** spoiler alert ** This is the second book in the A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. As of last book agent Eliza Braun, the ‘colonial pepperpot’ has been demoted from active duty to working in the archives with agent Wellington Thornhill Books. Naturally they are as unalike as possible, the well bookish Books and the woman of action Braun. This book overall worked better than the first. While the first book, Phoenix Rising, was good it had a tendency to go in too many directions at once and the characters were painted in broad strokes. In this one, the storyline is much more focused and the characters have settled in a bit.

It opens in media res with a suffragette leader disappearing in a blue flash from a moving train right in front of Books and Braun. As much as Eliza might want on the case, Dr Sound, their leader, isn’t about to let her do it. The case goes to Agent Bruce Campbell, an Australian womanizer who doesn’t much like Eliza and actively dislikes a ‘toff’ like Wellington.

Eliza isn’t about to let it go for two reasons: one she notices that this is not the first woman in the suffragist movement to disappear and that Campbell who is in charge of those cases too, has buried the files in the archive and two, she knows the suffragist leader Kate Sheppard. We get hints of a tragic past shared between the two of them which is why Eliza can never return to her much-missed homeland of New Zealand. Also with Kate is her son, the adventurer, Douglas, Eliza’s first love.

Wellington finds himself at loose ends. He knows he shouldn’t help Eliza but he’s in agreement with her, not to mention falling hopelessly for her. He is also sympathetic to the suffragist movement. The duo quickly come under attack in Eliza’s home and her maid, Alice with the prosthetic limbs containing weaponry, learns one of Wellington’s secrets: Eliza thinks he can’t shoot a gun but in reality he is sniper-quality. I can’t remember why he’s keeping it secret from her (we do get an explanation at the end of this book).

One by one more suffragists disappear. While Wellington, the happy tinker, figures out what device could do this, Eliza works with the women even if it might take her into the hands of a lady queen of thieves that Eliza’s own ‘ministry seven’ street kids have often had troubles with. Added into this hot mix is, of course, Douglas who wants Eliza back and Wellington fears will win out over him, seeing as he has never bothered to tell Eliza what he feels.

I was afraid I wasn’t going to like this one as much mostly because women’s rights is one of those hot buttons that make me nuts (especially right now after the last six months of crap in the States) but it was handled very well. Some of the political undercurrents from last book are still in here, including the Maestro who seems to lead the opponents to the Ministry and his pet Italian assassin, Sophia. The steampunk elements are handled with a light touch (thankfully, too many steampunk books I’ve read have to remind you every three seconds there is steam and clockwork) and this time the only place we see the words ‘colonial pepperpot’ is in the chapter titles (first book that euphemism was so over done, I started keeping count).

I was a bit surprised at how fast some things went in terms of relationships, inter personal and job. I’m really curious how the next book will go because I don’t see them carrying over those running themes if the book is going to be set where I think it is. This series is becoming quickly the most enjoyable steampunk I’ve read.