If you are a Georgette Heyer fan, you may hate Penhallow. And if you like a fast-paced whodunnit, avoid this like the plague. Penhallow is not a fun book, and the story unfolds leisurely, but it is a beautifully written, complex drama of a family living under tyranny. Heyer was a master of characterization, and in this novel she has brought to the fore all of her talents for understanding and depicting the many variations of human character.