Meet Mr. Skulduggery Courteous. A well-dressed, razor-sharp special detective, a killer sorcerer, and a living, breathing fire-throwing skeleton. Sarcastic but kind, Mr. Skulduggery Courteous has all the makings of a star. And he will be. In this first volume of Derek Landy's series, Skulduggery will team up with Stephanie, an unusual and talented girl, to investigate a crime that could threaten the future of humanity. Nothing spectacular ever happened to the young and intelligent Stephanie, but she always wondered if there was something more... Indeed, everything changed after her uncle's death. Gordon Edgley was an eccentric author of gruesome horror novels, but also a funny and playful fellow. Everyone knew Stephanie was his favorite niece, but no one expected her to inherit much of his assets—among them the royalties to his books and his house, a sprawling mansion with more mysteries than Stephanie could ever imagine. It doesn't take long for the girl to discover that the terror in her uncle's stories was far from fiction. After her first night in the mansion, strange and dangerous people begin to appear, searching for a key she doesn't recognize. But Stephanie isn't alone. Mr. Skulduggery Cortez, a clever, ironic, and good-natured detective, is ready to defend her. What's more, he's a living skeleton that walks, talks, performs magic, and breathes fire—and that's something Stephanie can't ignore. An unlikely duo facing an ancient evil that could destroy the human race. The end of the world? Only over her dead body.
