Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked is young adult and fantasy novel written by Irish playwright Derek Landy, published in July 2012. It is the seventh of the Skulduggery Pleasant series and sequel to Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer. The story follows the sorcerer and detectives Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery Pleasant as they investigate normal people suddenly developing magical powers after being infected by a rare strain of magic. The book would 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. Plot summary Sanctuary detectives Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are tasked with tracking down a group of people who have mysteriously gained magical powers. One of them tells Pleasant that he was given the powers in a dream, by a man called Argeddion. Pleasant and Cain discover that Argeddion used to be a pacifist called Walden D'Essai, who disappeared after discovering his True Name was Argeddion. They find that D'Essai was handed over to detective Tyren Lament, who was tasked with making sure that Argeddion never used his power. They find Silas Nadir, a serial killer connected to Lament, who gives them names of Lament's group. Valkyrie starts to feel her arm hurt in the place Silas Nadir grabbed her. She is then 'shunted' into another dimension, where she meets Alexander Remit, a Teleporter who mentions that Mevolent rules this dimension. Pleasant realises that Lament and his group are guarding Argeddion so that he doesn't use his powers. Pleasant and Cain set off for the Alps after learning that Tyren Lament and his team had some cargo delivered there. They find Lament, who agrees to let them see Argeddion.They go to the prison where Argeddion is incarcerated, called the Cube. Doran, Kitana, Sean and Elsie go to Doran's house and find his older brother, Tommy, who Doran kills. Seeing that their immense power is causing them to become murderous, Elsie leaves the others. Valkyrie and Geoffrey Scrutinous question Doran about the murder and Valkyrie suspects he is involved with Tommy's death. When they follow Doran to a coffee shop, they are attacked by Kitana. They escape, but Kitana takes Valkyrie's jacket. The Sanctuary develops a plan to acquire the Sceptre of the Ancients in order to erase Argeddion from existence. Upon his return, he decides to eliminate all his experimental magic users, as he