Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire

Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire is a young adult and fantasy novel written by Irish playwright Derek Landy, published in April 2008. It is the second of the Skulduggery Pleasant series and sequel to the novel of the same name.

The story follows sorcerer-detectives Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery Pleasant and their magic-wielding allies as they try to prevent Baron Vengeous and his forces from resurrecting the Grotesquery and returning the Faceless Ones to the world. The book did not see release in the US and Canada until 2018. HarperCollins Audio also publishes the unabridged CD sets of the books read by Rupert Degas.

In 2009, it won the award of Senior Irish Children's Book of the Year.

Plot summary
One year after the events of the previous novel, Valkyrie Cain is working with Skulduggery Pleasant to capture villains on the behalf of the Sanctuary.

When Baron Vengeous is broken out of prison by another villain, Billy-Ray Sanguine, he begins searching for the armour of Lord Vile. The armour will help him resurrect the Grotesquery, a monster with the power to bring back the evil gods known as the Faceless Ones.

Valkyrie and Skulduggery ask an informant about the location of the Grotesquery, who says he will only help them if Skulduggery kills Valkyrie. Skulduggery tricks him by shooting an illusion of her instead. The pair go to the Grotesquery's hiding place and find that The Baron has already taken it.

Valkyrie is kidnapped and taken to a church to the Faceless Ones, where The Baron attempts uses her blood and the power of Lord Vile's armour to revive the Grotesquery. Skulduggery rescues Valkyrie and steals the Grotesquery, which he hands over to the Sanctuary's scientists. However, the Grotesquery has already begun to revive, and escapes after a fight with Skulduggery, Valkyrie, and Tanith Low.

Skulduggery suspects The Baron is a pawn in someone else's plan, and accuses the Sanctuary's Grand Mage, who expels Skulduggery from the Sanctuary. At a family reunion, Valkyrie is attacked by a vampire working for The Baron, but she escapes.

Skulduggery, Valkyrie, and Tanith battle and defeat The Baron and the Grotesquery. Before dying, the monster screams to summon the Faceless Ones.

Later, Sanguine meets with his secret master, who is happy that the Faceless Ones have been summoned and is preparing to unleash them upon the world. The story ends with Valkyrie and Skulduggery wondering about the true identity of The Baron and Sanguine's master.

Baron Vengeous
A war criminal and one Skulduggery's old enemies, determined to bring the Faceless Ones back into the world.

Billy-Ray Sanguine
The eyeless, straight razor-wielding Sanguine breaks The Baron out of prison using his digging abilities.

The Grotesquery
The Grotesquery is a monster made of the remains of a Faceless One and is capable of opening a portal for the Faceless Ones to return. It was revived using Lord Vile's armour and Valkyrie Cain's blood.

Reviews
Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire has opened to largely positive reviews by critics. ''The continuing adventures of the skeleton detective and his sidekick are as full of action and terrible one liners as ever. There's a line of wry humour in these books which raise them way above the average bar.''
 * Jill Murphy (The Book Bag)


 * Fergus (Squishy Minnie):
 * All in all, I feel as though I could talk for five hours about this novel. It was a complete success, and I enjoyed every moment of it. Skulduggery is hilarious, Valkyrie is completely strong in both a physical and mental sense, and the perfect combination of humour, heart and horror cements Playing with Fire as my favourite Skulduggery Pleasant novel to date.


 * Nathan Nicholls (Whitby Gazette):
 * The plot speeds along amid a whirl of chases, last-tick rescues, one high casualty melée after another and plenty of snappy, hard-boiled dialogue. Landy gives the term “deadpan humor” a whole new meaning; readers who prefer their heroes laconic and their action nonstop are in for a wild ride.


 * Marya Jansen-Gruber (Through the Looking Glass):
 * The action is fast paced, the characters reveal interesting facts about themselves as the story unfolds, and readers will be hard pressed to find a more unique and surprising book.


 * Karissa (Hidden In Pages):
 * If you are looking for a fast-paced, humorous, dark fantasy read I would recommend checking this out. It's a fun read with some neat magic in it.

Awards
In 2009, Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire was awarded the title of Irish Senior Children's Book of the Year.