"The String of Pearls" by... I'm still not sure. I believe it's the first story to introduce the character of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It was an old serial for a paper back in the mid-1800s, and I think it had a couple writers overseen by an editor. Or something like that. I could be completely wrong and it was written by the editor.

Anyway, as I said it's the first Sweeney Todd story. It's a tough read, and I've only read it once. I didn't care for it the first time because the story really isn't about Sweeney Todd so much as the romance between Johanna and Mark. The musical that most people are familiar with has almost nothing to do with the original story. So ignore the story of revenge and the sympathetic Todd. In the original, Todd is just a villian. He's standard fair, but still a fun and dangerous character to read. And he did become popular in England for a reason! The chapters that focus on him are my favourites. Ms. Lovett doesn't appear very often, and the cannibalism is only alluded to every now and then. The story really isn't about the meat pies at all. There is also an interesting detour with Tobias and his unfortunate turn of events around the middle. I'm looking forward to revisiting those pages. But it's the whole titular string of pearls and romance plot that actually does nothing for me. It drags somewhat and I don't particularly care for how those characters are written. Oh well, it might grow on me this second time around. I'm only on chapter two, after all.