MeetthegreatSkulduggeryPleasant:wise-crackingdetective,powerfulmagician,masterofdirtytricksandburglary(inthenameofthegreatergood,ofcourse).Ohyeah.Anddead.

Thenthere'shissidekick,Stephanie.She's...well,she'satwelve-year-oldgirl.Withapairlikethisonthecase,evilhadbetterwatchout..."Soyouwon'tkeepanythingfrommeagain?"Heputhishandtohischest.

"Crossmyheartandhopetodie.""Okaythen.Thoughyoudon'tactuallyhaveaheart,"shesaid."Iknow.""Andtechnically,you'vealreadydied.""Iknowthattoo.""Justsowe'reclear."Stephanie'suncleGordonisawriterofhorrorfiction.

Butwhenhediesandleavesherhisestate,Stephanielearnsthatwhilehemayhavewrittenhorror,itcertainlywasn'tfiction.Pursuedbyevilforcesintentonrecoveringamysteriouskey,Stephaniefindshelpfromanunusualsource-thewisecrackingskeletonofadeadwizard.Whenallhellbreaksloose,it'sluckyforSkulduggerythathe'salreadydead.

Thoughhe'sabouttodiscoverthatbeingaskeletondoesn'tstopyoufrombeingtortured,ifthetorturerisdeterminedenough.Andifthere'sanythingSkulduggeryhates,it'storture...Willevilwintheday?WillStephanieandSkulduggerystopbickeringlongenoughtostopit?Onething'sforsure:evilwon'tknowwhat'shitit.