Skulduggery Pleasant: Last Stand of Dead Men - spoiler-free review

It's a challenge in a review not to just recount the plot. Especially in this review - this book's got a heck of a lot of plot - and it's book eight of nine in a bestselling fantasy series, chances are you haven't read all of them. So I'm trying be as spoiler free as I can (as author Derek Landy would wish) for this, the latest, heaviest, and perhaps best book in the series. Here goes...

For those who aren't clued up, these books are a lively mixture of strong characters, misguided villians, cool magic, and dry wit. The main characters are the titular Skulduggery, who's a skeleton and a detective. His associate Stephanie starts off as a normal teenage girl before discovering a crazy world and becoming Valkryie Cain, sorcerer. And if you really haven't read it before - stop reading this and pick up the first book!