Skulduggery Pleasant

Skulduggery Pleasant
by Derek Landy

Harper Collins Publishers, 2007







Genre:  Mystery, Horror, Fantasy, Humor

Honors:  Bord Gais Energy Irish Book of the Decade Award, Red House Children's Book Award

Review:  When Stephanie's Uncle Gordon dies suddenly she meets with the most unusual skeleton man, a Mr. Skulduggery Pleasant. She then discovers that her uncle was murdered because he had a hidden magical piece, and is in danger of being killed herself. Thrown into this new world of magic, Stephanie helps Skulduggery the detective solve the murder of her uncle, and assists in saving the world from the evil powers.

Opinion:  I really liked this book, partially because of how it was able to combine many genres seamlessly. The Skulduggery character was cleverly written and well developed, as the author gave the audience some touching background history to make a connection as well as personified the skeleton with a sharp and fun-loving wit.

Ideas:  This book would do well on a list of books written by Irish authors for those looking for authors from their home country, or as a promotion of foreign writers. Another idea might be that because this is ultimately a detective book, it would work well on a library display of mysteries or gumshoe stories.