As journalists flood town for a high-profile announcement promising progress, prosperity, and a Grand Prix–fueled future, Ebrel Dymestl is just trying to keep her café running and her magic under control. Being a newly awakened witch is complicated enough. Doing it under a limiter bracelet while supernatural tensions rise? That’s a recipe for disaster.
When a pixie gossip columnist is murdered in front of the press—killed with something as mundane as a newspaper—Ebrel knows the chaos isn’t accidental. As rival columnists clash, old magical grudges resurface, and a long-buried feud escalates into a sanctioned duel, Misty Valley begins to unravel.
Then the magic goes very wrong.
Floods. Failing spells. A deadly bolt that shouldn’t exist. And an unseen manipulator using Ebrel’s snarky feline familiar as the perfect scapegoat.
As bodies fall and the town teeters on the edge of supernatural exposure, Ebrel is forced to dig deeper into a mystery that blends modern ambition with ancient magic. When she’s kidnapped and dragged toward a cliff with death waiting below, she’ll have to rely on allies she never expected—and powers she’s not sure she can control.
Progress has a price.
Magic always does.
A French Press of Murder blends high-stakes urban fantasy with a cozy paranormal mystery heart—featuring witches under pressure, ghosts with opinions, deadly magical politics, and a heroine who just wanted a quiet cup of coffee.
Alyn Troy is American from the Midwest (Indiana) who writes The Mystic Brews and Pixie Twist series of Cozy Mysteries. In addition to Indiana, he's lived in Southern California, where the Pixie Twist series is set, and has served as a history docent on notable pier in SoCal. In his past lives, he's been a journalist, a wedding photographer, and an adjunct professor. Alyn gets daily assistance from his fuzzy familiar (AKA "Lord Fuzzbutt"). When not helping his human with the writing of paranormal cozy mysteries, Lord Fuzzbutt likes to sit out outside and watch the hummingbirds dart about like pixies. He often yowls at the door, waiting to head to the patio for chipmunk duty. Fortunately, the little rodents are craftier than Fuzzbutt is. Alyn's beverage of choice is dark roast coffee with a dash of honey, and a splash of half-n-half. In addition to being half-way competent with his home espresso machine, Alyn makes a mean Mai Tai.