Yet another good book in the Lynley series. I love how I can read these books in quick succession and not get sick of them. So well written, and not predictable at all. Looking forward to many more in the series! I was rather surprised by the killer in this one. Never even guessed.

After reading this book I now plan to go back and read the first four. While it was a slower read than most other cop mysteries I've read it was full of surprises and kept me engaged. Every revelation of new clues or information made me question everything I thought I knew about the characters that had been introduced. The investigators were also complex characters and I want to know more about them and their growth throughout the entire series.

Elizabeth George continues to elevate mystery/crime fiction to literary levels and For the Sake of Elena firmly cements the Lynley & Havers series as one of the best ever written. George composes another riveting plot, the book is grizzly, violent, full of sharp edges, but manages to explore a deep array of emotions. Grief, love, passion, desire, even the meaning of art are themes weaved throughout this gripping read. The crimes are solved by characters as complex as the motivation for why they were committed. A+ level storytelling and and writing here.

George's books are up there with John Banville's Quirke series, Martin Cruz Smith's brilliant Arkady Renko, and Reginald Hill's Dalziel And Pascoe.

Who crowned PD James as the queen of this genre? My vote is E George.

Couldn't finish this time.

(3.5) Another installment of Lynley and Havers and an intriguing mystery set on the campus of Cambridge made this a very good read, but the author gives way too much detail still--to the point of getting in the way of the plot. Good writing is not just about the quality of the writing itself but also knowing how the reader is experiencing the book and so when the mystery starts to unravel, cutting back on all the description so we don't have to skim it!

As far as the characters, there is some real growth with both Lynley and Havers and I am excited to see where the next book takes them!

Elena Weaver is a special person. Her father is a senior fellow and professor at St. Stephen's College and he almost is a certainty to win the Penford Chair of History. Because of being short listed for the promotion, he needs his daughter to behave. Elena is not behaving. She hasn't been applying herself to much except at enraging her father and her grades have been dropping, but right now she is enjoying her morning run. But, dear reader, not for long. As she pounds along the trail in the fog, she sees a person crouched down in the path before her. The fog makes it difficult to see. As she stops to help what looks like a person who has fallen, the dim morning light goes out. With a bone cracking crunch. Forever.

Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers are called in, but both officers are distracted. Lynley is pining for Lady Helen, who has had to move in with her sister's family temporarily. Her sister has had an emotional breakdown after her latest pregnancy. While the baby is healthy and adorable, Penelope and her husband Harry Rodger have had their relationship disturbed by the new infant. Taking care of three children, her husband and the house, having had to give up her job as an expert restorer of art, seems to have brought on a debilitating depression. Pen's decision to nurse her new infant despite her increasing realization she no longer can handle being the sole caretaker and only parent while her husband spends all of his time working away from their house, along with Harry's complete abnegation of his responsibilities as a father and husband, brought Helen to the house to help out. Helen is avoiding Lynley, who wants to marry her, so she finds her sister's difficulty a welcome diversion. However, Lynley is unable to stay away and is coming by to visit her. The Rodger house is in Cambridge, where the murder of Elena has taken place.

The breaking of hearts and relationships going on in the Rodgers house pales next to the devastation going on in Havers' house. Barbara's mother has Alzheimers and she needs constant care. Barbara is trying to keep her mother in her own house by hiring a neighbor lady to take care of her, but the elderly Mrs. Gustafson has no training or much common sense. There have been dreadful incidents. Barbara is so tired. She knows her mother is no longer safe in her own house. She does not want to make the decision to place Mum into an assisted living home.

Lynley and Havers are SO glad Elena was murdered!