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Penhallow
- Narrated by: Ulli Birvé
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
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Summary
Hated for his cruel and vicious nature, ruling his family with an iron hand from his sickbed, tyrannical patriarch Adam Penhallow is found murdered the day before his birthday. His entire family had assembled for his birthday celebration, and every one of them had the ways and means to commit the crime. As accusations and suspicion turn in one direction and then another, the claws and backstabbing come out, and no one is exempt from the coming implosion.
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- 24-02-15
Kill Me Now
Sigh. Firstly, why oh WHY did they choose this narrator for Heyer's crime books? Her voices are like nails on a blackboard, and her pronunciation is appalling. She wrecks even the best of Heyer's whodunnits - and this is not one of them. I can only assume that Georgette Heyer was in the grip of depression when she wrote this one. Her usual light touch, witty dialogue, excellent characterisation (especially seen in very minor characters), and intricate plots, are all missing. The book is depressing, squalid, dull, without a single likeable character in it. I'm halfway through (it's long one) and so far there has been no crime. I'm losing the will to live.
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21 people found this helpful
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- Gillie
- 19-08-15
Couldn't agree more!
The best thing about Ulli is her voice is so boring she successfully puts me to sleep within 10 minutes! He constant mispronunciation, however, drives me round the bend! This is by far the worst one so far, and if I'd have bought this one first I definitely wouldn't have bought the others! I wanted to give performance no stars but the site won't let me!
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13 people found this helpful
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- Mary
- 28-06-16
Great book - shame about the narrrator!
Where does Penhallow rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Really good novel (mystery not Regency) from Georgette Heyer, with a truly unexpected, unusual ending. It will have taken some courage to break so many of the established 'rules' of crime fiction. Good for her!!
Who was your favorite character and why?
They are all pretty dreadful, but that's the point of the book.
Would you be willing to try another one of Ulli Birvé’s performances?
Not knowingly! Although she's good at performing the voices, and hence the characterisation benefits, she is awful at pronunication. For instance there's a character called Charmian, but the narator pronounces it as Charmain throughout. What's even worse, she made it sound like Chow Mein! It was an irritant that never went away.
Any additional comments?
Does Audible check the merchandise it retails for quality? Does it pass on listener feedback to the recording companies? I'd love to see some evidence of Audible's quality control.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Karen
- 10-11-15
Absolutely Awful!
What could Georgette Heyer have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Not in the same league as her Regency novels
How did the narrator detract from the book?
No personality
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
None
Any additional comments?
The book was dreadful. The story was never interesting - though I persisted to the end in the hope that it would have something that redeemed it. The narrator is so totally without personality that, even if the book had been interesting, she would have spoiled it. I will never read another Georgette Heyer non-Regency novel and I will never listen to another audiobook narrated by Ulli Birve.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Carôle
- 10-03-15
Atypical Heyer but still a masterpiece of Detective fiction
I have now read all of the Georgette Heyer novels. Both the Regency and the Detective stories. This, is not like either of them. It's a long story of a very dysfunctional family, The murder does not take place immediately, but for one to understand why the murder takes place, one has to spend some time with this family. This novel allows you to spend that 'quality' time until you yourself wish to commit the crime!
Another departure from the typical Heyer murder/mystery fare is, our involvement in the actual crime! We know who, why, where, when and how! But ironically, that does not spell the end of the novel. Not even remotely. There's more…
I have read some of the previous reviews of this book, and in some instances it is claimed that the book is not one of Ms Heyer's better ones. However I would say that it is not one of Georgette Heyer's typical stories, it has far more depth to the story, there is far more going on in the foreground and in the background. You are allowed to see the daily lives of these people, and you also get drawn into the pettiness of the challenges they each face & the perfectly innocuous methods used to overcome each challenging situation.
Everything about this family is atypical. This is a lengthy novel because of it! But I think that it would have been a more laborious book to read than to listen to! With the exception of pronouncing the name of the cat incorrectly (I assume), the narrator does a really good job of presenting all of the characters to us and making the flow of the novel really seamlessly good. I think that the narration was really well done and helped to make this potentially long and drawn out novel a joy to listen to.
So, no it's not your usual Georgette Heyer novel, but it is still a masterpiece. Definitely worth listening to. Plus, you have to if you have listened or read all of her previous novels. You owe it to yourself, you know it makes sense.
Enjoy!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Hilary
- 23-09-21
Georgette's Cornish family saga
A rather silly story but quite enjoyable spoilt but the weired pronunciation by the narrator.
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- Anonymous User
- 19-08-21
Don’t judge Georgette Heyer by this book.
Georgette Heyer wrote fabulous regency romances and gripping 1930s detective fiction. This is closer to the latter, but what is missing is her wonderful humour. This is a dour and downright unpleasant tale. I felt so when I first read it, and I still think so after listening to the audio book.
Ulli Birve is an acquired taste. When I first listened to one of her recordings I had to do so at 1.5x speed to get past her … delivery… style. However, she has done most of GH’s detective stories, and I now find her performance more in keeping with the genre.
But if this is your first attempt at a Heyer, please don’t be put off! Try “The Unfinished Clue” - a real corker!
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- Michael Wild
- 27-01-21
An unexpected disappointment
This Daphne du Maurier imitation by Georgette Heyer doesn't quite come off. The main problem, as I see it, is that one approaches it expecting one thing, and find another. As a book by an unknown author it might, at least, be less disappointing.
The reader is also a disappointment, in that her delivery is very close to the standard 'text-to-speech' that is now provided with most books as standard.
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- Thor
- 23-11-20
A story of brutality.
A family brought up in a atmosphere of "Divide and Rule", resulting in disharmony and hatred.
It has the gamit of characters, from the cowards, bullies, weaklings hypochondriac and just down right perverse and nasty.
The person who eventually takes the blame for the murder, is not the one responsible. However greed and a wish to be on top or escape the cesspit, stops any need to peruse the truth.
I didn't find it pleasant to listen too, which is why I gave it two stars.
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- Máire
- 17-06-20
Do Not Blame the Narrator
Based on Heyer's previous books, this gripping story was quite different & at times difficult to listen to. The tension within the storyline was palpable. We expected a 'happy ever after' ending and were disappointed. Ulli Birví's excellent narrative was the main reason I listened to the end. I definitely would not have finished the book.
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