It's 1954, and San Francisco writer Phoebe Kelley is enjoying the success of her first novel, Lady in the Desert. When her sister-in-law asks her to return to Tribulation, Arizona, to help run the H Double Bar Dude Ranch, Phoebe doesn't hesitate.

There's competition from a new dude ranch this year, so the H Double Bar puts on a rodeo featuring a trick rider with a mysterious past. When accidents begin to happen around the ranch, Phoebe jumps in to figure out why, and confronts an unexpected foe.