Book: Skulduggery Pleasant
Author: Derek Landy
Rating: 7.5/10
Recommended Age: 10 +
Gordon Edgely was a renowned writer, A collector of rare items and literature and the rich uncle of Stephanie Edgely, and his death came as quite a shock to everyone.
But Gordon's death is only part of the story and its' his funeral that Stephanie saw the man in the tan overcoat
Stephanie was alot like her uncle and amid as rather weird and crazy family this made her stand out, strong-willed and intelligent, that's the words she uses to describe Gordon, and those are the words he uses to describe her. Her father is abit forgetful and her other uncle Fergus married someone thoroughly despicable, a sharp unkind women called Beryl who has 2 horrible twins who are older than Stephanie and refuses to think she's wrong about anything. So it's the funeral that introduces these character, and the man in the tan overcoat.
Later in the reading of the will, everyone is in for a shock. Gordon Edgely was a rather rich man from his writing success and owned a huge mansion,a french villa, boats and all sorts. surprisingly he has left Stephanie something as well so they are all there waiting with Fergus to see who gets what, and once again there is the man in a tan overcoat.
Fergus gets the car,the boat and a brooch, which beryl is none to happy about.Stephanie's parents get the villa. The man in the tan overcoat,who now is revealed as a Mr Skulduggery Pleasant gets some advice. Then the shock. Gordon has left his mansion,his money and his royalties all to Stephanie. This is very unexpected,which is just what Gordon would of thought was great about it.
Now the story properly starts. Stephanie has been left alone in the mansion overnight due to unforeseen circumstances and that's when things change. A strange man appears wanting to come in and threatening to kill her. This is when Skulduggery burst through the door and starts fighting the mysterious intruder, and then starts throwing Fireballs! The man flees and when skulduggery turns round come the biggest surprise of them all.
He's a skeleton.
Stephanie is introduced to a secret world, a world of magic, a world with all new mysteries and adventure, a world with a skeleton detective.
Drawn into it due to the fact that a unknown evil believes she holds the key to releasing dark gods Stephanie soon becomes a partner to Skulduggery and tries to learn all magic has to offer.
They believe the people behind the attack and her uncle's Murder is Nefarian Serpine, and that when a evil wizard rose up hundreds of years ago Serpine was one of his most trusted allies.. he seeks to finish what mevolent started with his war and bring back their Gods: The Faceless Ones. To do this he believes he needs the scepter of the Ancients the very tool they sent the faceless ones from this world. A weapon Gordon Edgely was in possession of.
It becomes a fast paced magic adventure with fights, allies,enemies and treachery and will keep anyone drawn in until the end. And all centered around a 12 year old girl, a Skeleton and religious maniacs.
This book Is a great book combining action,adventure and mystery/detective books together. It's a great read and once you get past the intro will keep you gripped until the very end.
I thoroughly recommend it.
Hope you found this review helpful,
The Devonian Book Reviewer
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