Skulduggery Pleasant

by Derek Landy

When Stephanie Edgley's horror novelist uncle, Gordon Edgley, passes away unexpectedly she is called out on his will and present at the reading are herself, her parents Desmond and Melissa, Stephanie's none-too-well-liked uncle and aunt Fergus and Beryl, and a mysterious man in a tan overcoat, hat, frizzy wig, sunglasses, and scarf named Skulduggery Pleasant. Stephanie's aunt and uncle are given an ugly brooch, a boat, and a car, (none of which they wanted), while Stephanie's parents are left a magnificent villa in France. Stephanie herself is left with the entirety of Gordon's remaining estate, including the impressive royalties on his best-selling books, and a mansion filled with his possessions. Skulduggery Pleasant is left with a seemingly useless piece of advice.

After visiting the mansion, Melissa and Stephanie are stranded by car issues and a heavy rainstorm. Calling a tow-truck, Melissa opts to return while letting Stephanie spend time in her new property. After reading some of her uncle's latest manuscripts (to be published posthumously) and fixing herself a snack, Stephanie receives a threatening phone call. The caller demands she hand over a "key". When she refuses, the man breaks in and tries to attack and kill her. But and the burst through the door is saved by the mysterious Mr. Pleasant, who throws a fireball (produced from clicking his fingers) at the man. Upon discovering his imperviousness to flames, Pleasant shoots the attacker, forcing him to flee the scene. During the fight, Skulduggery's disguise is knocked off, revealing him to be an actual walking-and-talking skeleton held together by nothing but magic.

Upon realizing that her uncle was murdered, later in the book, and learning about the extensive nature of the secret world of mages and sorcerers in this secret world, Stephanie decides to escape her previously boring and tedious life and join this new one aswell. She begins by helping Skulduggery investigate Gordon's death. Over the course of their search, Skulduggery and Stephanie gradually uncover a greater plot for world domination by a previous general in the magical war again in attempt to bring back the Faceless Ones. Stephanie's yet had uncle had unearthed an ancient weapon used by the first sorcerers, the Ancients, to defeat their tyrannical gods the Faceless Ones. He recently sealed this deadly weapon, the Sceptre of the Ancients, in a maze beneath the house of Gordon Edgelys. The "key" is later discovered by Skullduggery that it is in fact the old, insignificant-looking brooch left by her uncle to his brother Fergus' wife, Beryl. The advice was a clue for Skulduggery to notice this.

Later going by the name Valkyrie Cain, Stephanie and Skulduggery, aided by a boxer/tailor named Ghastly Bespoke; the librarian and informant China Sorrows, Skulduggery and Stephanie meet with the enigmatic and incredibly strong Mr. Bliss, and the English professional swords-woman Tanith Low, in the hopes that he will be able to help them keep the Sceptre out of Serpine's hands for good and attempt to prevent Nefarian Serpine, the originator of the plot and murderer of Stephanie's uncle, from bring back their retired evil gods. Serpine once served under the evil wizard Mevolent, and worshiped the Faceless Ones as evil Gods. Mevolent, in an attempt to spread the evil religion and possibly bring back the Faceless Ones from their extra-dimensional banishment, waged a secret war on the wizard community. Skulduggery opposed Mevolent in this war four hundred years ago, when he was still alive. He became ensnared in a trap Serpine set by murdering Skulduggery's wife and child, then suffered several days of torture until he was finally killed by Serpine. Due to his extreme desire for revenge, rage and ties with unfinished business, Skulduggery resurrected himself. As nothing more than a bag of bones, Skulduggery put himself back together, got up, and finished the war.

After a race against Serpine to find the Sceptre in the caves, Mr Bliss betrays them however, handing Serpine the Sceptre. Sagacious Tome, one of the Elders of the Magical Sanctuary that heads Ireland's wizard government, also reveals himself to be a traitor, and allows the two other Elders, Eachan Meritorious and Morwenna Crow, to be murdered by Serpine. Serpine invades the Sanctuary and enters the Repository, a storage of magical objects and artifacts. Serpine's original plan was to use the Book of Names housed there to control the world, thus being able to simultaneously enforce Faceless One worship while searching unhindered for one who could show him how to bring them back. However the spell protecting the book is too strong, and only all three Elders' consent - or their deaths - would allow anyone to approach or use it using people's will power. In response to this, Serpine murders Tome. And then later discovers Mr. Bliss, has been playing against Serpine all along when he tries to stop Serpine at this point, but is repelled.

Skulduggery and Stephanie, having sneaked into the Sanctuary, witness the unfolding double and triple-crossing. Skuldggery attacks Serpine, with the Book of Names being destroyed in the ensuing struggle. Angered at his loss, Serpine tortures Stephanie with his Red Hand, but Skulduggery destroys him with the Sceptre, breaking the its power in the process. At the conclusion of the novel, Skulduggery offers to take Stephanie on as his assistant, partner and student in sorcery; Stephanie has discovered through the course of the novel's events that her family are descendants of the Ancients and she herself has unknown magical abillities.