Skulduggery Pleasant – Books 1-9

Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant - Books 1-9 is a nine-book bundle of spooky, wisecracking adventure for 11 year olds about a girl and a skeleton detective.

What happens

It starts with a funeral. Stephanie Edgley's uncle Gordon, a writer of horror stories, has died at his desk halfway through a sentence. At the graveside there's a tall stranger in a buttoned-up coat, a scarf, gloves and enormous sunglasses, on a warm afternoon.

His name is Skulduggery Pleasant. At the reading of the will it turns out Gordon has left twelve-year-old Stephanie almost everything, big old house included. (Her awful uncle Fergus and aunt Beryl get a car, a boat and a brooch. Their faces are priceless.)

Then Stephanie spends a stormy night alone in the house. The phone rings. A man bangs on the door and he won't take no for an answer. And Skulduggery bursts in, throws fire, and loses his hat and his wig in the fight. Underneath there's no face at all. Just a skull.

What makes it such fun is the talking. Skulduggery is dry, a little bit vain and very funny. He apologises about the door. He asks where to put the broken glass. He admits that what he really misses is his hair. Stephanie is stubborn and sharp-tongued and gives as good as she gets. She even takes his hat hostage so he'll let her come along.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

That night-time break-in is properly frightening. The man grabs Stephanie by the throat and threatens to kill her, and Skulduggery shoots him. Later Skulduggery describes his own death, long ago, in some detail. That's all in the first few chapters of book one.

If your reader jumps at shadows, it might be one to read alongside them to begin with. If they love a real scare with a joke straight after it, they'll be hooked.

And there's a LOT of it. Nine books in one go should keep a keen reader busy for quite a while.

What to read next

For another twelve-year-old with a secret world on the doorstep and a very sharp line in conversation, try Artemis Fowl. He's a boy genius and a criminal, hunting a mysterious Book with a bodyguard who carries rather more weapons than seems sensible.