Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 1 - 3
Together for the first time, books 1, 2 and 3 in the Skulduggery Pleasant – the biggest, funniest, most thrilling comedy-horror-adventure series in the universe! From number-one-bestselling author Derek Landy.Book 1: SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT. Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yes, and dead.Book 2: PLAYING WITH FIRE. Vengeous. Dusk. Sanguine. Three of the deadliest killers alive are in town to resurrect an unstoppable creature of horrifying power… and only Skulduggery and Valkyrie stand in their way.Book 3: THE FACELESS ONES. You’ve seen it all before: some bad guy wants to bring about the end of the world. A few people get hurt, sure, but everything’s all right in the end. Well… not this time.
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Skulduggery Pleasant 1-3
Derek Landy
HarperCollins Children’s Books
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2014.
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2007 (Skulduggery Pleasant), 2008 (Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire), 2009 (Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones)
Copyright © Derek Landy 2007 (Skulduggery Pleasant)
Copyright © Derek Landy 2008 (Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire)
Copyright © Derek Landy 2009 (Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones)
Cover illustration © Tom Percival;
Illuminated letters © Tom Percival;
Skulduggery Pleasant™ Derek Landy; Skulduggery Pleasant logo™ HarperCollins Publishers
Derek Landy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780007279005 (Skulduggery Pleasant), 9780007302123 (Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire), 9780007318285 (Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones)
Ebook Edition © 2014 ISBN: 9780007520749
Version: 2018-09-04
Table of Contents
Copyright
Skulduggery Pleasant
Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire
Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones
About the Author
By the Same Author
About the Publisher
DEREK LANDY
Skulduggery Pleasant
This book is dedicated to my parents, John and Barbara.
Dad – this is for your bizarrely unwavering support and unflinching faith.
Barbs – this is for that look on your face when I told you the good news.
I owe you absolutely everything and, y’know, I suppose it’s entirely possible that I feel some, like, degree of affection towards the two of you…
Contents
Title PageDedicationChapter One: StephanieChapter Two: The WillChapter Three: Little Girl, All AloneChapter Four: The Secret WarChapter Five: Meeting China SorrowsChapter Six: A Man ApartChapter Seven: SerpineChapter Eight: GhastlyChapter Nine: The Troll Beneath Westminster BridgeChapter Ten: The Gal In BlackChapter Eleven: The Little Bit Of CrimeChapter Twelve: VampiresChapter Thirteen: The Red Right HandChapter Fourteen: Elemental MagicChapter Fifteen: The Torture RoomChapter Sixteen: What’s In A Name?Chapter Seventeen: A Fabulous Rescue IndeedChapter Eighteen: On The Roof, At NightChapter Nineteen: The ExperimentChapter Twenty: The Family CurseChapter Twenty One: The CaveChapter Twenty Two: The Sceptre Of The AncientsChapter Twenty Three: Thoughts On Dying HorriblyChapter Twenty Four: Planning For MurderChapter Twenty Five: The White CleaverChapter Twenty Six: The Last Stand Of…Chapter Twenty Seven: No Calm Before The StormChapter Twenty Eight: CarnageChapter Twenty Nine: Deep In Dublin, DeathChapter Thirty: An End, A Beginning
STEPHANIE
The funeral was attended by family and acquaintances but not many friends. Gordon hadn’t been a well-liked figure in the publishing world, for although the books he wrote – tales of horror and magic and wonder – regularly reared their heads in the bestseller lists, he had the disquieting habit of insulting people without realising it, then laughing at their shock. It was at Gordon’s funeral, however, that Stephanie Edgley first caught sight of the gentleman in the tan overcoat.
He was standing under the shade of a large tree, away from the crowd, the coat buttoned up all the way despite the warmth of the afternoon. A scarf was wrapped around the lower half of his face and even from her position on the far side of the grave, Stephanie could make out the wild and frizzy hair that escaped from the wide brimmed hat he wore low over his gigantic sunglasses. She watched him, intrigued by his appearance. And then, like he knew he was being observed, he turned and walked back through the rows of headstones, and disappeared from sight.
After the service, Stephanie and her parents travelled back to her dead uncle’s house, over a humpbacked bridge and along a narrow road that carved its way through thick woodland. The gates were heavy and grand and stood open, welcoming them into the estate. The grounds were vast and the old house itself was ridiculously big.
