The Diamond Conspiracy

Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, Book 4

By: Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

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 streetwise 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.

©2015 Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris (P)2015 Tantor

The Steampunk Fun Continues!

Right from the beginning, this series has been a steampunk story flavored with one part James Bond and one part X-Files. This time around it's a bit more 007 (with shades of Skyfall), and we get a little Doctor Who type vibe thrown into the mix. I won't say how, because that would ruin some of the surprises.

Picking up in the immediate aftermath of Dawn's Early Light, our intrepid agents have kindled a romance, but their time to savor it has been cut short by a distress signal that calls them back to London. One of their Ministry Seven, their street urchin informants, is missing. Worse still, the Crown has disavowed the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, and its agents are now systematically being picked off by agents of the Department of Imperial Inconveniences. Our heroes must survive the culling, expose the villains, and rescue one of their own. Secrets are revealed! Backstories are explained! And if you pay close attention, there are a few jabs at modern pop culture to be had.

As with the previous entries in this series, it's a light, fun read with all of the humor, pseudo-science, and historical cameos you've come to expect. And as with the previous entries, the further this story goes, the more outlandish it gets. For all of these reasons, this continues to be my favorite steampunk series.

Sadly the last in the series I will purchase

I loved this book. The narration was excellent. Because James Langton is an excellent voice actor. But I just returned the Ghost Rebellion, the next in the series, because I purchased it not realising that the authors had decided that they could do a better job narrating themselves.

What makes authors decide that this far into a series they can suddenly start doing their own narration.

So enjoy this book because if you purchase the next one I doubt you will get past the first 10 minutes. Tee Morris may be able to write but he is not a voice actors proverbial. Sad really, I was really looking forward to the continuing the adventure. I may need to purchase the next one as a good old fashioned ebook to avoid the truly awful narration. Bring back James Langton or at least someone competent.

Major twist!

This installment of the Peculiar Occurance series took an expected twist. Not my cuppa 😢

love the reader, disappointed in story

The narrator for The Diamond Conspiracy was excellent. I loved the first two books in this series. I found the third to be stretching things a bit far, but the fourth just tore it all together to pieces. Let's just say, I not only had to suspend belief, I had to completely generate a belief system that disallowed mercy and sympathy and approved wholesale slaughter of innocents without repercussion.

Another great listen.

I enjoyed the steampunk world that the authors have created and the growing character and plot development throughout the series. Highly recommended.

Much too much

I enjoyed the first three books in the series. This one went too far. Without spoilers let me simply say that the addition of a new plot device and the travel to an unexpected location ruined the book for me.

The Best so far!

If I could give this book 10 stars I would! Cannot wait for the next one. Bravo!!

Good romp, some groans...

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Was really waiting for this one, liked most developments... However groaned about main reveal/twist... It was just, I was expecting to be wowed by Tee and Pip.. Still love the series and eagerly await follow ups, maybe it's burn out on my part... Just, I felt I was auditing a Dr Who episode. Just seems to me that three and a half books should have given me something spectacular reveal!

So glad to continue with this story

I was fortunate to find that there was a continuation to this excellent series. I really love the world that they created. Both Pip & Tee did an awesome job furthering the story. I must admit that I did see the final twist coming and who was involved. I need to see if there is another book available!

Love this series

If you like steampunk and adventure this is a must read. The characters are likable and the story is great.