Margins
Skulduggery Pleasant book cover 1
Skulduggery Pleasant book cover 2
Skulduggery Pleasant book cover 3
Skulduggery Pleasant
Series · 32
books · 2007-2026

Books in series

Hell Breaks Loose book cover
#0.5

Hell Breaks Loose

2023

Travel back to 1703 with Skulduggery Pleasant in this standalone novel featuring all your favourite characters. So many enemies, so little time . . . Italy, 1703. As the war with Mevolent rages on, the Dead Men are dispatched to a walled town in the Tuscan hills – not to assassinate the Lord of the Dark Sorcerers, but to save him. A rift has opened to a hellish dimension where a being of devastating power awaits, and only Mevolent is strong enough to seal it and save the world. A simple mission, then, which turns ever-so-slightly trickier when Skulduggery is presented with the opportunity to finally get revenge on Nefarian Serpine, the man who murdered him and killed his family thirteen years earlier. Return to the world of Skulduggery Pleasant in a short novel set hundreds of years before Valkyrie Cain is even born, and follow Skulduggery, Ghastly, Shudder, Ravel, Saracen, Dexter and Hopeless as they argue, bicker and battle their way through an army of their most hated enemies in order to save their oldest enemy so they can stop another, brand new, enemy… And that's when things get complicated.
Skulduggery Pleasant book cover
#1

Skulduggery Pleasant

2007

Meet Skulduggery Pleasant, Ace Detective, Snappy Dresser, Razor–tongued Wit, Crackerjack Sorcerer, and Walking, Talking, Fire-throwing Skeleton, —as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old. These two alone must defeat an all-consuming ancient evil. The end of the world? Over his dead body.
The Lost Art of World Domination book cover
#1.5

The Lost Art of World Domination

2011

A shot of Skulduggery action. It isn’t easy to take over the world. First you need the scheme. Then you need the muscle. Then you need to come up with a system for ruling six billion people and keeping them from revolting. It takes a certain kind of man to take over the world. Scaramouch Van Dreg, however, is not that man. But he has one thing going for him. He has his arch enemy, Skulduggery Pleasant, chained up in his dungeon, and the only person who is coming to save him is the skeleton detective’s 13 year old sidekick. What could possibly go wrong?
Playing with Fire book cover
#2

Playing with Fire

2008

Skulduggery and Valkyrie are facing a new enemy: Baron Vengeous, who is determined to bring back the terrifying Faceless Ones and is crafting an army of evil to help him. Added to that, Vengeous is about to enlist a new ally (if he can raise it from the dead): the horrible Grotesquery, a very unlikable monster of legend. Once Vengeous is on the loose, dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. Now pretty much everybody is out to kill Valkyrie, and the daring detective duo faces its biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home? Look for Scepter of the Ancients
Gold, Babies and the Brothers Muldoon book cover
#2.5

Gold, Babies and the Brothers Muldoon

2011

A jolt of Skulduggery Pleasant action for free. Midnight. Valkyrie Cain approaches an old, ramshackle church to make a delicate deal with a trio of ugly, hairy goblins. To her absolute non-surprise, the goblins have no intention of honouring that deal- but not to worry. Skulduggery Pleasant is standing by to deliver a surprise of their own. Things, however, don’t go exactly according to plan. Not least because the goblins have a sister. A very big, very strong sister. Who might just have a TINY crush on one of our heroes… All the following Skulduggery Pleasant novels are available in ebook now: • Skulduggery Pleasant • Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire • Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones • Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days • Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Coil
The Faceless Ones book cover
#3

The Faceless Ones

2008

The third bone-breaking, belly-busting adventure in the series that puts the “funny” back in, um, funny series. That didn’t really work, did it? If you’ve read the previous Skulduggery books then you know what the Faceless Ones are—and if you know what the Faceless Ones are, then you can probably take a wild guess that things in this book are going to get AWFULLY sticky for our skeletal hero and his young sidekick. If you haven’t read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go and read them right now, so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now you’re on tenterhooks too, desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions, and instead you’re going to have to wait to read the book. Sorry about that.
#3.5

The Slightly Ignominious End to the Legend of Black Annis

2011

Dark Days book cover
#4

Dark Days

2010

Skulduggery Pleasant is lost on the other side of a portal, with only some evil gods for company. Can he possibly survive? (Yes, all right, he's already dead. But still.) Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yes. And dead. Skulduggery Pleasant is gone, sucked into a parallel dimension overrun by the Faceless Ones. If his bones haven’t already been turned to dust, chances are he’s insane, driven out of his mind by the horror of the ancient gods. There is no official, Sanctuary-approved rescue mission. There is no official plan to save him. But Valkyrie's never had much time for plans. The problem is, even if she can get Skulduggery back, there might not be much left for him to return to. There’s a gang of villains bent on destroying the Sanctuary, there are some very powerful people who want Valkyrie dead, and as if all that wasn’t enough it looks very likely that a sorcerer named Darquesse is going to kill the world and everyone on it. Skulduggery is gone. All our hopes rest with Valkyrie. The world’s weight is on her shoulders, and its fate is in her hands. These are dark days indeed.
Going Once, Going Twice book cover
#4.5

Going Once, Going Twice

2018

Exclusive Short Story from Harper Collins; can be read online (see link below)
Mortal Coil book cover
#5

Mortal Coil

2010

Following the shocking revelations of DARK DAYS, get ready for the fifth instalment of the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series—guaranteed to contain at least 40% humour, 50% action, and 100% thrills! The blonde girl with the black lips turned to Valkyrie. 'We know,' she said. 'We've seen the future. We know you're going to kill the world!' Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are back—just in time to see their whole world get turned upside down! While they struggle to protect a known killer from an unstoppable assassin, Valkyrie is on a secret mission of her own. This quest, to prevent her dark and murderous destiny, threatens to take her to the brink of death and beyond. And then the body-snatching Remnants get loose, thousands of twisted souls who possess the living like puppets, and they begin their search for a being powerful enough to lead them. Facing such insurmountable odds, Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Ghastly and Tanith can trust no one. Not even each other!
#5.5

The Wonderful Adventures of Geoffrey Scrutinous

2011

A short story written by Derek Landy dedicated to the winner of the character competition, Charlie Smith, containing the winning entry of "Geoffrey Scrutinous".
Apocalypse Kings book cover
#5.6

Apocalypse Kings

2021

A brand new Skulduggery Pleasant novella for World Book a hilarious and thrilling standalone story in the internationally bestselling series – perfect for new readers, and essential for Skulduggery fans… Three ancient gods are freed from their prison with only one to destroy the planet and everyone on it. To save us all, Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain must go undercover in a Dublin school. Skulduggery has to blend in with the teaching staff, while Valkyrie has to pass for an ordinary schoolgirl. Above all else, no matter what happens, they both must act completely and utterly normal. We are so dead.
Death Bringer book cover
#6

Death Bringer

2011

The sixth instalment in the historic, hysterical and horrific Skulduggery Pleasant series. Think you’ve seen anything yet? You haven’t. Because the Death Bringer is about to rise… Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yes. And dead. The Necromancers no longer need Valkyrie to be their Death Bringer, and that’s a Good Thing. There’s just one catch. There’s a reason the Necromancers don’t need her any more. And that’s because they’ve found their Death Bringer already, the person who will dissolve the doors between life and death. And that’s a very, very Bad Thing…
#6.4

Trick or Treat

2011

Short story published on Derek Landy's blog; fits in best between Death Bringer and Kingdom of the Wicked.
The End of the World book cover
#6.5

The End of the World

2012

The End of the World (Skulduggery Pleasant) Landy, Derek
Kingdom of the Wicked book cover
#7

Kingdom of the Wicked

2012

The seventh installment in the biggest, funniest, most thrilling comedy-horror-adventure series in the universe - and the follow-up to 2011’s number-one bestseller, Death Bringer… Magic is a disease. Across the land, normal people are suddenly developing wild and unstable powers. Infected by a rare strain of magic, they are unwittingly endangering their own lives and the lives of the people around them. Terrified and confused, their only hope lies with the Sanctuary. Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are needed now more than ever. And then there's the small matter of Kitana. A normal teenage girl who, along with her normal teenage friends, becomes infected. Becomes powerful. Becomes corrupted. Wielding the magic of gods, they're set to tear the city apart unless someone stands up against them. Looks like it's going to be another one of those days…
The Maleficent Seven book cover
#7.5

The Maleficent Seven

2013

From the World of Skulduggery Pleasant A brilliant, hilarious one-off novella in the Skulduggery Pleasant universe, from number-one-bestselling author Derek Landy This time, the bad guys take the stage. Tanith Low, now possessed by a remnant, recruits a gang of villains – many of whom will be familiar from previous Skulduggery adventures – in order to track down and steal the four God-Killer level weapons that could hurt Darquesse when she eventually emerges. Also on the trail of the weapons is a secret group of Sanctuary sorcerers, and doing his best to keep up and keep Tanith alive is one Mister Ghastly Bespoke. When the villains around her are lying and scheming and plotting, Tanith needs to stay two steps ahead of her teammates and her enemies. After all, she's got her own double-crosses to plan – and she’s a villain herself…
Last Stand of Dead Men book cover
#8

Last Stand of Dead Men

2013

War has finally come. But it's not a war between good and evil, or light and dark – it's a war between Sanctuaries. For too long, the Irish Sanctuary has teetered on the brink of world-ending disaster, and the other Sanctuaries around the world have had enough. Allies turn to enemies, friends turn to foes, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie must team up with the rest of the Dead Men if they're going to have any chance at all of maintaining the balance of power and getting to the root of a vast conspiracy that has been years in the making. But while this war is only beginning, another war rages within Valkyrie herself. Her own dark side, the insanely powerful being known as Darquesse, is on the verge of rising to the surface. And if Valkyrie slips, even for a moment, then Darquesse will burn the world and everyone in it.
Armageddon Outta Here book cover
#8.5

Armageddon Outta Here

2014

The ULTIMATE story collection for Skulduggery Pleasant fans. Featuring two AMAZING novellas and fourteen GRIPPING short stories - including three new stories written exclusively for this edition. We all know that doors are for people with no imagination so smash the glass, climb through the window and enter the awesome world of Skulduggery Pleasant with this ultimate story collection. For the first time, every Skulduggery Pleasant short story, plus two novellas – Get Thee Behind me, Bubba Moon and The End of the World – is collected into one magnificent volume. But that's not all… This collection includes fourteen short stories – three of which are AWESOME NEW stories written exclusively for this edition. Two of them delve into the things that our old friend Billy-Ray Sanguine gets up to between books, while the third pits Skulduggery and Valkyrie against a serial killer, a desperate ghost, and a swarm of very nasty insects. So it’s business as usual, then. Introduced by Derek, these are the hidden stories of the skeleton who saves the world… and the girl who's destined to destroy it.
The Dying of the Light book cover
#9

The Dying of the Light

2014

The FINAL shocking, heart-wrenching book in the jaw-droppingly stupendous Skulduggery Pleasant series Valkyrie. Darquesse. Stephanie. The world ain’t big enough for the three of them. The end will come… The War of the Sanctuaries has been won, but it was not without its casualties. Following the loss of Valkyrie Cain, Skulduggery Pleasant must use any and all means to track down and stop Darquesse before she turns the world into a charred, lifeless cinder. And so he draws together a team of soldiers, monster hunters, killers, criminals… and Valkyrie’s own murderous reflection. The war may be over, but the final battle is about to begin. And not everyone gets out of here alive…
Resurrection book cover
#10

Resurrection

2017

The skeleton detective is coming back to life...again! It's the tenth, triumphant novel in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, and it will rearrange your world. Skulduggery and Valkyrie are back in the tenth instalment in the best-selling Skulduggery Pleasant series - an incredible and unexpected treat for the legions of fans around the world. We can't say much but we can say this: Skulduggery and Valkyrie are going to team up with beloved characters from the first nine audiobooks as well as an all-new cast, including new teen co-star Omen Darkly, for an adventure that takes the story to truly global proportions...while answering questions that go right back to the beginning. And Derek says this: 'I was halfway through Last Stand of Dead Men, I think, when I realised that I had more stories to tell. I told myself that if Skulduggery and Valkyrie survived the series, I would leave the option open of returning to their world. There were still secrets I need to reveal, after all, and there were still horrors they had to face. They survived the first series. But they're really going to wish they hadn't.' ©2017 Derek Landy (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
Midnight book cover
#11

Midnight

2018

Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are back in their most gripping story yet, as book 11, Midnight, picks up where Resurrection left off – and runs. For years, Valkyrie Cain has struggled to keep her loved ones safe from harm, plunging into battle – time and time again – by Skulduggery Pleasant’s side, and always emerging triumphant. But now the very thing that Valkyrie fights for is in danger, as a ruthless killer snatches her little sister in order to lure Valkyrie into a final confrontation. With Skulduggery racing to catch up and young sorcerer Omen scrambling along behind, Valkyrie only has twelve hours to find Alice before it’s too late. The clock is ticking…
Bedlam book cover
#12

Bedlam

2019

The 12th explosive novel in the internationally bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series, BEDLAM will blow your mind – and change everything… On a desperate journey to recover her sister's lost soul, Valkyrie Cain goes up against the High Sanctuary itself, and there's nothing Skulduggery Pleasant can do to stop her. With Abyssinia's grand plan about to kick off in a night of magic, terror, and bloodshed, it falls to Omen Darkly to save the lives of thousands of innocent people. And as the madness unfolds around him, as hidden enemies step into the light, and as Valkyrie is sucked into a desperate, lawless quest of her own, he has no choice but to become the hero he never really wanted to be—or die in the attempt.
Seasons of War book cover
#13

Seasons of War

2020

The thirteenth thrilling novel in the internationally bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series, SEASONS OF WAR will test the Skeleton Detective and Valkyrie like never before… War is coming. To avert catastrophe, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are sent on a secret mission that takes them away from everything they know, to a forsaken land of magic and grim, unrelenting terror. It is here that Valkyrie will have to fight the hardest ― not only against the enemies who want her dead, but also against her own self-destructive impulses. It's only by crawling through darkness that she'll be able to once again stand in the light…
Dead or Alive book cover
#14

Dead or Alive

2021

Skulduggery, Valkyrie and Omen return in the 14th and penultimate novel in the internationally bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series - and their most epic test yet... In a matter of days, the world will change. Billions of lives will be wiped away in a final, desperate search for the Child of the Faceless Ones - she who is destined to bring about the return of humankind's ancient overlords. To prevent this, Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain have one last - terrible - option: the assassination of Damocles Creed. With protests stirring in the magical city of Roarhaven, with riots and revolutions on the horizon, Valkyrie must decide who she wants to be: the hero who risks everything for a noble ideal, or the killer who sacrifices her own soul for the fate of humanity. The decision must be made, and time is running out.
Until the End book cover
#15

Until the End

2022

The second cycle of the internationally bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series comes to a thrilling end. You are not ready… The Faceless Ones have returned to our universe. The bad guys have won. With the end of everything just days away – and no longer able to rely on Valkyrie Cain – Skulduggery must make allies of enemies if he's going to stand any chance of saving what's left of the world. And just when things are looking their bleakest, they manage to get even worse, with Omen Darkly suddenly having to step up when his brother, the Chosen One, falls. There's a lot going on. Most of it is bad. Sorry about that.
Bad Magic book cover
#15.5

Bad Magic

A Skulduggery Pleasant Graphic Novel

2023

Experience Skulduggery Pleasant as never before – in this fully original graphic novel brought vibrantly to life in full colour ‘A real cracker. Fun, thrilling, smartly scripted and powerfully making a stand for diversity and inclusion in the face of intimidation and ignorance. Even if this is your first encounter with the worlds of Skulduggery Pleasant, it’s one you will adore and never forget’ Win Wiacek, Now Read This! A small town in the middle of Ireland, a string of unexplained deaths and a monster on the loose. Better call in the experts. When Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain drive into Termoncara, they discover a town with a dark past and a people haunted by their own secrets. There is a creature stalking the streets – a creature who delights in cruelty, who feeds off the little hatreds, who grows stronger with every drop of blood spilled. Horror and mystery collide in an original graphic novel by Derek Landy, P. J. Holden, Matt Soffe, Rob Jones and Pye Parr. Derek Landy's book 'Until the End' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 11-04-2022.
A Mind Full of Murder book cover
#16

A Mind Full of Murder

2024

A bone-shaking new trilogy begins – the latest adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series SIX YEARS AGO, THE UNIVERSE ENDED. When it restarted, blinking back into existence, it brought with it a darkness that remains hidden from the mortal population. A week ago – fuelled by unimaginable hatred and unstoppable rage – a masked sorcerer killed one of those mortals. Then he killed another. And another. With their time running out, Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain must work to solve the puzzles the killer leaves behind before more innocents die, embarking on a journey that will force them to deal with the apocalypse they failed to prevent the first time around. AND MURDER. LOTS AND LOTS OF MURDER.
The Haunted House on Hollow Hill book cover
#16.5

The Haunted House on Hollow Hill

2024

On a dark and stormy night … A pair of ghost-hunting journalists arrive at the most haunted house in Britain – the Hollow Hotel. They’re here to interview the Dark King of television magic, Romeo Gideon. Instead, they discover the body of a murdered man hanging from the rafters – the work of a killer who wields actual magic as viciously as he does his blade. With the storm closing in, all exit routes cut off, and the killer taking them out one by one, their only hope lies with the two mysterious Irish detectives who seem quite at home with all this bloodshed … Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain have only hours to figure out who the killer is in a hotel filled with the tortured spirits of the dead, the anguished wails of the dying, and the relentless whines of the living.
#18

Skulduggery Pleasant (18) – A Soul Full of Shadows

The latest epic adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series

2026

Skulduggery Pleasant #1-4 book cover
#1-4

Skulduggery Pleasant #1-4

Skulduggery Pleasant, Playing with Fire, The Faceless Ones, Dark Days

2011

All 4 books in this series 1. Skulduggery Pleasant (Paperback), 2. Playing with Fire (Paperback), 3. The Faceless Ones (Paperback).
Skulduggery Pleasant #1-5 book cover
#1-5

Skulduggery Pleasant #1-5

2011

Skulduggery Pleasant, Playing with Fire, the Faceless Ones, Dark Days, Mortal Coil

Author

Derek Landy
Derek Landy
Author · 42 books

Derek Landy is an Irish writer and screenwriter. In addition to the bestselling children's/YA series of Skulduggery Pleasant books, a supernatural mystery series starring Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, and Valkyrie Cain, a young female magician, he has written two screenplays that have been made into films: the IFTA award winning "Dead Bodies" and the IFTA nominated "Boy Eats Girl". Landy himself was nominated for an IFTA for Best Script. He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List. Derek plays too many video games, reads too many comics, and watches too many movies. He lives in Ireland with too many cats. Occasionally he talks to real people, but only when he absolutely has to.

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved
Skulduggery Pleasant