Agents Eliza D. Braun and Wellington Thornhill Books, Esquire, are looking forward to a relaxing vacation after several tough missions with the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. Unfortunately, an emergency sends them rapidly home only to find out that things are even worse than they imagined. Not only is one of the Ministry Seven, Eliza's beloved group of street children, missing but the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences has lost favor with the Queen. Will Eliza and Wellington survive the Maestro's plot when the Ministry itself is floundering?

THE DIAMOND CONSPIRACY is the fourth book in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series and is best appreciated in the context of the series as a whole. THE DIAMOND CONSPIRACY picks up immediately after the events of the prior book, By Dawn's Early Light, and the various threads within the series are finally coming to fruition.

THE DIAMOND CONSPIRACY is action filled, as we get to see what happens when all bets are off and the Ministry loses its sovereign protection. I particularly like the insights we get into Wellington and his upbringing as Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris have been hinting for a while about the rigidity of his father. The world building is phenomenal, as Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris take full advantage of the historical time period and the steampunk gadgets to craft a world that I want to visit over and over again.

Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris throw readers headlong into a madcap and crazy steampunk world where expecting the unexpected is practically the rule. I love the surprises thrown at us in THE DIAMOND CONSPIRACY and I almost squealed with glee at a certain appearance by a man named John (no other hints as the surprise is well worth it). THE DIAMOND CONSPIRACY and the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series is just sheer fun and I relish the time I get to spend in Eliza and Wellington's world. The ending leaves me desperately wanting the fifth book now as I can't wait to see what Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris have in store for us next!

Book Summary

For years, the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences has enjoyed the favor of Her Majesty the Queen. But even the oldest loyalties can turn in a moment…

Having narrowly escaped the electrifying machinations of Thomas Edison, Books and Braun are looking forward to a relaxing and possibly romantic voyage home. But when Braun’s emergency signal goes off, all thoughts of recreation vanish. Braun’s street-wise team of child informants, the Ministry Seven, is in grave peril, and Books and Braun must return to England immediately.

But when the intrepid agents finally arrive in London, the situation is even more dire than they imagined. The Ministry has been disavowed, and the Department of Imperial Inconveniences has been called in to decommission its agents in a most deadly fashion. The plan reeks of the Maestro’s dastardly scheming. Only, this time, he has a dangerous new ally—a duplicitous doctor whose pernicious poisons have infected the highest levels of society, reaching even the Queen herself...