Two novellas by Maple Quinn
These are my notes about two novellas by Maple Quinn, “The Moonlight Vanishing” and “Murder Beneath Her Studio.”
Maple Quinn is the pen name of a friend in Oregon whom I have known for more than sixty years. Early in 2026, Maple began independently publishing the “Molly McBeal Cozy Mystery Series.”
The Moonlight Vanishing: A Kansas Small Town Cozy Mystery introduces the reader to Molly McBeal, a former resident of Oregon who is driving across the United States to her parents’ summer cottage on Cape Cod. Molly, who was a professional psychotherapist, is planning to open a coffee shop in the town where the summer cottage is located.
Before the novella starts, Molly stops in Fort Collins, Colorado, to adopt a Mini Aussiedoodle named Star. Molly and Star form an immediate tight bond. On their drive east, Molly and Star stop in Sunflower Falls, Kansas, for the night. Without intending to, Molly quickly gets involved in a search for a missing person, and she uses her psychotherapy skills and Star’s preternatural abilities to solve the mystery.
Murder Beneath Her Studio: A Completely Absorbing Coastal Town Cozy Mystery starts with Molly and Star’s arrival in Blue Heron Bay on Cape Cod. Molly is not a stranger in this town, having spent summers there with her parents more than twenty years ago.
Molly’s friend Joan shows her an artist’s cottage that will be listed for sale, and Molly is interested in buying it for her coffee shop. But the artist owner has been missing for three days, and she left a prophetic painting in her studio that shows Molly and Star standing by the artist’s dead body. Molly and Star are soon deeply involved in the search for the missing artist and the mystery that follows, making enemies and friends as the story proceeds.
Star is a Mini Aussiedoodle modeled after Maple’s dog, Pixel. Star has a blue merle coat and remarkable blue eyes that range in color from azure to navy. A Mini Aussiedoodle has parent breeds Miniature Poodle and Australian Shepherd. Both Australian Shepherds and Poodles can carry the blue merle trait. Mini Aussiedoodle dogs are intelligent, social, and very active, with herding behavior and emotional sensitivity that are exhibited by Star. These dogs weigh 15 to 25 pounds and have a height of 12 to 18 inches.
More information about the blue merle trait and Mini Aussiedoodles can be found at: