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Skulduggery Pleasant Books in Order

Part ofDerek Landy Books in Order

Explore all Skulduggery Pleasant books by Derek Landy in order, with short plot summaries, series background, novellas and guidance on the best reading order.

Last updated: June 7, 2026

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Publication Order

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25 books

1

Skulduggery Pleasant

by Derek Landy

2007

When twelve year old Stephanie Edgley inherits her uncle's fortune and eerie old house, she soon gains something stranger: a walking, talking skeleton detective. Drawn into a hidden magical Ireland, she and Skulduggery race to stop the sorcerer Serpine from unleashing an ancient weapon and the Faceless Ones.

2

Playing with Fire

by Derek Landy

2008

A year after meeting Skulduggery, Valkyrie is helping hunt criminals when Baron Vengeous escapes prison with the razor wielding Billy Ray Sanguine. Armed with Lord Vile's armour and the stitched together Grotesquery, the Baron plans to summon the Faceless Ones back into the world.

3

The Faceless Ones

by Derek Landy

2008

The fanatical cult known as the Diablerie is close to opening a portal for the Faceless Ones using the Grotesquery's remains and the last teleporter. Skulduggery and Valkyrie chase them across Dublin and beyond, risking everything to stop a god level invasion.

4

Dark Days

by Derek Landy

2010

After a year of searching, Valkyrie recovers Skulduggery's stolen skull and drags him back from the realm of the Faceless Ones. While a vengeful group of villains forms the Revengers' Club and plots mass murder, she learns necromancy and glimpses the True Name that could end the world.

5

Mortal Coil

by Derek Landy

2010

Remnant spirits escape their prison and begin possessing sorcerers, turning friends and foes into rampaging killers. Desperate to avoid the prophecy that she will become Darquesse, Valkyrie submits to the unsettling Dr Nye, even as the last loose Remnant chooses Tanith Low as its new home.

6

Death Bringer

by Derek Landy

2011

The necromancers believe Valkyrie is destined to become the Death Bringer, a messiah who will transform life and death. When rival disciple Melancholia St Clair is unleashed and a plan emerges to sacrifice half the world, Valkyrie must face both her fate and Skulduggery's past as Lord Vile.

7

The Lost Art of World Domination

by Derek Landy

2011

In this quick Skulduggery short, would be overlord Scaramouch Van Dreg finally manages to chain his skeleton nemesis in a dungeon. Armed with a supposedly unstoppable magic draining insect, he prepares to conquer the world, right up until Valkyrie arrives and everything falls apart.

8

Kingdom of the Wicked

by Derek Landy

2012

Across Ireland, ordinary people suddenly manifest wild magical powers and start tearing the world apart, all linked to an imprisoned sorcerer called Argeddion. As Valkyrie and Skulduggery chase dimensional killers and power drunk teens, they are drawn into a warped parallel realm ruled by Mevolent.

9

The End of the World

by Derek Landy

2012

Written for World Book Day, this novella follows runaway teen Ryan after a strange burn mark appears on his hand and a gang tries to abduct him. Skulduggery and Valkyrie drag him into a race to stop a Doomsday Machine and force him to question who he really is.

10

Last Stand of Dead Men

by Derek Landy

2013

Magical politics collapse into open war when the Sanctuaries turn on one another and a device called the Accelerator threatens the entire human race. Skulduggery reforms the Dead Men as Valkyrie faces conspiracies, family fallout and the terrifying future hinted by Darquesse.

11

Tanith Low in the Maleficent Seven

by Derek Landy

2013

This spin off gives Tanith Low, possessed and delighted by it, her own starring role as leader of a villain crew. She gathers killers and monsters to steal the four God Killer weapons before anyone can use them on Darquesse, all while planning a few betrayals of her own.

12

Armageddon Outta Here

by Derek Landy

2014

This collection gathers Skulduggery Pleasant short stories and novellas, plus new material, charting adventures from the Dead Men on the frontier to Valkyrie facing down vampires. It fills in hidden corners of the timeline for readers who want more chaos between the main novels.

13

The Dying of the Light

by Derek Landy

2014

The first Skulduggery Pleasant saga reaches its breaking point as Valkyrie's dark alter ego Darquesse moves closer to wiping out the world. Skulduggery and a battered cast of allies attempt one last, impossible gambit to save both Valkyrie and everything she loves.

14

Resurrection

by Derek Landy

2017

Five years after the first saga ends, Valkyrie is back in Ireland, traumatised and trying to stay away from magic. When agent Temper Fray vanishes while spying on a group who want war with mortals, Skulduggery pulls her and schoolboy Omen Darkly into a new conspiracy.

15

Midnight

by Derek Landy

2018

When sadistic killer Cadaverous Gant kidnaps Valkyrie's little sister, he gives her until midnight to complete a chain of twisted tasks. Skulduggery and Omen race to catch up as Valkyrie fights cannibals, cursed magic and a lethal hotel built to break her.

16

Bedlam

by Derek Landy

2019

Valkyrie defies the High Sanctuary to hunt down her sister's stolen soul, throwing herself into a lawless quest that tears at old loyalties. While Abyssinia prepares a night of horror and bloodshed, Omen Darkly is pushed into becoming the hero he never wanted to be.

17

Seasons of War

by Derek Landy

2020

War is looming and Skulduggery, Valkyrie and the last of the Dead Men are sent on a secret mission into a forsaken, terrifying land of magic. Surrounded by monsters and old enemies, Valkyrie must fight not just to survive but to master her own self destructive impulses.

18

Apocalypse Kings

by Derek Landy

2021

This World Book Day novella sends Skulduggery and Valkyrie undercover in a Dublin school after three imprisoned gods break loose. Disguised as teacher and pupil, they must act perfectly normal while quietly preventing the end of the world.

19

Dead or Alive

by Derek Landy

2021

Billions of lives will be lost if the Child of the Faceless Ones is found and used to bring the gods back. To stop that future, Skulduggery and Valkyrie consider assassinating fanatic Damocles Creed as Roarhaven tips toward protest, riots and open rebellion.

20

The Skulduggery Pleasant Grimoire

by Derek Landy

2021

Part companion and part story, this lavish grimoire recaps the Skulduggery Pleasant saga, profiles the huge cast and maps the magic. It also hides new scenes and a dark thread of narrative, making it a treasure chest for long time fans.

21

Until the End

by Derek Landy

2022

In the climax of the second Skulduggery Pleasant cycle, the Faceless Ones are back and the bad guys finally seem to have the upper hand. With Valkyrie sidelined, Skulduggery and reluctant hero Omen Darkly face a last desperate fight to stop the apocalypse.

22

Hell Breaks Loose

by Derek Landy

2023

Set three hundred years before the main series, this prequel follows Skulduggery and the Dead Men to a besieged Tuscan town during the war with Mevolent. Ordered to protect their most feared enemy to stop a hellish rift, they battle old foes while Skulduggery hungers for revenge on Serpine.

23

A Mind Full of Murder

by Derek Landy

2024

Six years after the universe ended and restarted, a masked sorcerer begins slaughtering mortals and leaving twisted puzzles behind. Skulduggery and Valkyrie must decipher the clues, confront the scars of the last apocalypse and stop a new chain of murders before the body count explodes.

24

A Heart Full of Hatred

by Derek Landy

2025

A relentless killer is stalking sorcerers and Valkyrie is next on his list. While tracking a cult bent on punishing the mortal world, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are pulled into a murder case that leads to a lavish island ceremony where no guest can be sure of leaving alive.

25
New

A Soul Full of Shadows

by Derek Landy

2026

Planned as the finale to the current Skulduggery Pleasant trilogy, this novel is expected to bring the story begun in A Mind Full of Murder and A Heart Full of Hatred to a dark, twist filled conclusion for Skulduggery and Valkyrie.

Series background & context

The Skulduggery Pleasant books drop you into a version of modern Ireland where magic has always been there, hiding just under the surface. Sorcerers run their own secret government, monsters lurk behind ordinary streets and, in the middle of it all, a skeletal detective in a sharp suit drives a vintage car and refuses to stay dead.

At the heart of the series are Skulduggery Pleasant and Stephanie Edgley, the twelve year old girl who takes the name Valkyrie Cain when she steps into the magical world. Skulduggery is a former war hero turned private eye, made of bones and bad jokes, while Valkyrie is stubborn, clever and far more powerful than she first realises. Their partnership starts with a simple investigation into her uncle's death and slowly grows into something closer to a found family.

The early novels play like supernatural detective stories with big fantasy stakes. Skulduggery and Valkyrie tangle with villains such as Nefarian Serpine, Baron Vengeous and the Diablerie, all of whom are obsessed with bringing back the godlike Faceless Ones. There are cursed weapons like the Sceptre of the Ancients, secret prisons, rival magical disciplines and a whole underground culture of tailors, killers, sensitives and sorcerers with wonderfully odd names.

As the series goes on, the scale widens and the tone deepens. Valkyrie learns that her True Name, Darquesse, is tied to a prophecy about the end of the world. The books follow her struggle to hold on to her own identity while dealing with the consequences of her choices. Wars between Sanctuaries break out, old comrades in the Dead Men are pulled back into service and the line between hero and monster keeps getting thinner.

Later entries jump forward in time. Roarhaven becomes an open magical city, Valkyrie is older and haunted by what she has done, and a new viewpoint character, Omen Darkly, arrives to give a more awkward, school based angle on events. Books like Resurrection, Midnight, Bedlam, Seasons of War, Dead or Alive and Until the End explore the fallout from earlier disasters and push the world toward fresh apocalypses.

Around the main sequence sit novellas and side stories that fill in the gaps. The End of the World focuses on a runaway boy who stumbles into a doomsday plot. Tanith Low in the Maleficent Seven turns a fan favourite swordswoman into the leader of a villain crew. Collections such as Armageddon Outta Here, the guidebook style Skulduggery Pleasant Grimoire, the World Book Day tale Apocalypse Kings and the historical prequel Hell Breaks Loose add extra layers to the history and cast.

Across all of these books you can expect fast pacing, snappy dialogue and a balance of horror and slapstick that feels very distinctive. One page might give you a joke about Skulduggery's hat, the next a brutal fight or a quiet moment between damaged friends. If you like long running fantasy series where characters grow up, make mistakes and still keep cracking wise while the world ends around them, this is the place to start.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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25 Skulduggery Pleasant Books in Order (Complete List 2026)