Copyright

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2007

      First published in this edition in the United States of America by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2018

      HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,

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       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Skulduggery Pleasant rests his weary bones on the web at: www.skulduggerypleasant.com

      Copyright © Derek Landy 2007

      Cover illustration © Neil Swaab 2018

      Skulduggery Pleasant™ Derek Landy; Skulduggery Pleasant logo™ HarperCollins Publishers

      Derek Landy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

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      Source ISBN: 9780008248789

      Ebook Edition © JULY 2013 ISBN: 9780008266318

      Version: 2018-04-27

       Dedication

      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

       Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Chapter One: Stephanie Chapter Two: The Will Chapter Three: Little Girl, All Alone Chapter Four: The Secret War Chapter Five: Meeting China Sorrows Chapter Six: A Man Apart Chapter Seven: Serpine Chapter Eight: Ghastly Chapter Nine: The Troll Beneath Westminster Bridge Chapter Ten: The Gal In Black Chapter Eleven: The Little Bit Of Crime Chapter Twelve: Vampires Chapter Thirteen: The Red Right Hand Chapter Fourteen: Elemental Magic Chapter Fifteen: The Torture Room Chapter Sixteen: What’s In A Name? Chapter Seventeen: A Fabulous Rescue Indeed Chapter Eighteen: On The Roof, At Night Chapter Nineteen: The Experiment Chapter Twenty: The Family Curse Chapter Twenty One: The Cave Chapter Twenty Two: The Sceptre Of The Ancients Chapter Twenty Three: Thoughts On Dying Horribly Chapter Twenty Four: Planning For Murder Chapter Twenty Five: The White Cleaver Chapter Twenty Six: The Last Stand Of… Chapter Twenty Seven: No Calm Before The Storm Chapter Twenty Eight: Carnage Chapter Twenty Nine: Deep In Dublin, Death Chapter Thirty: An End, A Beginning Keep Reading About the Author The Skulduggery Pleasant series About the Publisher

       1

      STEPHANIE

      

ordon Edgley’s sudden death came as a shock to everyone – not least himself. One moment he was in his study, seven words into the twenty-fifth sentence of the final chapter of his new book And The Darkness Rained Upon Them, and the next he was dead. A tragic loss, his mind echoed numbly as he slipped away.

      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

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