Series
Publication
Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio (1999)
Original publication date
1992
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Description
Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: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 towa… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Olivermagnus
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,
The heart of George's stories are the deeply flawed characters. Lynley and Havers crackle with chemistry as usual and the rest of the players are equally entertaining. The description and atmosphere of Cambridge seemed very realistic. I think this is one of the best of the five books of the series and I'm definitely going to move on the #6, Finding Joseph.
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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. When I got to the final chapters I couldn't believe who the killer was, much less the motive. The heart of George's stories are the deeply flawed characters. Lynley and Havers crackle with chemistry as usual and the rest of the players are equally entertaining. The description and atmosphere of Cambridge seemed very realistic. I think this is one of the best of the five books of the series and I'm definitely going to move on the #6, Finding Joseph.
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LibraryThing member AntT
This well-plotted Lynley has some great characters—although a few stray into the realm of caricature. His romance with Lady Helen is a bit tiresome, in my estimation, but at least he hasn't fallen for someone well below his class, which would be such a cliche. (I guess at the end of the day,
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George depicts in a less annoying way than many.) Show Less
LibraryThing member patience_grayfeather
Dear me, how’s it going to turn out between Lynley and Lady Helen? I still don’t know, but it’s looking up! Oh yeah, and there’s a dead guy. Havers is a nice foil to Lynley and her continuing sub-plot only adds to the stories. I like the contrast of all the different relationships and how
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people deal with them (or not). Show Less
LibraryThing member kingsportlibrary
This book begins with the horrible murder of a likeable young deaf Cambridge student whose father is a professor at the university. The Scotland Yard Investigating team search out all clues and interview Elena's mother, stepmother and others. They also deal with social and cultural issues of the
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deaf. Just when they think they are progressing; another similar murder occurs. Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Saw this one first on TV. When a young college student is killed Lynley uses the opportunity to be closer to Helen, who is helping her sister after the birth of her third child. Havers is dealing with more issues of her mother's disintegration due to Altzheimers.
While the story did resolve itself
While the story did resolve itself
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quite well, the resolution didn't quite satisfy me and I almost felt that the author was heading in a different direction originally but changed their mind half-way through. I did enjoy the read, it just doesn't stand out as a great detective story for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
I think this would have been the strongest Lynley mystery yet since the first, A Great Deliverance, were it not for one major flaw. While this didn't move me to tears as that first in the series did, this one feels all more of a piece than any of the prior George books. While in others the subplots
The crux of this novel, even more than prior mysteries, is very centered on the victim, Elena Weaver, and her various identities and relationships: as a deaf woman who resists attempts to define her in such terms, as the daughter of an ambitious Cambridge don and as a student who has lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against a lothario professor. George is adept not just at tossing out red herrings and feints, but in weaving together psychological depth into characters and their motivations. This is the second time I've read this one. I didn't remember the murderer. I think because George isn't so jaw-dropping flashy in her resolutions as a Christie so some ultimate twist lodges it in your brain. But I remembered things like her portrait of an artist whose wellspring of inspiration had dried, the deaf student activist who made the distinction between "deaf" (a disability) and "Deaf" (a culture) the picture of academic politics, the depiction of the incredible damage murder leaves behind and even Helen's sister, Penelope, struggling to come back to herself while her husband is determined to have her define herself as his wife and a mother.
So this definitely is one Elizabeth George book that lingers in memory years afterwards. I wouldn't quite put George up there with the very best of the mystery genre when I compare her books to the masterpieces of Christie, Tey, and Sayers, but her novels are far ahead in writing style, solid plotting and psychological depth from what you can usually find in the mystery aisle, and anyone still writing mysteries today who I've tried. I certainly care a lot more about George's recurring detectives Havers and Lynley than say Adam Dagliesh of PD James.
Thus until almost the end reading this novel, I thought I'd probably give this a top rating. So what leads me to sink it down to three? Quite simply, George cheats. The resolution we get at the end just doesn't fit with what she gives us at the beginning. If this weren't so strong in other ways, I'd be tempted to lower the boom and give this one star.
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concerning Havers' and Lynley's personal lives felt intrusive, in this one I feel for the first time since the first book George struck a good balance. Havers' dilemma with her mother, whose dementia requires constant care, and Lynley's continuing courtship of Helen doesn't feel like a distraction here, but complimentary in their themes to the murder mystery. The crux of this novel, even more than prior mysteries, is very centered on the victim, Elena Weaver, and her various identities and relationships: as a deaf woman who resists attempts to define her in such terms, as the daughter of an ambitious Cambridge don and as a student who has lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against a lothario professor. George is adept not just at tossing out red herrings and feints, but in weaving together psychological depth into characters and their motivations. This is the second time I've read this one. I didn't remember the murderer. I think because George isn't so jaw-dropping flashy in her resolutions as a Christie so some ultimate twist lodges it in your brain. But I remembered things like her portrait of an artist whose wellspring of inspiration had dried, the deaf student activist who made the distinction between "deaf" (a disability) and "Deaf" (a culture) the picture of academic politics, the depiction of the incredible damage murder leaves behind and even Helen's sister, Penelope, struggling to come back to herself while her husband is determined to have her define herself as his wife and a mother.
So this definitely is one Elizabeth George book that lingers in memory years afterwards. I wouldn't quite put George up there with the very best of the mystery genre when I compare her books to the masterpieces of Christie, Tey, and Sayers, but her novels are far ahead in writing style, solid plotting and psychological depth from what you can usually find in the mystery aisle, and anyone still writing mysteries today who I've tried. I certainly care a lot more about George's recurring detectives Havers and Lynley than say Adam Dagliesh of PD James.
Thus until almost the end reading this novel, I thought I'd probably give this a top rating. So what leads me to sink it down to three? Quite simply, George cheats. The resolution we get at the end just doesn't fit with what she gives us at the beginning. If this weren't so strong in other ways, I'd be tempted to lower the boom and give this one star.
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LibraryThing member SalemAthenaeum
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
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.
Show More
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.
Show Less
LibraryThing member hobbitprincess
This 5th book of the Inspector Lynley series is every bit as good as the previous books. The pattern continues - there is a murder, it takes most of the book to find out who did it, and in the meantime, we learn more and more about the main characters. Deborah wasn't in this book, and St. James
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only a little bit, but Havers and Lynley are there. A student at Cambridge is murdered while she is out running. All is not as it seems! Show Less
LibraryThing member MrsLee
This story takes place in Cambridge. A student is brutally murdered and Scotland Yard is called in because of the tensions between the colleges and the town. The detectives are Lynley and Havers, each with their own personal dramas, and well rounded characters. I have mixed feelings about the
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story. It was tedious in many places. I like a book to wax philosophical, but this one went on and on. The mystery was decent I suppose, although I could not identify with the motive, nor with the empathy the detective felt for the murderer. All in all, it came across as a treatise on why men are so completely lousy and women are divine. Which I don't agree with, and became very tired of by the end of the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member ScottKalas
Probably my least favorite of the series thus far. I just couldn't get into the story. The sub plot of Havers dealing with her agin mom was the only pice that got my interest. The main murder plot and the characters associated with it were pretty much bores. The subplot of Helen's sister and her
I'll keep reading the series but this one was a low OK dud
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family was a yuk. It really had no purpose other then to have Lynley and Lady Helen close by so their romance that is beginning to become a yawner.I'll keep reading the series but this one was a low OK dud
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LibraryThing member AntT
This well-plotted Lynley has some great characters—although a few stray into the realm of caricature. His romance with Lady Helen is a bit tiresome, in my estimation, but at least he hasn't fallen for someone well below his class, which would be such a cliche. (I guess at the end of the day,
Show More
George depicts in a less annoying way than many.) Show Less
LibraryThing member rcooper3589
This is the fifth book in the Inspector Lynley series, and for those who haven't read it I highly reccomend it! George's tone and structure sucks you in from the very beginning and holds you to the last page. I liked how she revealed parts of the mystery- at times I was sure I knew who the killer
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was and the motive, only to be proved wrong. I also enjoyed how the sub-plots played a critical role in solving the murder. It's been awhile since I've read one of the Lynley books, however, I've been watching the series on PBS. So, when reading the book I pictured the actors from the show- but Lynley is a blonde in the book and not in the show! I couldn't picture Lyley as a blonde- but that's just me! Show Less
LibraryThing member allthesedarnbooks
This was pretty boring for an Elizabeth George book. Just kind of lackluster. I can barely remember what it was about, but I do remember it took me at least a week or two to get through.
LibraryThing member kaulsu
I liked the end of the book. I liked its psychological introspection. But I didn't enjoy the book itself. I didn't like the victim. I didn't like her family. I didn't like the long list of suspects. What I found most interesting was the subplot of Haver's mom.
And, I am confused about where this
I would have rated it 2.5 stars, but I recognize the accuracy with which George describes the controversy of lip reading/speaking rather than pure signing amongst the deaf and their families.
In the last book, Havers is partnered with McPherson. She is completely anti-upper crust society, with a chip as large as a plank resting on her shoulder. In this one, she and Lindley have bonded. It clearly comes much later in the series.
And in this one, somehow Lynley and Lady Helen are an item. Garrgh.
And, I am confused about where this
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book fits in the line up of this series. It is billed as #5. In the last book, St. James luckily wrested his love from Lynley, and the reader is left understanding that St. James and Deb will marry.I would have rated it 2.5 stars, but I recognize the accuracy with which George describes the controversy of lip reading/speaking rather than pure signing amongst the deaf and their families.
In the last book, Havers is partnered with McPherson. She is completely anti-upper crust society, with a chip as large as a plank resting on her shoulder. In this one, she and Lindley have bonded. It clearly comes much later in the series.
And in this one, somehow Lynley and Lady Helen are an item. Garrgh.
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LibraryThing member lucybrown
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member lucybrown
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
Show More
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. Show Less
LibraryThing member lucybrown
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
Show More
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. Show Less
LibraryThing member Olivermagnus
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,
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. When I got to the final chapters I couldn't believe who the killer was, much less the motive.
The heart of George's stories are the deeply flawed characters. Lynley and Havers crackle with chemistry as usual and the rest of the players are equally entertaining. The description and atmosphere of Cambridge seemed very realistic. I think this is one of the best of the five books of the series and I'm definitely going to move on the #6, Finding Joseph.
Show More
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. When I got to the final chapters I couldn't believe who the killer was, much less the motive.
The heart of George's stories are the deeply flawed characters. Lynley and Havers crackle with chemistry as usual and the rest of the players are equally entertaining. The description and atmosphere of Cambridge seemed very realistic. I think this is one of the best of the five books of the series and I'm definitely going to move on the #6, Finding Joseph.
Show Less
LibraryThing member judithrs
For the Sake of Elena. Elizabeth George. 1993. Reading another Inspector Lynley novel is a treat I gave myself when I decided to finish reading The Brothers Karamazov! This is the sixth novel of the series, and I have enjoyed each one of them. Lynley and Havers are sent to Cambridge to investigate
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the death of Elena, a student whose father teaches at the college. Suspects abound: stepmother, shunned lover, her father’s neglected mistress, etc. Meanwhile Havers is trying to deal with putting her mother in a nursing home, and Lynley is trying to maintain while his love, Helen, is avoiding him. There are many plot twists, and each of the suspects had amble reason to want Elena dead. Show Less
LibraryThing member Christina_E_Mitchell
Completely taken with Elizabeth George and the Inspector Lynley series. THIS one...ok, it struck a bit of a personal chord with me. The crime in this book, for me, was secondary to the characters. It was that personal point of growth in Lynley where he begins to understand the personal nature in
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the interactions between men and women that made me shout, "YES! A man FINALLY gets it!" I will not spoil; you will just have to read the book. ;oD Show Less
LibraryThing member cindywho
I liked this one - Havers & Lynley unravel a crime of passion while picking at issues in their own lives. It takes place in Cambridge and revolves around the murder of a young deaf student. Meanwhile Lynley's in a knot about Helen and Havers is trying to figure out what do to about her mother. The
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crime is interestingly complicated and the detectives grow as characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member TomDonaghey
For The Sake Of Elena (1992) (Insp. Lynley #5) by Elizabeth George. Cambridge is the setting for the latest murder that Lynley and Havers are called on to solve. Elena Weaver was a student at college. Bright, young, attractive, hated by many, and born deaf but raised to pass for hearing, she was a
Her father is a professor of history and is in the running for an important chair. He also has troubles lurking in his past. His second wife isn’t a fan of Elena and would not have minded the young woman’s death. Elena’s campus enemies spread from other students to members of the Deaf Student’s Union and into the faculty where her charms led to their troubles.
Havers has her ongoing situation with her mother to deal with while Lynley had his own”set” to contend with. The pair continue to contrast nicely and add a dynamic tension that is almost palpable.
For The Sake Of Elena is yet another winning entry in this great series.
Stay together, but apart please.
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complex young woman. But now she has been bludgeoned to death during an early morning run.Her father is a professor of history and is in the running for an important chair. He also has troubles lurking in his past. His second wife isn’t a fan of Elena and would not have minded the young woman’s death. Elena’s campus enemies spread from other students to members of the Deaf Student’s Union and into the faculty where her charms led to their troubles.
Havers has her ongoing situation with her mother to deal with while Lynley had his own”set” to contend with. The pair continue to contrast nicely and add a dynamic tension that is almost palpable.
For The Sake Of Elena is yet another winning entry in this great series.
Stay together, but apart please.
Show Less
LibraryThing member tututhefirst
Elena is a free spirit daughter of a rather uptight professor. Misunderstood by all parent figures (father, mother and dad's 2nd wife) Lynley and Havers are faced with unraveling deeply buried family secrets when Elena is found murdered at the beginning of the book. I thought this episode of the
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Lynley/Havers adventures was not quite as engaging as previous entries, although a critical fact (no spoilers here) that emerges fairly early makes the story quite a page turner. Once again Elizabeth George entices us with tidbits to keep us reading "Just one more chapter". Looking forward to the next book. Show Less
LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
While I like the Inspector Lynley BBC mysteries, I found this book rather plodding. I found Ms. George's prose very philosophical, exceedingly so at times, which slowed down the story.
Elena, a deaf student and daughter of a highly regarded professor at Cambridge is found dead by a local artist out
The story centers on Inspector Lynley and Sargeant Havers' investigation and the plot revolves around deafness, infidelity, revenge and betrayal.
I plan to watch this episode on TV and I'm sure I'll like that better than the book. At less than 400 pages, this book was a chore to get through. I can't imagine what George's 700+ page books are like to read. I'm sure I won't find out.
Elena, a deaf student and daughter of a highly regarded professor at Cambridge is found dead by a local artist out
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to paint in the early morning light. Elena was a runner who used to run around 6:30 each morning and she was found along her running route.The story centers on Inspector Lynley and Sargeant Havers' investigation and the plot revolves around deafness, infidelity, revenge and betrayal.
I plan to watch this episode on TV and I'm sure I'll like that better than the book. At less than 400 pages, this book was a chore to get through. I can't imagine what George's 700+ page books are like to read. I'm sure I won't find out.
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For the Sake of Elena by Elizabeth George (Paperback)