Skulduggery Pleasant is a series of dark fantasy novels written by Irish author Derek Landy. Tom Percival is the series' illustrator. The books revolve around the adventures of fledgling detective Valkyrie Cain and her mentor Skulduggery Pleasant, along with other friends and allies. The central story concerns Valkyrie's struggle to stop evil forces threatening the world and her internal struggle to resist the darkness within. The novels are broken up into two phases with multiple prequels and short tales. Since the release of the first novel in 2007, Skulduggery Pleasant, the series has been praised by both readers and critics. Source: Wikipedia (en)