…suffused with dark humor and witty dialogue...""Cassie Black, won me over in the first book of this series, and she doesn’t disappoint in this one!!!"

“Readers of early Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, and the best thrillers out there should try Liu now.”—Publishers Weekly

“Anyone who loves my work should love [Lui’s].”—Christina Feehan

Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu’s magnificent Dirk and Steele novels are the gold standard of paranormal romance fiction. Stepping briefly away from her unique detective agency of shapeshifters, psychics, and extraordinary beings, Lui enters the dangerous shadows of Crimson City with A Taste of Crimson. Set in a dark and twisted version of Los Angeles—a “City of Angels” from which the angels have long since fled—A Taste of Crimson has a beautiful creature of the night teaming up with an enemy, a slayer, to get to the root of an impending catastrophe that threatens to shatter a tentative peace between humans, vampires and werewolves. A breathtaking blend of sensuous romance with superior urban fantasy in the bestselling vein of Jeaniene Frost and Nalini Singh, A Taste of Crimson is a satisfying feast for every paranormal fan. Perhaps Booklist put it best: “If you have yet to add Liu to your must-read list, you’re doing yourself a disservice.”

Trouble is brewing in Nexus, and for some reason, they think I can stop it.

Some people are born to greatness. My mother wanted to strangle me at birth.

I’ve not had an easy life, not in a world that thrives on magic. Spells to reinforce buildings. Hexes to give you the face of a supermodel.

Or so I’ve been told.

No one can hide their true face from me, and people get ugly when they find out my presence is the reason magic shrivels and dies.

It’s not as cool as it sounds, so when I’m offered a job with the Special Monsters Unit, I take a chance and join a misfit crew to find out why the town of Nexus is a magnet for cryptids.

At least I’m part of a team. I’m making friends. I’m—

Finding out secrets about my past that are hard to handle.

But my emotional scars will have to wait until after we deal with the monsters. Especially those with human faces.

The 

New York Times

 bestselling author offers “

absolutely everything a reader could want in a book: action, sex, craziness, passion, lunacy and

 . . . 

humor

” (

Fresh Fiction

).

The trouble with humans is that they’re far too sensitive. Forget you put a woman in the local jail for a few months—and she takes it so personally! And yet she is the one trying to assassinate the queen. And now I’m trapped with Elina Shestakova of the Black Bear Riders of the Midnight . . . gods! That endless name!  But what am I to do? I am Celyn the Charming with direct orders from my queen to protect this unforgiving female.  Even more shocking, this unforgiving female is completely unimpressed by me. How is that even possible? But I know what I want and, for the moment, I want her. And I’m sure that she, like all females, will learn to adore me. How could she not when I am just so damn charming?   

Praise for the Dragon Kin Series

     “Aiken’s patented mix of bloodthirsty action, crazy scenarios and hilarious dialogue have made this series a truly unique pleasure.”—

RT Book Reviews

 (4½ Stars)   “A chest thumping, mead-hall rocking, enemy slaying brawl of a good book.”—

All Things Urban Fantasy

  “Laugh-out-loud funny—I loved it!”—Thea Harrison,

 New York Times

 bestselling author