The Birth of Sweeney Todd + British Book Bargains

October 20, 2025

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Before he was slicing his way across stage and screen, Sweeney Todd was a penny-dreadful sensation. The String of Pearls, published in 1846–47 and written by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest, introduced “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” to Victorian readers hungry for cheap thrills and morbid mystery.

Sold for a penny an issue, the serial was everything the age demanded—bloody, fast-paced, and faintly moralistic. Todd’s victims disappeared into meat pies, London gasped, and a legend was born.

As the nights draw in and the chill becomes more noticeable, it’s hard not to imagine those early readers huddled under lamplight, devouring each lurid installment.

Care to read it? Because it’s in the public domain, you can get it free HERE at Project Gutenberg - though if you prefer the convenience of Amazon, you can get it here quite cheaply.

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British eBooks on Sale: October 20th

As always, a short disclaimer on the sale listings - the overwhelming majority of our readers are US-based, so sale availability may vary outside of the US (it’s up to the publisher/author if they wish to coordinate sales internationally). Deals can disappear at any time, but all e-books were $2.99 or less at time of writing.

  • Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett - From the Cold War to civil rights, from Berlin to Washington, Follett’s epic finale to the Century Trilogy follows five families whose intertwined destinies shape the world through revolution, espionage, and the fight for freedom across the turbulent decades of the 1960s to 1980s.

  • The Traitor of Sherwood Forest by Amy S Kaufman - In this dark and seductive retelling of the Robin Hood legend, peasant girl Jane Crowe becomes a spy within the King’s Houses for the infamous outlaw—only to uncover a dangerous web of secrets, betrayal, and desire that forces her to question whether Robin Hood is truly a hero or just another thief of hearts and lives.

  • The Lady Brewer of London by Karen Brooks - In 1405 England, merchant’s daughter Anneke Sheldrake defies ruin and scandal by reviving her late mother’s ale-brewing business, risking her home, reputation, and freedom as she battles betrayal, greed, and the ruthless constraints of her time to forge her own destiny.

  • An Utterly Unsuitable Lady by Lucy Greenhill - In 1890s Cambridge, brilliant naturalist Theo Watt finds his orderly life upended when he meets Ida Moss, a woman with a scandalous past and a kind heart, in this witty historical romance about unexpected love and second chances from the Moth Agency Romances series.

  • To Marry & to Meddle by Martha Waters - When a debt-ridden debutante and a scandalous theater owner strike a marriage of convenience, sparks fly as they discover that love—like the stage—is never quite what it seems in Regency London.

  • Life Sentence by AK Turner - When mortuary technician Cassie Raven learns her father—long imprisoned for her mother’s murder—is free and claiming innocence, she and DS Phyllida Flyte dig into the past, uncovering dark secrets someone will kill to keep buried in this London-set forensic thriller.

  • Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer - When a medical student with Asperger’s realizes the cadaver on his dissection table didn’t die naturally, his search for the truth in a Welsh university lab turns into a deadly puzzle no one else believes exists.

  • (BOX SET) The Complete Cotswolds Murder Mysteries by Stella Cameron - In the idyllic Cotswold village of Folly-on-the-Weir, pub owner Alex Duggins finds her fresh start derailed when she stumbles upon a corpse in the snow, launching her into seven twist-filled mysteries where secrets and murder lurk behind every honey-stone cottage.-

A Few Print Book Deals…

Print books aren’t sold as cheaply as ebooks, so we feature books which are $10-12 or less at time of writing.

  • The Psychopath Next Door by Mark Edwards - When a family moves to what seems like the perfect community, their new neighbor’s kindness hides a sinister agenda in The Psychopath Next Door, a chilling psychological thriller about obsession, revenge, and the dark secrets behind suburban walls.

  • Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher - In 1851 York, Lizzy Grimm fights to save her late father’s eerie curiosity shop but uncovers a chilling mystery when cursed books and restless spirits reveal an ancient yuletide legend determined to rise again.

  • The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull - Set amid 1920s high society, this lush historical novel follows Thelma Morgan, an American socialite whose affair with Edward, Prince of Wales, entangles her in a web of love, betrayal, and royal scandal that forever changes history.

  • No Refuge by Nicola Clifford - When a man and his dog are shot dead in a quiet Welsh town, local journalist Stacey Logan races to uncover the truth amid royal visit tensions, police leaks, and rising danger that could cost her both her story and her life.

  • The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn - When a directionless American takes a job running a coffee shop in a quaint Scottish Highland village, her plans for a fresh start go awry thanks to a surly, irresistible handyman in this steamy, funny romance about second chances and unexpected love.

  • Memories of the Lost by Barbara O’Neal - After her mother’s death, artist Tillie Morrisey follows a mysterious painting to a seaside English village, where buried family secrets, haunting memories, and an unexpected love force her to confront the truth about her past and who she really is.

“A man may be accused of cowardice for fleeing away from all manner of physical dangers but when things supernatural, insubstantial and inexplicable threaten not only his safety and well-being but his sanity, his innermost soul, then retreat is not a sign of weakness but the most prudent course.”

Susan Hill, The Woman in Black

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