A curse, a coincidence, or a sinister conspiracy?
When Miss Loralai Gemquist journeyed to the opal mines of Iron Ridge, New South Wales, Australia, it should have been a simple assignment: use her gemology expertise to feign interest to the mine's newest discovery and gain access to her convict informant and all he knows about her parent's disappearance. However, soon after arriving at the penal colony, Lora discovers that not everything at Iron Ridge is as it should be. Is the strange opal dubbed 'The Black Queen' really cursed? Or, has Lora found herself in the middle of another scheme of the Aedificantes? To uncover the truth, she will need to rely on new allies and old rivals or she just might go from, 'down under' to six feet under.