The Spirit Of Dawn

Three years after her father died, twenty years after her mother began searching for something hidden beneath his remains, Guinevere Turrell found out why her father was killed. She discovered what her mother was seeking. But it was all an accident. (This fairly large city is crowded. It stands at the edge of a desert and is mainly constructed of red stone. It is defended by complex machinery, and its most noteworthy feature is the ruinous tax rate.)