Former Red River TV series star Clint Lawson's Wild West show is in town, the prize act in the annual festival, which the sponsoring bookshop is presiding over. He strains a leg due to a sabotaged saddle strap. His stand-in, Dogie, is fatally shot while starring in his place, so who was the intended target? Evidence seems to pile up against Clint, so the chief simply jails him without further investigation. However, the bookshop sleuths team digs up dirty secrets from their past and that of other show cast, such as ex-con announcer Jeb Fletcher, Clint's ex-lover Annie whom he promised a movie part like Strother Elam, and Zeke Foster, who secretly deals in illegitimate Red River memorabilia.