Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. 392 p. Skulduggery Pleasant #1. HarperCollins Publishers, April, 2007. 9780061231155. (Own)
I was looking for an inspiration for today's post on Tuesday and panicking a bit. I usually have these posts planned at least a week ahead of time. For some reason, I had trouble coming up with an older title with a kick-ass heroine, what with this being Women's History Month and the loose theme for the Daily Book Talks. Then, I opened up my Junior Library Guild box with my April books and found this:
My problem was solved. A happy dance was had because I adore these books! The audiobooks are utterly fantastic but not widely available here in the U.S. (or weren't at the time after book 2), so I sent to the U.K. for them. I thought I had read the entire series but realize that there are ten! Whoops!
The booktalk: I will steal from the ad copy because that says it all: "She's twelve. He's dead. But together they're going to save the world." Inside, a New York Times blurb is quoted, "A debut that brings a much needed twist. The author just may have invented a new genre: the screwball fantasy." And, that is a perfect descriptor.
Stephanie's uncle has died. He was a horror writer and not well-liked except by his niece, who inherited his house, much to the dismay of her parents. She notices a man in a trench coat at the burial. Turns out he knew and admired her uncle too. Turns out, her uncle had a secret. Most of his horror novels were not based on fiction. Stephanie has a job to do.
Hilariously funny while being quite scary and suspenseful, Skulduggery Pleasant was Landy's debut in 2007.
The series is getting a reboot here in the U.S. with cool new covers. It's too bad that the new editions are paperbacks, or I'd add the whole lot to my library's collection. We have a well-worn copy of the first book.
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