The Butcher's Daughter

The Hitherto Untold Story of Mrs. Lovett

By: David Demchuk, Corinne Leigh Clark

Narrated by: Steven Crossley, Jill Tanner, Amy Scanlon

The story of the vengeful barber Sweeney Todd has gripped fans across literary, stage, and screen renditions—but little has been revealed about Mrs. Lovett, Todd’s notorious partner in crime. Until now.

Enclosed herewith: a bloodcurdling correspondence of profound horror and intrigue, based on the original Victorian penny dreadful that started it all.

London, 1887: At the abandoned apartment of a missing young woman, a dossier of evidence is collected, ordered chronologically, and sent to the Chief Inspector of the London Metropolitan Police. It contains a frightening correspondence between an inquisitive journalist, Miss Emily Gibson, and the woman Gibson thinks may be the infamous Mrs. Lovett—Sweeney Todd’s accomplice, “a wicked woman” who baked men into pies and sold them in her pie shop on Fleet Street. The talk of London Town—even decades after her horrendous misdeeds.

As the woman relays the harrowing account of her life—from her upbringing on Butcher’s Row in the unruly streets of Victorian London to her daring escape from a mad doctor—her missives unlock an intricate mystery that brings Miss Gibson closer to the truth, even as that truth may cost her everything.

A hair-raising and breathtaking novel for fans of Sarah Waters and Gregory Maguire, The Butcher’s Daughter is an irresistible literary thriller that draws richly from historical sources and shines new light on the woman behind the counter of the most disreputable pie shop ever known.

©2025 David Demchuk and Corinne Leigh Clark (P)2025 Recorded Books

Fun and fast read

This book has one of the best qualities a book can have: it keeps you reading. The writing is compelling, the characters are mostly interesting, and the authors know how to ask questions you want the answers to. The reimagining of Mrs. Lovett is interesting, and the setting and tropes of Victorian England they use are gothic in ways fans of Victorian horror will love, while not being so unreal or overused they start to feel silly. Many characters are well drawn and there is some lovely language in this book. The only issue I have is that the third act of this book isn’t the best. It hits a sluggish part and then almost out of nowhere several important things happen at once. Then the book is done. It’s jarring after a very engaging story, and by the end I felt I had unlearned much of what I had about the main character, and not in a good way, just in a confusingly written way. It’s not a bad ending, I think just the rest of the book was much better so I was a little disappointed. Does not ruin the experience, though and I found this book a lot of fun. Worth a credit if you’re in a spooky mood or just like stories about queer and disabled people doing interesting things

definitely recommend!

I loved it! I didn’t expect that ending!
& did this hint at another infamous serial killer at the end?
IYKYK!

Such a great read for spooky season. Even though I didn’t think this was scary it was definitely more suspenseful and gory/gross, some parts had me giggling lol 🥴🤣

A M A Z I N G

Even if you’re not a fan of ST but enjoy a dark story of human survival, this is it! Thank you for writing this. The narration is exceptional!

Attend the tale of Mrs Lovett!

This was such a fun read! If you’re into the same gothic dark humor of the Sweeney Todd tale, you will find all that and more here. Enjoy!