
Pleasant, who throws a fireball (produced from clicking his fingers) at the man. When she refuses, the man breaks in and tries to attack and kill her. The caller demands she hand over a "key". After reading some of her uncle's latest manuscripts (to be published posthumously) and fixing herself a snack, Stephanie receives a threatening phone call. Calling a tow-truck, Melissa opts to return while letting Stephanie spend time in her new property. Stephanie herself is left with the entirety of Gordon's remaining estate, including the impressive royalties on his best-selling books, and a mansion filled with his possessions.Īfter visiting the mansion, Melissa and Stephanie are stranded by car issues and a heavy rainstorm. Stephanie's aunt and uncle are given an ugly brooch, a boat, and a car, (none of which they wanted), while Stephanie's parents are left a magnificent villa in France. Present at the reading of the will are herself, her parents Desmond and Melissa, Stephanie's none-too-well-liked uncle and aunt Fergus and Beryl, and a mysterious man in a tan overcoat, hat, frizzy wig, sunglasses, and scarf, named Skulduggery Pleasant.

When Stephanie Edgley's horror novelist uncle, Gordon Edgley, dies unexpectedly she is called out on his will.

considered creating a live-action film based on the book. It won the Red House Children's Book Award and the Hampshire Book Award in 2008. HarperCollins Audio also publishes the unabridged CD sets of the books read by Rupert Degas.

The book was re-titled Sceptre Of The Ancients for the 2009 paperback release in the US and Canada. They and their numerous magic-wielding allies try to prevent the necromancer Nefarian Serpine from unleashing a powerful weapon called The Sceptre of Ancients. The story follows the characters Skulduggery Pleasant - a skeleton, sorcerer and detective - and his partner Stephanie Edgley, who also goes by Valkyrie Cain. The novel crosses the horror, comedy, mystery, and fantasy genres. It is the first of the Skulduggery Pleasant novels.

Skulduggery Pleasant (also known as Skulduggery Pleasant: Scepter of the Ancients, or simply The Scepter of the Ancients) is the debut novel of Irish playwright Derek Landy, published on 2 April 2007.
