The second of three mysteries set in the Verde Valley of central Arizona, Murder on the Dirt Road to Cherry takes place six years after Murder on Bill Gray Road. Leslie Crandall now lives in Old Town Cottonwood with her orphaned nephew F.J. She works part-time as a court reporter for her friend Judge RoseMary Jackson. When RoseMary's body is found on Cherry Road not far from the county courthouse, Leslie is determined to find the culprit. Ellery, a Sedona Tarot card reader and the Judge's fiance, is a prime suspect, as is the recently-released felon, William, the Judge's former husband. Leslie's friend and fellow court reporter, Carmen Miranda Gonzales-Luna, suspects the lecherous presiding judge who, she alleges, has been harassing female court personnel. RoseMary's estranged parents are convinced Ellery killed her for the inheritance, but Leslie trusts Ellery and follows clues from his Tarot readings to discover the truth. The cards lead to Bunker Springs, a former mining town in the hills near Cherry, another old mining town, and to events that happened thirty years before. Bunker Springs Inn owners, Dinah and Drake, supply some answers, but more questions arise. Before the answers emerge, Leslie finds that she has unwittingly placed herself, her lover, Nathan Begay, Ellery and her daughter, Janette, in grave danger.