When a Western star is gunned down at a rodeo, Ellery Queen saddles up to solve the mystery. Buck Horne has roped thousands of cattle, slugged his way out of dozens of saloons, and shot plenty of men dead in the streetbut always on the backlot. Hes a celluloid cowboy, and his career is nearly kaput. The real box office draw is his daughter, Kit, a brawling beauty who can outshoot any rascal the studio has to offer. Desperate for a comeback, Buck joins Wild Bill Grants traveling rodeo for a show in New York, hoping to land one last movie contract. But he has scarcely mounted his horse when he falls to the dirt. It wasnt age that made him slipit was the bullet in his heart. Watching from the stands are Ellery Queen, debonair sleuth, and his police detective father.
