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Inspector Lynley #5
For the Sake of Elena
Alternate cover edition of ISBN=0553402374.
Elena Weaver was a surprise to anyone meeting her for the first time. In her clingy dresses and dangling earrings she exuded a sexuality at odds with the innocence projected by the unicorn posters on her walls. While her embittered mother fretted about her welfare from her home in London, in Cambridge—where Elena was a student at St. Stephen's College—her father and his second wife each had their own very different image of the girl. As for Elena, she lived a life of casual and intense physical and emotional relationships, with scores to settle and goals to achieve--until someone, lying in wait along the route she ran every morning, bludgeoned her to death.
Unwilling to turn the killing over to the local police, the university calls in New Scotland Yard. Thus, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, enter the rarefied world of Cambridge University, where academic gowns often hide murderous intentions.
For both officers, the true identity of Elena Weaver proves elusive. Each relationship the girl left behind casts new light both on Elena and on those people who appeared to know her best—from an unsavory Swedish-born Shakespearean professor to the brooding head of the Deaf Students Union.
What's more, Elena's father, a Cambridge professor under consideration for a prestigious post, is a man with his own dark secrets. While his past sins make him neurotically dedicated to Elena and blind to her blacker side, present demons drive him toward betrayal.
Elena Weaver was a surprise to anyone meeting her for the first time. In her clingy dresses and dangling earrings she exuded a sexuality at odds with the innocence projected by the unicorn posters on her walls. While her embittered mother fretted about her welfare from her home in London, in Cambridge—where Elena was a student at St. Stephen's College—her father and his second wife each had their own very different image of the girl. As for Elena, she lived a life of casual and intense physical and emotional relationships, with scores to settle and goals to achieve--until someone, lying in wait along the route she ran every morning, bludgeoned her to death.
Unwilling to turn the killing over to the local police, the university calls in New Scotland Yard. Thus, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, enter the rarefied world of Cambridge University, where academic gowns often hide murderous intentions.
For both officers, the true identity of Elena Weaver proves elusive. Each relationship the girl left behind casts new light both on Elena and on those people who appeared to know her best—from an unsavory Swedish-born Shakespearean professor to the brooding head of the Deaf Students Union.
What's more, Elena's father, a Cambridge professor under consideration for a prestigious post, is a man with his own dark secrets. While his past sins make him neurotically dedicated to Elena and blind to her blacker side, present demons drive him toward betrayal.
478 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
983 people are currently reading
3373 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth George
102 books5,459 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Susan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain. Eleven of her novels, featuring her character Inspector Lynley, have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.
She was born in Warren, Ohio, but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was eighteen months old. She was a student of English, receiving a teaching certificate. While teaching English in the public school system, she completed an advanced degree in psychology.
Her first published novel was A Great Deliverance in 1988, featuring Thomas Lynley, Lord Asherton, a Scotland Yard inspector of noble birth; Barbara Havers, Lynley's assistant, from a very working-class background; Lady Helen Clyde, Lynley's girlfriend and later wife, of noble birth as well; and Lynley's friends Simon and Deborah St. James.
This Elizabeth George is distinct from the other author named Elizabeth George (Christian author).
Series:
* Inspector Lynley
Susan Elizabeth George is an American author of mystery novels set in Great Britain. Eleven of her novels, featuring her character Inspector Lynley, have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.
She was born in Warren, Ohio, but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was eighteen months old. She was a student of English, receiving a teaching certificate. While teaching English in the public school system, she completed an advanced degree in psychology.
Her first published novel was A Great Deliverance in 1988, featuring Thomas Lynley, Lord Asherton, a Scotland Yard inspector of noble birth; Barbara Havers, Lynley's assistant, from a very working-class background; Lady Helen Clyde, Lynley's girlfriend and later wife, of noble birth as well; and Lynley's friends Simon and Deborah St. James.
This Elizabeth George is distinct from the other author named Elizabeth George (Christian author).
Series:
* Inspector Lynley
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 671 reviews
February 27, 2017
I enjoy this series. To me I feel that they are a light fluffy read. Some or better than others, but I feel like they just don't have enough action for me. Others will probably feel differently because I love my suspense more than a mystery. I have to say the ending of her series always gives a curve ball and there is always action there. Now I have to say that even though I do not feel that there is not enough action, I really do enjoy them. Elizabeth George does so well on her characterization that you end up begging for more. I love the main characters in this series and they are becoming old friends.
Elena Weaver is a beautiful, sexually precocious, and extremely troubled student at St. Stephens College in Cambridge. One morning Elena is out running when she's attacked and killed by an unknown person. Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley is assigned to the case, along with his longtime partner, Sergeant Barbara Havers. Lynley is more than happy to take on the assignment because Lady Helen Clyde, the woman he has been in love with for some time, is in Cambridge and staying with her sister Penelope. Meanwhile, Sergeant Havers has problems of her own. Her elderly mother suffers from dementia and Barbara is not able to care for her alone. After several disasters with hired caregivers, she now faces a difficult decision to either continue with things as they are or put her mother into an assisted living facility.
The further Lynley and Havers get into the investigation of Elena's murder the less they understand. Elena's lifestyle attracted many potential suspects and more than one character had murderous intentions. Past hurts and resentments are played out and this ends up being a story of unrealized dreams and guilt and revenge.
What's more, Elena's father, a Cambridge professor under consideration for a prestigious post, is a man with his own dark secrets. While his past sins make him neurotically dedicated to Elena and blind to her blacker side, present demons drive him toward betrayal.
When I got to the final chapters I couldn't believe who the killer was, much less the motive. I thought I had it all figured out but was so wrong. There were so many suspects
and they all had different motives
Elena Weaver is a beautiful, sexually precocious, and extremely troubled student at St. Stephens College in Cambridge. One morning Elena is out running when she's attacked and killed by an unknown person. Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley is assigned to the case, along with his longtime partner, Sergeant Barbara Havers. Lynley is more than happy to take on the assignment because Lady Helen Clyde, the woman he has been in love with for some time, is in Cambridge and staying with her sister Penelope. Meanwhile, Sergeant Havers has problems of her own. Her elderly mother suffers from dementia and Barbara is not able to care for her alone. After several disasters with hired caregivers, she now faces a difficult decision to either continue with things as they are or put her mother into an assisted living facility.
The further Lynley and Havers get into the investigation of Elena's murder the less they understand. Elena's lifestyle attracted many potential suspects and more than one character had murderous intentions. Past hurts and resentments are played out and this ends up being a story of unrealized dreams and guilt and revenge.
What's more, Elena's father, a Cambridge professor under consideration for a prestigious post, is a man with his own dark secrets. While his past sins make him neurotically dedicated to Elena and blind to her blacker side, present demons drive him toward betrayal.
When I got to the final chapters I couldn't believe who the killer was, much less the motive. I thought I had it all figured out but was so wrong. There were so many suspects
and they all had different motives
January 30, 2010
A very slutty deaf girl is bludgeoned to death whilst jogging near her Cambridge college. Was the killer one of her lovers? Was it a misogynistic Shakespeare professor with an enormous penis? Was it her frigid, Stepfordesque stepmother? Will we have to explore the artistic feud between Whistler and Ruskin, and dissect much facile gibberish about art and the creative impulse before the unlikely murderer with even unlikelier motivations is revealed? Will we ponder the differences between middle-aged women (thickening waists, broadening hips, sagging breasts, crows feet, pear shapes, barren wombs) and young (slim, firm, smelling of ripe fruit)? George researches her topics diligently (deaf politics, art, jazz), writes about them somewhat less successfully; the whiff of the neophyte clings to them. On balance this is an absorbing mystery, with Lynley and Havers struggling with elusive Helen and demented Mum as they crimesolve.
June 5, 2020
Elizabeth George dubs her genre “literary mystery”. “For The Sake Of Elena”, 1992, observes viewpoints of life in spades: jazz, painting, and one’s art as a lifeline. We poignantly meet Helen’s post-partum depressed sister, Penelope, who worked at an art gallery. She reveals feeling like a baby machine, until there is no self or partnership. Her husband can’t handle their harried home, no matter how much help Penelope and the children need. We cheer when Thomas interests Penelope in a case and she sticks her husband with their kids, while she leaves to x-ray a painting!
I came to three stars, first because the motive for murder was ridiculous, including the choice of victim. Secondly, however enlightening the variety of profound viewpoints were; their number diluted the focus and the story thus lost its éclat. It is okay to give this magnificent authoress three stars. Elizabeth normally receives four and five stars from me. She has many books, most recently a writing tutorial that I must have!
This novel is for fans wanting personal updates of Thomas, Helen, Barbara, and Simon. We get to the root of why Helen doesn’t want to risk trying a relationship with Thomas, who is self-reliant. Is marriage successful if we cannot live without the other; or is it best to love, without needing each other? Barbara tenderly settles her Mom, with dementia, into a home they can trust. The neighbour who used to watch Mrs. Havers, terrified her with a vacuum cleaner! Therefore poor handling of the elderly is demonstrated.
I loved learning that there is a difference between “Deaf” communities, capital “D”, with the “deaf” handicap, small “d”. Where they see themselves informs their attitudes about it. Is it better to resemble the norm, by lip-reading and speaking, or to embrace non-hearing culture?
I came to three stars, first because the motive for murder was ridiculous, including the choice of victim. Secondly, however enlightening the variety of profound viewpoints were; their number diluted the focus and the story thus lost its éclat. It is okay to give this magnificent authoress three stars. Elizabeth normally receives four and five stars from me. She has many books, most recently a writing tutorial that I must have!
This novel is for fans wanting personal updates of Thomas, Helen, Barbara, and Simon. We get to the root of why Helen doesn’t want to risk trying a relationship with Thomas, who is self-reliant. Is marriage successful if we cannot live without the other; or is it best to love, without needing each other? Barbara tenderly settles her Mom, with dementia, into a home they can trust. The neighbour who used to watch Mrs. Havers, terrified her with a vacuum cleaner! Therefore poor handling of the elderly is demonstrated.
I loved learning that there is a difference between “Deaf” communities, capital “D”, with the “deaf” handicap, small “d”. Where they see themselves informs their attitudes about it. Is it better to resemble the norm, by lip-reading and speaking, or to embrace non-hearing culture?
July 6, 2019
Wow. I really really liked this one a lot. I have to say that George did a masterful job of peeling off the layers of who murdered Elena Weaver as well as how Lynley has been selfish in his pursuit of Lady Helen. We also get a great look at Havers home life now that her father has passed. Havers struggles with whether she can keep having a neighbor watch her mother or finally have her mother at a home where she can be safe, and Havers can have some sort of life.
"For the Sake of Elena" has Scotland Yard called in when a young woman, Elena Weaver, is found murdered during her morning run. Elena was a student at St. Stephen's College and had some rocky times at school and with her father and their relationship. When she's found murdered it ends up not only affecting her father, mother, and stepmother, but many people who all seemed to think that they knew the real Elena.
Lynley volunteers to go in after Scotland Yard is requested to oversee things. Havers and she go to Cambridge. Lynley happily because Lady Helen is there with her sister and he thinks once again he can make his case for her to love and be with him. Lynley and Havers work together very well in this one and their dynamic is more solid.
Lynley is more solid in this one. He is still thinking of Helen, but not to the detriment of the case. He and Havers play off each other very well. And then Lynley sees a way to see Helen and involve her sister in the case which at first I was kind of rolling my eyes about. However, we come to realize why Helen's sister Pen is a good woman to have involved in this.
Helen is still reluctant to be with Lynley. Living with her sister who is suffering from post-partum but also her loss of self due to her husband and his demands one does not wonder why she's reluctant to be with Lynley and be his wife. I kept hoping someone would smash her brother in law's head in.
Havers I felt the most sorry for in this one. She's doing great with not letting things that people say to her bother her. She's not as fragile in this one I think. However, she's running out of time to decide what to do with her mother. Hopefully in the next book that's laid to rest.
The secondary characters we follow, Sarah Gordon who finds Elena's body, Elena's father who is hoping to be named Chair at the college, her stepmother Justine who resents Elena and a lot of other things in her marriage, Elena's embittered mother, several men who loved and were in turns frustrated with her. I think that it was good to get a sense of Elena at the beginning and to see why she was pretty much a chameleon with everyone she met. She was always something else depending on the audience. I don't want to spoil for other readers, but I definitely wonder what would have happened if Elena had lived.
The writing was very good. I do think that the flow was slow at times. I wondered why we spent time with certain characters, it becomes clear after a while though why we did.
The setting of the college is a bit different than the boy's school we saw in "Well-Schooled in Murder." This place doesn't seem dark and full of secrets.
The ending was definitely a surprise. We find out who killed Elena and why. We also finally hopefully get an end to that whole thing with Lady Helen one way or the other. It has distracted from the main mysteries for me.
"For the Sake of Elena" has Scotland Yard called in when a young woman, Elena Weaver, is found murdered during her morning run. Elena was a student at St. Stephen's College and had some rocky times at school and with her father and their relationship. When she's found murdered it ends up not only affecting her father, mother, and stepmother, but many people who all seemed to think that they knew the real Elena.
Lynley volunteers to go in after Scotland Yard is requested to oversee things. Havers and she go to Cambridge. Lynley happily because Lady Helen is there with her sister and he thinks once again he can make his case for her to love and be with him. Lynley and Havers work together very well in this one and their dynamic is more solid.
Lynley is more solid in this one. He is still thinking of Helen, but not to the detriment of the case. He and Havers play off each other very well. And then Lynley sees a way to see Helen and involve her sister in the case which at first I was kind of rolling my eyes about. However, we come to realize why Helen's sister Pen is a good woman to have involved in this.
Helen is still reluctant to be with Lynley. Living with her sister who is suffering from post-partum but also her loss of self due to her husband and his demands one does not wonder why she's reluctant to be with Lynley and be his wife. I kept hoping someone would smash her brother in law's head in.
Havers I felt the most sorry for in this one. She's doing great with not letting things that people say to her bother her. She's not as fragile in this one I think. However, she's running out of time to decide what to do with her mother. Hopefully in the next book that's laid to rest.
The secondary characters we follow, Sarah Gordon who finds Elena's body, Elena's father who is hoping to be named Chair at the college, her stepmother Justine who resents Elena and a lot of other things in her marriage, Elena's embittered mother, several men who loved and were in turns frustrated with her. I think that it was good to get a sense of Elena at the beginning and to see why she was pretty much a chameleon with everyone she met. She was always something else depending on the audience. I don't want to spoil for other readers, but I definitely wonder what would have happened if Elena had lived.
The writing was very good. I do think that the flow was slow at times. I wondered why we spent time with certain characters, it becomes clear after a while though why we did.
The setting of the college is a bit different than the boy's school we saw in "Well-Schooled in Murder." This place doesn't seem dark and full of secrets.
The ending was definitely a surprise. We find out who killed Elena and why. We also finally hopefully get an end to that whole thing with Lady Helen one way or the other. It has distracted from the main mysteries for me.
April 23, 2010
The plot is thus: Elena Weaver, a student of English at Cambridge, gets her face smashed in while out for her morning run. Scotland Yard is called in because of blah blah plot contrivance blah. Anyway, Elena was deaf, and this is a MAJOR DEAL TO LIKE, EVERYONE SHE KNEW. Her parents wouldn’t let her learn how to sign until she was in her teens because they wanted her to live a “normal” life, her friend from the campus Deaf Student Group gave her shit because she didn’t embrace Deaf culture as whole-heartedly as he thought she should have, everyone always referred to her as “that little deaf girl,” etc. Basically, the poor kid couldn’t get a moment’s peace about it. Also, apparently the British have never met Political Correctness and would not give it tea and sandwiches if they had.
As to why someone would want to kill Elena–well. Her stepmom hated her for being the center of her father’s life, her friend from the student group had plenty of reasons to be displeased with her, none of which I shall reveal here because they’re spoilery, she was pregnant, she was having an affair with a married guy, she’d accused a Swede of sexual harassment…you get the point. She might as well have had a giant “KILL ME ALREADY” sign taped to her back.
Now, I think this book failed on two levels: first, and most importantly to the craftspeople among you, it fails because George fucking cheats. You get the murderer’s POV quite early on, without knowing that they’re the murderer, and when the big reveal comes and you go back and reread that initial section? Yeah, it doesn’t make any goddamn sense. Those are not the thoughts of someone who has just bludgeoned a young woman to death; they’re not even the carefully edited thoughts of a person who has just committed murder. I’m all for unreliable narrators, but that bald-faced lying shit only works in the first person–George was writing in third-person limited. She was essentially tapping into this character’s stream of consciousness, and the level of denial that would have had to be present for that person to think that way was just NOT characteristic of their later thoughts and actions. Sloppy, George. EXTREMELY SLOPPY.
So it fails plot-wise, and it’s also horribly ableist, not to mention homophobic. Basically, Elena’s parents spent her entire life thinking that she was somehow lesser for having been born deaf–I’m not complaining about that, because unfortunately that does happen. I am complaining about the fact that at one point her dad goes off on a rant about why couldn’t she just be NORMAL, and George essentially says that there’s no crime in feeling that way, that the only crime is in running from it.
NOW HOLD UP.
No, it isn’t a crime to feel that way, because all of society is TELLING you to feel that way, and people are only human. But “the only crime” being “running away from it”? Bullshit. BULLSHIT. The crime is holding onto those feelings and making your daughter pay for them by not letting her learn sign language until outside authorities force you to. The crime is in making her suffer so that you can feel “normal.” Because when it comes right down to it, you don’t care about her and whether she’s fitting in–you care about the fact that by not fitting in, she’s making you stick out.
*deep breath* Okay, MOVING ON.
George also tried to tackle the desire of people in marginalized groups to belong completely to larger society, and of course she screwed the pooch on that one, too. Her portrayal of marginalized people who have rejected mainstream culture in favor of their own is stereotyped in the extreme; she has some sympathy for the Deaf Student club member who was friends with Elena, but when she briefly touches on lesbianism in a side-plot? Oh, holy heaven. The “good” lesbian is the girl who feels bad about hurting her parents by coming out, and who fantasizes about having a heterosexual relationship; the “bad” lesbian manipulates her girlfriend into coming out by using sex, refuses to let her girlfriend give information to the police because she (illogically) thinks it will endanger them, and then runs for the hills when another student is murdered. Oh, and she’s the one constantly harping on gay identity and how in a few years, we won’t even need men for sperm anymore.
…yeah.
Recommended for: OH HOLY CHRIST SAVE YOURSELVES BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. RUN. RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN.
As to why someone would want to kill Elena–well. Her stepmom hated her for being the center of her father’s life, her friend from the student group had plenty of reasons to be displeased with her, none of which I shall reveal here because they’re spoilery, she was pregnant, she was having an affair with a married guy, she’d accused a Swede of sexual harassment…you get the point. She might as well have had a giant “KILL ME ALREADY” sign taped to her back.
Now, I think this book failed on two levels: first, and most importantly to the craftspeople among you, it fails because George fucking cheats. You get the murderer’s POV quite early on, without knowing that they’re the murderer, and when the big reveal comes and you go back and reread that initial section? Yeah, it doesn’t make any goddamn sense. Those are not the thoughts of someone who has just bludgeoned a young woman to death; they’re not even the carefully edited thoughts of a person who has just committed murder. I’m all for unreliable narrators, but that bald-faced lying shit only works in the first person–George was writing in third-person limited. She was essentially tapping into this character’s stream of consciousness, and the level of denial that would have had to be present for that person to think that way was just NOT characteristic of their later thoughts and actions. Sloppy, George. EXTREMELY SLOPPY.
So it fails plot-wise, and it’s also horribly ableist, not to mention homophobic. Basically, Elena’s parents spent her entire life thinking that she was somehow lesser for having been born deaf–I’m not complaining about that, because unfortunately that does happen. I am complaining about the fact that at one point her dad goes off on a rant about why couldn’t she just be NORMAL, and George essentially says that there’s no crime in feeling that way, that the only crime is in running from it.
NOW HOLD UP.
No, it isn’t a crime to feel that way, because all of society is TELLING you to feel that way, and people are only human. But “the only crime” being “running away from it”? Bullshit. BULLSHIT. The crime is holding onto those feelings and making your daughter pay for them by not letting her learn sign language until outside authorities force you to. The crime is in making her suffer so that you can feel “normal.” Because when it comes right down to it, you don’t care about her and whether she’s fitting in–you care about the fact that by not fitting in, she’s making you stick out.
*deep breath* Okay, MOVING ON.
George also tried to tackle the desire of people in marginalized groups to belong completely to larger society, and of course she screwed the pooch on that one, too. Her portrayal of marginalized people who have rejected mainstream culture in favor of their own is stereotyped in the extreme; she has some sympathy for the Deaf Student club member who was friends with Elena, but when she briefly touches on lesbianism in a side-plot? Oh, holy heaven. The “good” lesbian is the girl who feels bad about hurting her parents by coming out, and who fantasizes about having a heterosexual relationship; the “bad” lesbian manipulates her girlfriend into coming out by using sex, refuses to let her girlfriend give information to the police because she (illogically) thinks it will endanger them, and then runs for the hills when another student is murdered. Oh, and she’s the one constantly harping on gay identity and how in a few years, we won’t even need men for sperm anymore.
…yeah.
Recommended for: OH HOLY CHRIST SAVE YOURSELVES BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE. RUN. RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN.
April 25, 2017
Another well-written murder mystery, even if the motive revealed at the end is fraught with melodrama. At first I was indignant, certain the author had cheated me, but after re-reading an earlier chapter (I bet every reader will go back and revisit this chapter) I acknowledged an acceptable bit of cleverness.
The book is rather depressing, as it's full of people making themselves unhappy for various reasons. It's especially cynical about love and marriage, even as Lynley desperately pursues Helen. Meanwhile Havers is dealing with her mother's rapid descent into dementia.
I'm getting a little tired of the author's fixation on the bodies of middle-aged women who have "let themselves go". We hear all about their crow's feet, thickening waists, drooping breasts and sagging flesh, while their middle-aged husbands seem to be merely burdened with lined faces and greying hair.
This is the first of these books where I can plainly see the value of value of Lynley's partnership with Havers. Until now it has seemed to me that Lynley did most of the sleuthing, while Havers' contribution was limited to mundane footwork. But here we have Lynley consciously weighing his instincts against the observations he knows that Havers will make, even before he speaks to her. There's also some lighthearted banter between them, and Havers isn't quite as caustic.
The book is rather depressing, as it's full of people making themselves unhappy for various reasons. It's especially cynical about love and marriage, even as Lynley desperately pursues Helen. Meanwhile Havers is dealing with her mother's rapid descent into dementia.
I'm getting a little tired of the author's fixation on the bodies of middle-aged women who have "let themselves go". We hear all about their crow's feet, thickening waists, drooping breasts and sagging flesh, while their middle-aged husbands seem to be merely burdened with lined faces and greying hair.
This is the first of these books where I can plainly see the value of value of Lynley's partnership with Havers. Until now it has seemed to me that Lynley did most of the sleuthing, while Havers' contribution was limited to mundane footwork. But here we have Lynley consciously weighing his instincts against the observations he knows that Havers will make, even before he speaks to her. There's also some lighthearted banter between them, and Havers isn't quite as caustic.
March 23, 2017
Fifth in the Inspector Lynley detective mystery series set in modern-day England and revolving around Tommy Lynley, eighth Earl of Asherton, and his Scotland Yard partner, Barbara Havers.
My Take
It all comes down to love of one's craft, love for another, but mostly, love for one's self and how it affects everyone around us. It's a hard lesson for Tommy to absorb and one every man needs to understand. And every woman must comprehend because of its truth. George made a comment about love being about the other person. The interaction between Pen and Harry strongly points this up and gives Tommy the edge the next time he talks with Helen.
A closely-related topic since it is a part of self-love is how the actions of a parent influence their child's behaviors. I wonder how differently the story would have turned out if mama had been less self-absorbed? Elena's mother has a chip on her shoulder that's so big, I'm surprised she hasn't opened up a lumber store of her own. Then there's the rigid and extremely careful stepmother; the honored artist who has lost her creativity; and, all the men with whom Elena is involved. I wonder if her mother ever realizes how much influence she had on her daughter and her daughter's actions?
One of my pet peeves is also expounded in For the Sake of Elena, the interpretation of an artist's work by, well, for lack of a better word, a non-participant. One of the suspects is a teacher at the University who has his own interpretation of why Shakespeare wrote as he did. Oh, please. What does anyone but the original creator know about why s/he created the play/novel/art as they did? I have no objection to interpreting what you think their reasons were, but do not propound that this is the absolute truth of its creation!
I just love George's Inspector Lynley series. She sets our expectations on their (our?) heads, and she writes so intelligently! I just picked up the next in the series, Missing Joseph , 6, and I can't wait to start reading!
The Story
A vibrant, young life is brutally taken and Cambridge University requires Scotland Yard take over the investigation. The father, a history professor and candidate for the Penford Chair, is devastated for the loss of the daughter, Elena, he's finally getting to know and for the overwhelming sense of guilt he feels for leaving her so many years ago little realizing he is the catalyst.
True to form, George provides so many clues that I got dizzy in the reading. There were so many possible suspects and reasons for offing Elena. It's fascinating to read through the investigation as we dive further into the reality of the individual.
The Characters
Tommy Lynley, eighth Earl of Asherton and a detective inspector for Scotland Yard, volunteers for the case partly because Lady Helen is helping her sister who just happens to live outside Cambridge. It's been months since he proposed and she shot him down. Months that he's spent trying to give up the hope of them as a couple. Barbara Havers, Tommy's partner at Scotland Yard, has her own cross to bear one arm of which is her inbred hatred for the upper classes with the other arm a mother sinking fast into dementia.
Lady Helen plays an important role along with her sister, Pen. Simon St. James makes a very brief appearance; no sign of Deborah.
One of the minor characters is Miranda Webberly, a jazz musician and student at Cambridge who just happens to be Tommy's boss' daughter…and an excellent observer. A side plot involving a young couple bucking the expectations of society provides further illumination on love.
An important pair of characters is Pen and Harry, Lady Helen's sister and brother-in-law. The couple are at a crisis point in their marriage and its their interactions which drive the main theme in For the Sake of Elena. Love.
My Take
It all comes down to love of one's craft, love for another, but mostly, love for one's self and how it affects everyone around us. It's a hard lesson for Tommy to absorb and one every man needs to understand. And every woman must comprehend because of its truth. George made a comment about love being about the other person. The interaction between Pen and Harry strongly points this up and gives Tommy the edge the next time he talks with Helen.
A closely-related topic since it is a part of self-love is how the actions of a parent influence their child's behaviors. I wonder how differently the story would have turned out if mama had been less self-absorbed? Elena's mother has a chip on her shoulder that's so big, I'm surprised she hasn't opened up a lumber store of her own. Then there's the rigid and extremely careful stepmother; the honored artist who has lost her creativity; and, all the men with whom Elena is involved. I wonder if her mother ever realizes how much influence she had on her daughter and her daughter's actions?
One of my pet peeves is also expounded in For the Sake of Elena, the interpretation of an artist's work by, well, for lack of a better word, a non-participant. One of the suspects is a teacher at the University who has his own interpretation of why Shakespeare wrote as he did. Oh, please. What does anyone but the original creator know about why s/he created the play/novel/art as they did? I have no objection to interpreting what you think their reasons were, but do not propound that this is the absolute truth of its creation!
I just love George's Inspector Lynley series. She sets our expectations on their (our?) heads, and she writes so intelligently! I just picked up the next in the series, Missing Joseph , 6, and I can't wait to start reading!
The Story
A vibrant, young life is brutally taken and Cambridge University requires Scotland Yard take over the investigation. The father, a history professor and candidate for the Penford Chair, is devastated for the loss of the daughter, Elena, he's finally getting to know and for the overwhelming sense of guilt he feels for leaving her so many years ago little realizing he is the catalyst.
True to form, George provides so many clues that I got dizzy in the reading. There were so many possible suspects and reasons for offing Elena. It's fascinating to read through the investigation as we dive further into the reality of the individual.
The Characters
Tommy Lynley, eighth Earl of Asherton and a detective inspector for Scotland Yard, volunteers for the case partly because Lady Helen is helping her sister who just happens to live outside Cambridge. It's been months since he proposed and she shot him down. Months that he's spent trying to give up the hope of them as a couple. Barbara Havers, Tommy's partner at Scotland Yard, has her own cross to bear one arm of which is her inbred hatred for the upper classes with the other arm a mother sinking fast into dementia.
Lady Helen plays an important role along with her sister, Pen. Simon St. James makes a very brief appearance; no sign of Deborah.
One of the minor characters is Miranda Webberly, a jazz musician and student at Cambridge who just happens to be Tommy's boss' daughter…and an excellent observer. A side plot involving a young couple bucking the expectations of society provides further illumination on love.
An important pair of characters is Pen and Harry, Lady Helen's sister and brother-in-law. The couple are at a crisis point in their marriage and its their interactions which drive the main theme in For the Sake of Elena. Love.
April 15, 2022
Op een mistige morgen, als ze wil gaan schilderen op een eenzaam plekje, ontdekt kunstenares Sarah Gordon het lichaam van een meisje. Ze is vermoord; eerst met een hard voorwerp enkele keren op haar hoofd en in haar gezicht geslagen, en dan gewurgd. Het meisje blijkt Elena Weaver te zijn, de dove dochter van een professor in Cambridge.
Inspecteur Lynley en brigadier Havers worden op de zaak gezet. Al snel blijkt dat Elena niet het brave hardwerkende meisje was zoals haar vader het wil doen voorkomen. Ze was knap en sensueel, en wist daar goed gebruik van te maken. In feite blijkt al snel dat ze net het tegenovergestelde wilde zijn als wat haar vader voor ogen had. Want die was echt wel overbeschermend tegenover haar, zeker nadat hij van Elena's moeder gescheiden was en opnieuw getrouwd was.
Het aantal personen die een motief hadden om Elena te vermoorden, breidt zich steeds meer uit. Het wordt voor Thomas en Barbara een moeilijke klus. En ondertussen zitten ze ook nog met hun eigen problemen: de moeder van Barbara is dement, maar ze kan het niet over haar hart verkrijgen om haar naar een home te brengen; en de relatie tussen Lynley en lady Helen lijkt ook maar niet te vlotten. Hij probeert te achterhalen waarom ze niet met hem wil trouwen, en waarom ze enkel maar vrienden wil zijn, terwijl toch duidelijk is dat ze gek op hem is.
Ik vond het een zeer spannend boek, we krijgen een beetje inzicht in het universiteitsleven, de omgang van de studenten met de professoren, de competitie tussen de stafleden van de universiteit, hun drang naar prestige, en we komen ook te weten hoe dove studenten zich staande houden tussen degenen uit de 'normale' wereld.
Elisabeth George beschrijft ook pakkend de dementie van mevrouw Havers, en de postnatale depressie van Penelope, de zus van lady Helen, en de gevolgen ervan.
Veelzijdige lectuur dus!
Inspecteur Lynley en brigadier Havers worden op de zaak gezet. Al snel blijkt dat Elena niet het brave hardwerkende meisje was zoals haar vader het wil doen voorkomen. Ze was knap en sensueel, en wist daar goed gebruik van te maken. In feite blijkt al snel dat ze net het tegenovergestelde wilde zijn als wat haar vader voor ogen had. Want die was echt wel overbeschermend tegenover haar, zeker nadat hij van Elena's moeder gescheiden was en opnieuw getrouwd was.
Het aantal personen die een motief hadden om Elena te vermoorden, breidt zich steeds meer uit. Het wordt voor Thomas en Barbara een moeilijke klus. En ondertussen zitten ze ook nog met hun eigen problemen: de moeder van Barbara is dement, maar ze kan het niet over haar hart verkrijgen om haar naar een home te brengen; en de relatie tussen Lynley en lady Helen lijkt ook maar niet te vlotten. Hij probeert te achterhalen waarom ze niet met hem wil trouwen, en waarom ze enkel maar vrienden wil zijn, terwijl toch duidelijk is dat ze gek op hem is.
Ik vond het een zeer spannend boek, we krijgen een beetje inzicht in het universiteitsleven, de omgang van de studenten met de professoren, de competitie tussen de stafleden van de universiteit, hun drang naar prestige, en we komen ook te weten hoe dove studenten zich staande houden tussen degenen uit de 'normale' wereld.
Elisabeth George beschrijft ook pakkend de dementie van mevrouw Havers, en de postnatale depressie van Penelope, de zus van lady Helen, en de gevolgen ervan.
Veelzijdige lectuur dus!
January 15, 2009
This has been my least favorite of the series so far. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was almost a deal breaker for me. If the following book in the series is more like this that the earlier books I am afraid I will not be back for the next. There was way to much psychologizing and development of things that didn't relate to the mystery. I found myself often bored. The mystery itself was to easy to figure out, plus motive was implausible. Despite all the time spent developing characters and analyzing them, none of them really came to life.
December 25, 2024
Again, listening to an abridged version.
First reading 1997. Second reading (audio) December 2024.
I’m really astonished that I don’t remember anything about the actual murder mysteries of these. I remember the interpersonal relationships of the recurring character, though.
It was probably the abridged version, because, while they are very well done, there wasn’t that much in the way of motivation for the murder(s) that came through.
I’m reading this series with my fellow SpecFic Buddy Readers. I might reread the entirety of the next 2 even though I’ve supposedly read them already, I probably will remember just as little
First reading 1997. Second reading (audio) December 2024.
I’m really astonished that I don’t remember anything about the actual murder mysteries of these. I remember the interpersonal relationships of the recurring character, though.
It was probably the abridged version, because, while they are very well done, there wasn’t that much in the way of motivation for the murder(s) that came through.
I’m reading this series with my fellow SpecFic Buddy Readers. I might reread the entirety of the next 2 even though I’ve supposedly read them already, I probably will remember just as little
December 28, 2022
This series is such a delight!
July 28, 2020
AROUND THE WORLD OF CRIME AND MYSTERY
CAST - 4: Elena Weaver is a fascinating young lady. She is deaf, but doesn't fit in with other deaf students at her college, St. Stephans. Her family is a mess: father/Professor Anthony Weaver has great ambitions; step-mother Justine may or may not care about Elena; and Glyn, Elena's mother, certainly has questionable motives. Gareth Randolph is also deaf, a student at St. Stephens also, and Elana's tutor. But what kind of relationship does Elena/Gareth really have? Mr. Thorsson ("Lenny the Leach") is an English professor. Sarah Gordon is a former painter/artist but has lost her passion and her skill. But it's Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers who, again, steals every scene in which she appears and in this outing must make a tough decision regarding a family member. I liked this cast a lot but it's needlessly large: New Scotland Yard is represented by no less than 7 investigators, plus there is the Cambridge Constabulary.
ATMOSPHERE - 4: If you like novels set in the world of academia, this one's for you. The fictional St. Stephens is dwarfed among the famous colleges of Cambridge. There is much fog, of course, and a creepy island where the colleges' sporting boats are maintained. Bad things happen here, in addition to secretive "fun" times. Thorsson's Shakespeare theories are interesting as he speculates that Shakespeare, in his body of work, is "implying an alternate set of values-a subversive set of values." But that's so obviously true, at least to me, that it makes Thorsson seem sort of foolish. But Thorsson is referring to a different world in which one might not know all the rules, and that's true of Elena's world, and this works beautifully.
CRIME - 4: The murder itself isn't that unusual, but oh is it wicked.
INVESTIGATION - 3: ...it's the 'why' that is fascinating as we learn more about Elena and her friends and family. And George, thus, takes most of us somewhere new. Problem here is that, like I said above there is way to many 'investigators' and it is sort of a drag.
RESOLUTION - 2: Things get messy as George leads us down many a garden path. The resolution is very surprising, and I gotta go with Havers', who says, "Not very rational if you ask me." I just didn't understand the motive for murder. But George's point, I think, is that Elena's world is impenetrable. Still, I can't give George a pass for the odd ending: if I don't get it, I don't get it.
SUMMARY - 3.4: If the motive had been more believable, and some characters eliminated, I might have given this a 4-star rating. But I can't, and I gotta mention an opening sentence here that tells us: "Elena Weaver awakened when the second light went on in her bed-sitting room..." said light like a "jangling alarm." Shortly, George tells us that Elena is deaf, and it's written in a 'big reveal' form. If she's deaf from birth, she'd not know the sound of a jangling alarm. And if she does know the sound of a jangling alarm, the entire novel falls apart. Picky? Yes, maybe, but this is a murder mystery: readers analyze and look for clues! If it weren't for Havers, I might have rated this novel even lower.
CAST - 4: Elena Weaver is a fascinating young lady. She is deaf, but doesn't fit in with other deaf students at her college, St. Stephans. Her family is a mess: father/Professor Anthony Weaver has great ambitions; step-mother Justine may or may not care about Elena; and Glyn, Elena's mother, certainly has questionable motives. Gareth Randolph is also deaf, a student at St. Stephens also, and Elana's tutor. But what kind of relationship does Elena/Gareth really have? Mr. Thorsson ("Lenny the Leach") is an English professor. Sarah Gordon is a former painter/artist but has lost her passion and her skill. But it's Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers who, again, steals every scene in which she appears and in this outing must make a tough decision regarding a family member. I liked this cast a lot but it's needlessly large: New Scotland Yard is represented by no less than 7 investigators, plus there is the Cambridge Constabulary.
ATMOSPHERE - 4: If you like novels set in the world of academia, this one's for you. The fictional St. Stephens is dwarfed among the famous colleges of Cambridge. There is much fog, of course, and a creepy island where the colleges' sporting boats are maintained. Bad things happen here, in addition to secretive "fun" times. Thorsson's Shakespeare theories are interesting as he speculates that Shakespeare, in his body of work, is "implying an alternate set of values-a subversive set of values." But that's so obviously true, at least to me, that it makes Thorsson seem sort of foolish. But Thorsson is referring to a different world in which one might not know all the rules, and that's true of Elena's world, and this works beautifully.
CRIME - 4: The murder itself isn't that unusual, but oh is it wicked.
INVESTIGATION - 3: ...it's the 'why' that is fascinating as we learn more about Elena and her friends and family. And George, thus, takes most of us somewhere new. Problem here is that, like I said above there is way to many 'investigators' and it is sort of a drag.
RESOLUTION - 2: Things get messy as George leads us down many a garden path. The resolution is very surprising, and I gotta go with Havers', who says, "Not very rational if you ask me." I just didn't understand the motive for murder. But George's point, I think, is that Elena's world is impenetrable. Still, I can't give George a pass for the odd ending: if I don't get it, I don't get it.
SUMMARY - 3.4: If the motive had been more believable, and some characters eliminated, I might have given this a 4-star rating. But I can't, and I gotta mention an opening sentence here that tells us: "Elena Weaver awakened when the second light went on in her bed-sitting room..." said light like a "jangling alarm." Shortly, George tells us that Elena is deaf, and it's written in a 'big reveal' form. If she's deaf from birth, she'd not know the sound of a jangling alarm. And if she does know the sound of a jangling alarm, the entire novel falls apart. Picky? Yes, maybe, but this is a murder mystery: readers analyze and look for clues! If it weren't for Havers, I might have rated this novel even lower.
March 15, 2017
For a long time I really liked Elizabeth George but eventually her plots became....more taxing than I was willing to read....kind of bizarre. This one was the first I ever read and I really liked it; this time, much less so. It can be quite inevitable that some American writes, writing about England or the UK make some glaring errors that constantly irritate and this is one.
The issue of 'upper class' titles is one that always seems to cause confusion; throughout the series, Helen is inevitably referred to as 'Lady Helen', which is her own hereditary title. However, she would not be referred to as that, especially among her peers; she should have just been 'Helen'. Conversely, her sister is never referred to as 'Lady' when she has an equal right to be so - so the author is inconsistent and there is my irritation. Using the title also functions to distance Helen and make her into a stereotype.
And stereotypes are all over the place; the common working class girl, Tommy, the landed aristocrat who works for the police (slightly need to stretch to believe in that one) - everyone, in fact, becomes a stereotype of what the author expects him or her to be. Not always a bad thing but can be annoying. The lesbian couple where one half is a drama queen and the other is pushed around by that. The 'grown ups' in the piece behave alarmingly badly and provide stereotypes of their own.
On the plus side, the issue of deafness is fairly well dealt with; there are 'deaf' people (have a disability) and 'Deaf' people who have embraced their deafness and don't try to hide it. This is a real issue from my having worked in that community. Elena is presented as caught between the two and is a deaf girl who is proficient at hiding it - whereas her parents are almost embarrassed by her deficiency. Thus, she feels angry and wants to punish them for the perceived rejection, doing this by promiscuity. It is suggested she is using this as a way of saying - 'look at me, I am well accepted here, just like a hearing girl'. The father, his 3 women and his driving ambition leads him to losing his daughter as a revenge for something he destroyed for one of them: there is some discussion about whether that loss is similar to him losing his child. Quite appropriate but the events seemed a little barmy and the eventual perpetrator had clearly lost some part of her mind. None of the father or the 3 women came across as at all likeable. Elena, dead though she was, did incite some compassion and seemed a fairly whole person, unlike pretty much everyone else!
These books are mainly readable but I have lost faith in the writer.
The issue of 'upper class' titles is one that always seems to cause confusion; throughout the series, Helen is inevitably referred to as 'Lady Helen', which is her own hereditary title. However, she would not be referred to as that, especially among her peers; she should have just been 'Helen'. Conversely, her sister is never referred to as 'Lady' when she has an equal right to be so - so the author is inconsistent and there is my irritation. Using the title also functions to distance Helen and make her into a stereotype.
And stereotypes are all over the place; the common working class girl, Tommy, the landed aristocrat who works for the police (slightly need to stretch to believe in that one) - everyone, in fact, becomes a stereotype of what the author expects him or her to be. Not always a bad thing but can be annoying. The lesbian couple where one half is a drama queen and the other is pushed around by that. The 'grown ups' in the piece behave alarmingly badly and provide stereotypes of their own.
On the plus side, the issue of deafness is fairly well dealt with; there are 'deaf' people (have a disability) and 'Deaf' people who have embraced their deafness and don't try to hide it. This is a real issue from my having worked in that community. Elena is presented as caught between the two and is a deaf girl who is proficient at hiding it - whereas her parents are almost embarrassed by her deficiency. Thus, she feels angry and wants to punish them for the perceived rejection, doing this by promiscuity. It is suggested she is using this as a way of saying - 'look at me, I am well accepted here, just like a hearing girl'. The father, his 3 women and his driving ambition leads him to losing his daughter as a revenge for something he destroyed for one of them: there is some discussion about whether that loss is similar to him losing his child. Quite appropriate but the events seemed a little barmy and the eventual perpetrator had clearly lost some part of her mind. None of the father or the 3 women came across as at all likeable. Elena, dead though she was, did incite some compassion and seemed a fairly whole person, unlike pretty much everyone else!
These books are mainly readable but I have lost faith in the writer.
January 3, 2013
(#5 in the Lynley-Havers Series)Elizabeth George does it again. A bunch of mini-stories rolled up into one. Elena is murdered. Lynley and Havers are brought in to investigate bringing in personal problems of their own. Helen is in Cambridge helping her sister (Penelope) take care of her kids. Lynley is trying to win Helen over. Havers is desperately trying not to feel guilty about having to put her mom in a home and she is doing everything she can to delay it. George does a wonderful job giving us lessons on marriage and family. We learn that most men want a wife who will give all of herself so they don’t have to. Very interesting…very true. I really enjoy the way George writes. You get tossed into a soap opera. Solving the murder is always the main focus but George does a great job developing various characters through out the story.
March 15, 2019
"George’ weet telkens opnieuw te verrassen met haar karakters en een extraatje toe te voegen. Wederom heb ik genoten van een Lynley en Havers verhaal!" https://elinevandm.wordpress.com/2019...
March 30, 2017
Waiting till after buddy read to rate.
September 12, 2016
Read by.................. Terrence Hardiman
Total Runtime......... 16 Hours 27 Mins
Description: Elena Weaver, in her skimpy dresses and bright jewellery, exuded intelligence and sexuality. A student at St Stephen's College, Cambridge, she lived a life of casual but intense physical and emotional relationships, with scores to settle and targets to achieve. Until someone, lying in wait on the bank of the River Cam, where Elena went running every morning, bludgeoned the young woman to death. Called into the rarefied world of academia, Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers find a tangled skein of love, obsession and desire -- a maelstrom of emotion that has claimed Elena Weaver's life.
Eloise "Fumette"
A young deaf lass is the murderee here. The psychological positions of all the cast are overly mined, which makes this longer than it should have been. Apart from that, an enjoyable whodunnit where all the clues were in the text, not laying somewhere off stage left.4* - A Great Deliverance (1988)
3* - Payment in Blood (1989)
4* - Well-Schooled in Murder (1990)
3* - A Suitable Vengeance (1991)
3.5* - For the Sake of Elena
TR Missing Joseph
January 2, 2025
3.25 stars
Though I did like this instalment there were some details that have brought my rating down ().
Characters 7
Atmosphere 7
Writing Style/Translation 6
Premise 6
Execution/Plot 6
Execution/Pace 6
Execution/Setup 6
Enjoyment/Engrossment 6
Though I did like this instalment there were some details that have brought my rating down ().
Characters 7
Atmosphere 7
Writing Style/Translation 6
Premise 6
Execution/Plot 6
Execution/Pace 6
Execution/Setup 6
Enjoyment/Engrossment 6
January 17, 2023
In which Havers' personal dilemma is presented with minimal drama, though it easily deserves twice that, and Lynley's romantic angst is presented as though the fate of humankind depends upon its happy outcome. The mystery itself became less interesting with every discussion and re-discussion of the possible suspects. And the ultimate resolution was unsatisfying and unbelievable.
I may or may not continue on to #6 - in any case it's not available at my library yet, so I get a break whether I like it or not.
I may or may not continue on to #6 - in any case it's not available at my library yet, so I get a break whether I like it or not.
January 13, 2022
Elizabeth George is so compulsively readable, but this took a while to get going, and there were so many horrible men in unhappy marriages I started to get them confused. I wish, since this was set at a university, there had been more of a dark academia tone ala Elizabeth George rather than miserable families everywhere. The important thing to note, though, is that Havers is back, and she’s the best.
January 15, 2022
Quick and easy read, great for the snowy winter day.
Another complex murder mystery to be slowly put to rest by Lynley and Havers, delving in to the evidence and using their good intuition of the human character. This one was set in Cambridge and a bit too scenic to suit my tastes, but I enjoyed putting together the clues, and seeing how sometimes one's own personal struggles (that of Lynley and Havers) give insight into solving the crime.
Another complex murder mystery to be slowly put to rest by Lynley and Havers, delving in to the evidence and using their good intuition of the human character. This one was set in Cambridge and a bit too scenic to suit my tastes, but I enjoyed putting together the clues, and seeing how sometimes one's own personal struggles (that of Lynley and Havers) give insight into solving the crime.
November 7, 2014
This is, without question, the best of the Inspector Lynley series so far, for several reasons. All of George's books that I've read so far have been immensely enjoyable, but this one went above and beyond for me as a reader. Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers BOTH experienced important character growth, something we haven't really seen since the first book in the series. They have finally reached a point where they allow themselves to be honest and vulnerable with one another, particularly in Barbara's case. I'm really looking forward to seeing their relationship continue to grow and change. I was also very happy to see what happened with Helen, who we also learned a lot more about and went through the kind of growth that you rarely see in a character who is technically in the role of the male detective's side (to the plot) love interest, but who in this series is so much more.
Also: what an unexpectedly fantastic commentary on women and sexism this book contained, one which really struck a chord in me, as it probably would with any woman who reads this. This book was published in 1992, and it may as well have been published in 2014 for the messages and commentary it contains. Absolutely fantastic.
Also: what an unexpectedly fantastic commentary on women and sexism this book contained, one which really struck a chord in me, as it probably would with any woman who reads this. This book was published in 1992, and it may as well have been published in 2014 for the messages and commentary it contains. Absolutely fantastic.
October 22, 2020
I read this years ago. I gave it four stars but on re reading I fear the years must have done something to my powers of understanding. I’m useless at crosswords and this book seemed like a very cryptic one. The crime itself appears to have become become incidental to the introspections of the love lorn Inspector Lynley.
Dear Barbara Havers.. her problems were at least understandable.
The thing is that in my younger days surrounded by squalling Children I may have been just a tiny little bit in love with darling Tommy and his lifestyle, this may have coloured my four star rating? just reading anything about this Lord of the Realm was fascinating.. now I believe I’d probably just punch 🥊 him!
And as for Pen’s husband.. he would definitely be roadkill.
In Eric_W’s review of this book it’s clear by some of the questions that were put to him by people reading his review that they were also horribly confused .. ie what was the pink stone on the grave for??
the most telling was.. Who killed her? Gawd!!
It means that I’m not alone in my confusion.
I skipped so much of the angst and deep character analysis of almost all the relevant players, what they ate, wore, decorated their rooms with is to me just boring filler adding nothing to the story.
I do however know who killed her. Yay 👍
Dear Barbara Havers.. her problems were at least understandable.
The thing is that in my younger days surrounded by squalling Children I may have been just a tiny little bit in love with darling Tommy and his lifestyle, this may have coloured my four star rating? just reading anything about this Lord of the Realm was fascinating.. now I believe I’d probably just punch 🥊 him!
And as for Pen’s husband.. he would definitely be roadkill.
In Eric_W’s review of this book it’s clear by some of the questions that were put to him by people reading his review that they were also horribly confused .. ie what was the pink stone on the grave for??
the most telling was.. Who killed her? Gawd!!
It means that I’m not alone in my confusion.
I skipped so much of the angst and deep character analysis of almost all the relevant players, what they ate, wore, decorated their rooms with is to me just boring filler adding nothing to the story.
I do however know who killed her. Yay 👍
June 3, 2022
Rating of a 3.5.
Took a bit,longer to get to the story going but it got there. Good enough of a read. Would have liked to see that vile woman gwyn get tossed on her butt, she made my blood,crawl for her nasty malicious ways.
Took a bit,longer to get to the story going but it got there. Good enough of a read. Would have liked to see that vile woman gwyn get tossed on her butt, she made my blood,crawl for her nasty malicious ways.
October 24, 2020
This series is really up and down for me, sometimes within the same book as happens with "For the Sake of Elena".
With all the rich history provided in Cambridge, why does Elizabeth George feel a need to invent a fictional college instead of having Elena attend one of the many colleges in actual existence? Maybe because she's indulging her own vanity if the excruciating details regarding buildings which don't even exist are anything to go by. She also wrote paragraph upon paragraph of details whenever Lynley entered anyone's house. A good way to put the reader to sleep.
Each book she also picks a subject(s) to weave throughout the story (in "For the Sake of Elena" she focuses on love and relationships along with a great deal of disparagement for the male species) which would normally be a plus. However, George has a tendency to beat the subjects to death. I, for one, would appreciate a more subtle approach.
Barbara is back, a fact which earns a star all on its own. George paints an excellent portrayal of the guilt and indecision Barbara is dealing with regarding her mother's dementia. Some of the details are dead on. I think these tidbits of her home life are some of the best parts of the series. It will be interesting to see the direction her life takes from this point.
I did not miss Simon St. James at all until his name was brought up. And what a nice change to have Deborah absent for the entire book.
I had a couple of problems with details in this book. Once Lynley realized the killer's identity, I went back and reread the section where Sarah found the body. To me, her reaction just doesn't ring true. Why is she so shocked when stepping on the body if she hid it there? It reads as if she didn't know what was under the leaves. Very misleading. I never truly considered Sarah because of this particular part in the scene. Even after reading it a second time, she's reacting like she did not know the body was there.
Another part which didn't ring true was Rosalyn's conversation with Gareth. She gives her reason for eliminating Gareth as the killer as intuitive, saying she would have instinctively felt uncomfortable around him if he'd done the deed. Except Rosalyn witnessed the killer running away. A killer who happens to be a woman. So why all the handwringing about whether Gareth killed Elena? Makes no sense when all taken together.
I think, at times, Elizabeth George becomes so sidetracked with her need to focus on the romantic doings of her characters that she mucks up what could be a good mystery. The entire story felt implausible to me and, aside from the two murder victims, the other secondary characters were disgusting. I wanted all of them: Anthony, Justine, Sarah, Victor, Gareth, even Pen's husband Harry who had nothing to do with the murder, tossed in jail. Yuck. Another sticking point. I think George put a little too much effort in trying to portray Sarah as sympathetic. Up to a point, yes, but when she takes the life of an innocent girl to get back at someone else, the sympathy is gone. Period.
With all the rich history provided in Cambridge, why does Elizabeth George feel a need to invent a fictional college instead of having Elena attend one of the many colleges in actual existence? Maybe because she's indulging her own vanity if the excruciating details regarding buildings which don't even exist are anything to go by. She also wrote paragraph upon paragraph of details whenever Lynley entered anyone's house. A good way to put the reader to sleep.
Each book she also picks a subject(s) to weave throughout the story (in "For the Sake of Elena" she focuses on love and relationships along with a great deal of disparagement for the male species) which would normally be a plus. However, George has a tendency to beat the subjects to death. I, for one, would appreciate a more subtle approach.
Barbara is back, a fact which earns a star all on its own. George paints an excellent portrayal of the guilt and indecision Barbara is dealing with regarding her mother's dementia. Some of the details are dead on. I think these tidbits of her home life are some of the best parts of the series. It will be interesting to see the direction her life takes from this point.
I did not miss Simon St. James at all until his name was brought up. And what a nice change to have Deborah absent for the entire book.
I had a couple of problems with details in this book. Once Lynley realized the killer's identity, I went back and reread the section where Sarah found the body. To me, her reaction just doesn't ring true. Why is she so shocked when stepping on the body if she hid it there? It reads as if she didn't know what was under the leaves. Very misleading. I never truly considered Sarah because of this particular part in the scene. Even after reading it a second time, she's reacting like she did not know the body was there.
Another part which didn't ring true was Rosalyn's conversation with Gareth. She gives her reason for eliminating Gareth as the killer as intuitive, saying she would have instinctively felt uncomfortable around him if he'd done the deed. Except Rosalyn witnessed the killer running away. A killer who happens to be a woman. So why all the handwringing about whether Gareth killed Elena? Makes no sense when all taken together.
I think, at times, Elizabeth George becomes so sidetracked with her need to focus on the romantic doings of her characters that she mucks up what could be a good mystery. The entire story felt implausible to me and, aside from the two murder victims, the other secondary characters were disgusting. I wanted all of them: Anthony, Justine, Sarah, Victor, Gareth, even Pen's husband Harry who had nothing to do with the murder, tossed in jail. Yuck. Another sticking point. I think George put a little too much effort in trying to portray Sarah as sympathetic. Up to a point, yes, but when she takes the life of an innocent girl to get back at someone else, the sympathy is gone. Period.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2020
I still have a love/hate relationship with these books - well actually that's a bit strong, it's more like/dislike. The writing is good, as are the characters, but there are things that Elizabeth George really doesn't get about British life and it bugs the hell out of me. (If you've read my other reviews on this series you may have already realised this - lol).
November 25, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and if that's all you're looking for when you read a mystery, then I recommend it. When I got to the end of the book, however, these things occurred to me:
1. I didn't buy the motive for the murder. Yes, someone could feel that way, but to act on their feelings in that manner is to reveal a level of psychological disorder that wasn't in evidence otherwise.
2. The plot seemed less complicated than just muddled. Around and around the rota of suspects we go, and where we stop, only the physical evidence lets us know.
3. While the attitudes toward Deaf culture and toward lesbianism were somewhat current when the book came out, they do seem dated today, as dated as the communications technology they used.
4. Why is she "Lady Helen" and he is not "Lord Thomas"? For that matter, why is she "Lady Helen" but her sister is just Penelope, or Pen?
5. Lynley as a person is intriguing but not loveable--I'm glad for Deborah that she ended up with Allcourt St.James.
6. Helen as a person is neither intriguing nor loveable. There's no particular reason he should be so smitten with her. In fact, he's kind of creepy, telling her what she feels and doesn't feel. Run, Helen, run!
7. Barbara Havers is the only decent person in the book, and she spends the whole time immured in guilt about how she can't provide care for her demented mother. Why don't these silly toffs take up a collection and buy her mother a place in a decent nursing home?
1. I didn't buy the motive for the murder. Yes, someone could feel that way, but to act on their feelings in that manner is to reveal a level of psychological disorder that wasn't in evidence otherwise.
2. The plot seemed less complicated than just muddled. Around and around the rota of suspects we go, and where we stop, only the physical evidence lets us know.
3. While the attitudes toward Deaf culture and toward lesbianism were somewhat current when the book came out, they do seem dated today, as dated as the communications technology they used.
4. Why is she "Lady Helen" and he is not "Lord Thomas"? For that matter, why is she "Lady Helen" but her sister is just Penelope, or Pen?
5. Lynley as a person is intriguing but not loveable--I'm glad for Deborah that she ended up with Allcourt St.James.
6. Helen as a person is neither intriguing nor loveable. There's no particular reason he should be so smitten with her. In fact, he's kind of creepy, telling her what she feels and doesn't feel. Run, Helen, run!
7. Barbara Havers is the only decent person in the book, and she spends the whole time immured in guilt about how she can't provide care for her demented mother. Why don't these silly toffs take up a collection and buy her mother a place in a decent nursing home?
May 24, 2013
I finally managed to get back to reading the next Elizabeth George book in her Inspector Lynley series after the huge block that hit me after reading the previous book, “A Suitable Vengeance”. The reading block was because I’m not fond of mid-series books that provide me with character background all in one go. I prefer my authors to build up the characters slowly, but surely, through each of the books in the series. Anyway, “A Suitable Vengeance” was painful to finish and it’s taken me this long to want to attempt to read another of George’s books. That being all said, I very much enjoyed “For the Sake of Elena”...and have broken through my reluctance to continue with the series. The plot is nicely complex without twisting too much. Elizabeth George is great at working through the complex emotions of her characters. Even though I had an inkling of who the murderer was it wasn’t until the last three quarters of the book where everything started to come together. Glad I resisted my stubbornness to read another Lynley book and picked this one up.
July 28, 2013
This seemed a little longer than her other Detective Lynley novels, or perhaps it just took me longer to read. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. The setting at Cambridge University was enjoyable and the emphasis on the arts added a nice element. George always does a wonderful job of weaving her characters personal lives into the fabric of the mystery and this novel was no exception. A deeper look into the lives of Lynley & Lady Helen as well as some pivotal points regarding Havers and her mother entices the reader to continue the characters journey of self discovery. Brava.
November 4, 2020
While I can still get something out of any book by this author, this one also seriously bugged me. The reveal was inconsistent with earlier parts of the text. The motive for the crime was hard to swallow, as was the choice of victim given that motive. There was a section that seemed ripped from a romance novel, as I can only imagine a romance novel to be. That was enough to spoil the more interesting bits, of which there were many, as usual, in a lengthy book with copious red herrings.
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