Set in Texas during the 1870s and in the 1930s at the height of the Dust Bowl, Dust Covered Lies tells the story of Frances Abbott, or Frannie, an orphaned immigrant who faces a terrible choice that will haunt her the rest of her life. Frannie is a teenage champion markswoman when she and her autistic and artistically gifted brother, Juan Esteban, set off on a scientific hunting expedition on the Colorado River led by a dangerous con man who claims to be a French zoologist.

When a murder is committed and Juan Esteban's life is in danger, Frannie lies to protect him. Determined to take her secret to the grave, Frannie and her brother flee to the dust-covered Texas panhandle to escape the one person who could reveal the truth about their past.